WORLD
Syria crisis: UN says death toll approaching 70,000
Baku, February 13 (AZERTAC). Rebels on Tuesday overran a military air base and captured warplanes, gaining ground in northern Syria for a second straight day as the UN said the death toll from the 23-month conflict was nearly 70,000.
The military advance came as prospects for a political solution to the war faded and as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged President Bashar al-Assad's regime to accept an opposition leader's dialogue offer.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels captured a military airport at Al-Jarrah in Aleppo province, seizing for the first time a fleet of warplanes including MiG fighters.
During the assault, the rebels killed, injured or imprisoned dozens of troops, the watchdog said, adding withdrawing troops also left behind ammunition.
Soon afterwards, regime fighter jets pounded Al-Jarrah to try to dislodge the rebels, the Observatory said, adding there were raids near the international airport which has come under a rebel assault.
A military source in Aleppo confirmed the rebel capture "after 48 hours of fierce combat", but downplayed the importance of Al-Jarrah.
"It is a very small airport, used for training purposes," he said. "There are only small amounts of unusable ammunition left there, and several planes that have long been out of action."