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                      Rebels Attack Major Syrian Army Base

   by Reuters

   Syrian rebels attacked a major army base in the south of the country on
   Tuesday, seeking to increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad
   after his recent losses elsewhere in Syria.

   The southern region near the border with Jordan and Israel is one of
   the areas where insurgents have inflicted significant defeats on Assad
   in the last three months, notably the capture of the Nasib border
   crossing with Jordan April 1.

   Important due to its proximity to Damascus, the area is one of the last
   major footholds of mainstream rebels who have been eclipsed elsewhere
   in Syria by jihadist groups including Islamic State group and the Nusra
   Front, al-Qaida's Syrian arm.

   The offensive is targeting a base known as "The 52nd Brigade" northeast
   of the city of Deraa. Previous insurgent attempts to seize it have
   failed.

   Second-largest southern base

   "It is very important because it is the second biggest base the regime
   has [in the south]," said Saber Safar, a former army colonel whose
   "First Army" rebel group said it had launched the attack. He spoke to
   Reuters via Skype.

   Syrian state TV said the army had repelled an attempt by "a terrorist
   group" to infiltrate a military position in the area.

   It said a number of the attackers had been killed and wounded,
   including a rebel commander. The air force was carrying out raids in
   the area, it added.

   The opposition-affiliated Orient News TV station said the rebels had
   fired more than 100 missiles at the base.

   Issam al-Rayyes, spokesman for the mainstream "Southern Front"
   alliance, said the rebel forces had destroyed two tanks.

   Some of the fighters had entered the base, he said. Some of the
   southern rebels have received backing from foreign states that want to
   see Assad gone, including Gulf Arab governments.

   The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organization
   that tracks the war, reported fierce battles between insurgent groups
   and the Syrian military and militias that are fighting alongside it.

   The Observatory, which relies on a network of local activists, also
   told the AP the fighting has killed 20 troops and pro-government gunmen
   as well as 14 rebels.

   Mounting death toll

   The Observatory also said Tuesday that it has documented the deaths of
   230,000 people since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.

   The organization said the dead include 69,494 civilians, among them
   11,493 children. The conflict has also claimed the lives of 49,106
   troops, 32,533 pro-government fighters and 38,592 rebels, it told the
   AP.

   The others killed include army defectors, Islamic State militants,
   foreign fighters and members of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, which is
   fighting alongside government forces.

   Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman said the real death toll could be
   above 300,000, since there are tens of thousands of people who are
   missing or were buried without being counted.

   The U.N. said last year that the war has killed at least 220,000
   people. That figure has not been updated.

   Since late March, an alliance of insurgents including the Nusra Front
   have seized nearly all of the northwestern province of Idlib at the
   Turkish border. Islamic State has also seized the city of Palmyra from
   government control.

   The setbacks for Assad have prompted Western policymakers to believe a
   window of opportunity for a political deal may be opening in Syria.

   But the defeats have also triggered renewed statements of support for
   Assad from Iran, whose backing has been crucial to his survival.

   Some material for this report came from The Associated Press.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/rebels-attack-major-syrian-army-base/2813206.html