Syria regime loses second key base in a day: monitor

BEIRUT - Agence France-Presse

Members of al Qaeda's Nusra Front gesture as they drive in a convoy touring villages, which they said they have seized control of from Syrian rebel factions, in the southern countryside of Idlib, December 2, 2014. REUTERS Photo

A monitoring group said the Syrian army lost control of a second strategic base in the northwestern province of Idlib to coordinated assaults by Islamist groups on Dec. 15.
      
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Islamist rebels from the Ahrar al-Sham group took over the Hamidiyeh base, hours after Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate, Al-Nusra Front, seized a major base at Wadi al-Deif.