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Syrian Tanks Cross Into Israeli Territory
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Israel says three Syrian tanks have entered the demilitarised zone in the Golan Heights for the first time in 40 years, raising concerns that the conflict in Syria could spillover its border.
The development comes as dramatic video emerged from Syria which purports to show rebels filming as a fighter jet targeted them.
In a relatively low-key response, Israel complained to UN peacekeepers present in the area, suggesting it did not see an immediate threat.
But the entry marks the most serious spillover of Syria's turmoil to date at the frontier, where stray ordnance has exploded on the Israeli side in the past.
Meanwhile, the rebels said they had launched a major assault on the Taftanaz airbase in the northern province of Idlib which is used to deploy regime air power.
Video posted on the internet is said to show rebel fighters firing rockets at the airbase, and being fired on as they try to secure a strategic north-south corridor.
The attack on the Taftanaz base, from where helicopter gunships raid opposition positions and rebel-held areas, comes after troops launched an unprecedented wave of air strikes this week in a bid to reverse rebel gains.
The video said eight battalions were taking part in the attack, including the radical Islamist Al-Nusra Front.
It showed a missile launcher mounted on the back of a pick-up truck firing on regime positions.
The Syrian Revolution General Commission, a network of activists on the ground, said an operation had begun "to liberate the Taftanaz airbase".
Analysts said rebel forces clearly have the momentum in the battle for Syria's northwest.
"The rebels' gains in the north seem irreversible," said Thomas Pierret, a Syria expert at the University of Edinburgh's Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies department.
He said regime forces appeared to be concentrating their efforts in the region on defending embattled commercial hub Aleppo, which rebel advances in the past month have cut off from Damascus and the Mediterranean coast.
"The problem with this strategy is that the Aleppo garrisons are now largely isolated. It is likely they will fall in the months to come," he said.
:: The fresh clashes came as the opposition prepared for key talks starting in Qatar on Sunday, where the United States is expected to push for a new umbrella organisation to unite the country's fractured regime opponents.
[link to news.sky.com]
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