Islamic State jihadists today won a bloody battle for Tabqa military airport, last stronghold of the Damascus regime in Syria's northern province of Raqa, a monitoring group and state media said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 346 jihadists and 25 Syrian troops had been killed in the fighting at the airport since last Tuesday, with another 170 soldiers dying during fierce clashes today.
"One hundred and seventy Syrian soldiers were killed today in the offensive which led to the IS jihadists seizing Tabqa airport," the Observatory said in an email to AFP.
Syrian state television said troops had staged an "evacuation" of the airport.
"After heavy fighting by the forces defending the Tabqa airport, our forces implemented a regrouping operation after the evacuation of the airport," the broadcaster said in a breaking news alert.
The airport's capture came after IS fighters launched a fourth assault on Tabqa overnight, in a bid to cement their control over Raqa province.
Earlier, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the jihadists had begun advancing into the airport, hanging up the head of a decapitated soldier at one of the checkpoints they had seized.
Islamic State fighters have been trying to take Tabqa since early August, but began the airport assault in earnest on Tuesday.
The airport was the last army stronghold in Raqa, after jihadists captured Brigade 93 and Division 17 in the northern province, killing dozens of soldiers, many of whom were beheaded.
Raqa has become the stronghold of the Islamic State, which controls the provincial capital and has declared an Islamic "caliphate" in territory it holds in Syria and Iraq.
The group initially fought alongside Syrian opposition groups, but its abuses sparked a backlash from rebels who pushed it out of parts of northern Syria.
In recent weeks, though, IS has advanced back into areas it withdrew from, including in northern Aleppo province.
Elsewhere, however, the Observatory said IS fighters were pulling out of parts of central Homs province.
The monitoring group said there was no official reason given for the withdrawal, but that the militants appeared to be moving to areas under tighter IS control, including Deir Ezzor province in the east.
