Syrian rebel fighters say they have taken a military base in the town of Mayadeen, leaving a swathe of eastern Syria under opposition control, BBC informs.Opposition sources say they control a key oil-producing area between the city of Deir Ezzor and the Iraq border.The rebels have made advances in the north and east but have yet to take a major city from government forces. Activists say 40,000 people have been killed since protests against Bashar al-Assad’s rule began in March 2011.On Wednesday, Syrian warplanes bombed the suburbs of Damascus and rebel-held areas of the north.Reports said people had been fleeing areas under attack in the south and east of the capital.In the north, opposition groups and eyewitnesses in the embattled city of Aleppo said a key hospital there had been flattened by Syrian government airstrikes. At least 15 people are reported to have died in the attack on the Dar al-Shifa hospital, which was run by volunteers.If the reports are confirmed, the rebels will now be in control of a large area of the Euphrates valley, from the Iraqi border to the provincial capital of Deir Ezzor.
