DAMASCUS (AP):

Syrian troops yesterday reported that they have captured most of a strategic Damascus suburb used by rebels as a base to threaten key regime facilities in the capital.

The announcement that regime forces had taken Daraya came a day after anti-government activists said rebels and Islamic militants seeking to topple President Bashar Assad took full control of the Taftanaz air base in the Northwest.

That dealt a significant blow to government forces, with helicopters, tanks and multiple rocket launchers seized.

The back-to-back declarations highlight the see-saw nature of the conflict in Syria, where one side's victories in one area are often followed by reverses in another.

"The army is battling some small pockets (of rebels) and (Daraya) will be safe within few days," a Syrian official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Syrian troops have been battling for weeks to regain Daraya from the hands of anti-government fighters.

The suburb, just south of Damascus, is on the edge of the strategic military air base of Mazzeh in a western neighbourhood of the capital.

It borders the Kfar Sousseh neighbourhood that is home to the government headquarters, the General Security intelligence agency head office and the Interior Ministry, which was the target of a recent suicide attack that wounded the interior minister.

The suburb is also less than 10 kilometres (six miles) from the People's Palace - one of three palaces in the capital used by Assad.

Fighting forces

Syria's pro-government media had reported that thousands of rebel fighters from the extremist Jabhat al-Nusra group have holed up in Daraya in preparation to storm Damascus.

Jabhat al-Nusra, which has been branded a terrorist organisation by the United States and which Washington claims is affiliated with al-Qaida, has been among the most effective fighting forces on the rebel side in the battle to oust Assad.

Syrian official statements regularly play up the role of Islamist extremists within the rebel movement.

More than 60,000 people have been killed since March 2011 in Syria's conflict, which has turned into an outright civil war driving hundreds of thousands from their homes and across the borders into neighbouring countries.