More than 150 killed over past two days in battle for Aleppo airport

Intense clashes between the Syrian army and rebel fighters near the country’s second-largest airport killed around 150 people in recent days, anti-regime activists said Friday, pointing to the significance both sides in the country’s civil war place on controlling key infrastructure.

The battle for the international airport near Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, resembles other battles over strategic assets that could provide an edge in the larger fight for the country.

This week, rebels seized a hydroelectric dam and a major oil field, cutting off President Bashar Assad’s regime from key resources necessary for its long term survival.

Activists also reported Friday that rebels had seized an air defense base and fought near two other army installations in Syria’s north.

Rebels have been trying for months to capture Aleppo’s international airport, which lies east of the city in a complex with a smaller military airfield and an army base charged with protecting the area.

Syria’s conflict has posed a dilemma for the international community.

While the U.S. and many Arab and European countries have called on Assad to leave power, Russia, China and Iran continue to back the regime. Russia, which has been Syria’s primary arms provider for decades, has said it will continue to fulfill its arms contracts.

International diplomacy has failed to stop the violence and calls for the sides to negotiate a political solution have gone nowhere.

The opposition’s main umbrella group, the Syrian National Coalition, said in a statement Friday it would not allow Assad or members of his security services to participate in talks to end the crisis.

It did not rule out, however, dialogue with some members of his ruling Baath party, welcoming talks with “honorable people” from all parts of society who “have not been embroiled in the crimes against the Syrian people.”

Still, neither side has proposed a concrete plan for talks.