Syria, November 16: According to Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, the assailants fired rockets and machine guns at Air Force intelligence base in Harasta district from three directions early on Monday.
Parts of the military complex were reported to have been destroyed, but there was no immediate word on any casualties.
It was the first attack on a major government facility in Syria since the beginning of the unrest.
The attack came as Arab foreign ministers have gathered in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, to discuss events in Syria following its suspension from the Arab League.
AL members agreed in a meeting in Egypt last week to withdraw their ambassadors from Damascus, impose political and economic sanctions, and begin talks with opposition groups in Syria.
On Tuesday, Syria freed more than 1,180 prisoners as part of efforts to end the months-long unrest in the country. Damascus had freed 553 detainees on November 5 and on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both against and in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
According to the United Nations, more than 3,000 people, including members of the security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.
On Tuesday, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 34 Syrian soldiers were killed in an attack by armed groups in the southern province of Dara’a. According to the observatory, 12 armed men and over 20 civilians were killed in the clashes.
The opposition and Western countries accuse Syrian security forces of being behind the killings in the country, but the government blames what it describes as outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups for the deadly violence, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.
—–Agencies