Rebel fighters in Syria sought to move against the government's increasing use of deadly air power Saturday, with an attack on the Taftanaz military airport in the northerly Idlib province.

An opposition activist in the north told CNN the air base was surrounded and that about 200 regime troops were thought to be inside. The rebel Free Syrian Army intends to hold the perimeter of the base, he said.

Government media claimed forces have heroically repelled the attack, killing "large numbers of terrorists," as it terms the rebels. The state-run news agency, SANA, said the rebel fighters' weapons and vehicles also had been destroyed.