Syrian rebels are now in full control of a sprawling military base they stormed two days earlier and have killed 35 government troops in the fighting, an activist group says.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the battle for the Sheik Suleiman base near the northern city of Aleppo ended today after the rebels took over the base's main compound and warehouses.

In the latest of a series of military advances for the rebels, they first entered the base on Sunday afternoon, after weeks of fighting with soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. The Observatory says that in addition to the 35 soldiers killed, the rebels from an assortment of hardline Islamic militant groups also wounded or captured 64 government troops in the base.