Syria Claims Military Successes In Assad's Home Province

[Purveyor]

BEIRUT — Two weeks after rebels overran the area, the Syrian government said Sunday that the army had regained control of a swath of villages in Latakia province, the ancestral home of President Bashar Assad and his minority Alawite sect.

The official news agency said seven villages had been recaptured in the mountainous northern reaches of Latakia, adding to two others that the army had taken back Friday.

An opposition media activist in the area, who goes by the nickname Abu Faisal, confirmed that the government had taken seven villages but said the rebels had subsequently recaptured five of the hamlets in fierce fighting.

Syrian troops, backed by tanks, helicopter gunships and aircraft, have been engaged in a sustained offensive designed to regain control of a dozen or so mountain villages in Latakia overrun early this month by rebels. Opposition fighters apparently infiltrated Latakia from neighboring Idlib province, a rebel stronghold.

The rebel sweep into Latakia provided a propaganda coup for the opposition at a time when insurgents have been losing ground in more strategically critical areas, such as near Damascus, the capital, and in the central city of Homs.

MORE...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-fg-wn-syria-military-latakia-20130818,0,5786.story

[David__77]

1. The opposition "SOHR" says scores of foreign Islamists have been killed.

The Latakia foray has been unsuccessful both militarily and politically. The terrorists have managed to abduct scores of Alawites who are now being held hostage. Hopefully the army can successfully free them and defeat the remainder of the insurgents.