Syrian Regime Forces Prepare to Launch Offensives in Homs, Aleppo
Syrian regime forces sought Friday to follow up on their victory in the key town of Qusayr near the Lebanon border by sending reinforcements to battle rebels in Homs and the northern province of Aleppo.
Government forces were also trying to mop up final pockets of rebel resistance north of Qusayr, the town which it retook Wednesday bolstered by Hizbullah fighters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said President Bashar al-Assad's forces were also sending reinforcements to Aleppo province, where large swathes of territory have been in rebel hands for months.
"Clashes broke out at dawn between the army and rebels on the outskirts of Dabaa village" north of Qusayr, said the Britain-based group, adding Hizbullah forces were involved.
Official Syrian media had earlier reported that Dabaa fell on Thursday when there was, in fact, still a large rebel presence there.
A second rebel bastion north of Qusayr, Eastern Bweida where rebels and many wounded civilians fled after the fall of Qusayr, was still being bombarded by the regime.
"The army is seeking to impose its complete control of Qusayr and the surrounding area," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse.
"It is leaving no way out for the rebels, and also not for the wounded or for civilians. It wants to annihilate the rebels or take them prisoner."
The Observatory said government forces were also massing "in their thousands" in Aleppo province, aiming primarily to take territory along the border with Turkey.
"They want to cut rebel supply lines from Turkey."
The army's preparations for a new offensive came a day after a brief rebel seizure of the Quneitra crossing on the armistice line separating Israeli and Syrian troops on the Golan prompted Austria to announce to it was withdrawing from the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force.
The Observatory said “fierce fighting” continued on Friday in Quneitra, “including bombardment by regime forces."
Source: Agence France Presse
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