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Syrian Rebels Making Advances
(Washington Post) Liz Sly - Syrian rebels are making significant advances. In the past week, the rebels have seized five important military facilities, capturing sizable quantities of weaponry. The gains underscore the steadily growing effectiveness of the rebel force. It is no longer possible to describe the war in Syria as a stalemate, said Jeffrey White, a defense fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "The war is turning against the regime, and it's turning at a faster rate than we had seen before." Videos released after the capture last week of Base 46, a major facility to the west of Aleppo, showed fighters acquiring tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery and surface-to-air missiles as well as large quantities of ammunition. The advances are boosting confidence among rebel fighters that they will soon be able to topple Assad without the international assistance they have long sought. The rebels' current strategy is to focus on seizing the bases from which the bombardments and air raids are launched, before turning their attention to the cities, said Free Syrian Army spokesman Louay Miqdad.