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Momentum Shifts Again in Syrian Civil War
(Der Spiegel-Germany) Christoph Reuter and Holger Stark - The Syrian capital is bracing itself for the worst. Last Thursday alone, over 10,000 people reportedly fled across the border into Lebanon, and hundreds of families of soldiers have left their apartments. The headquarters of the intelligence agencies had been largely vacated and, according to one guard on duty, nearly all Alawite officers and generals had headed for the port city of Tartus and the surrounding area. Mount Kassioun, which overlooks the city and has been used by the 4th Armored Division to shell rebel positions in the suburbs, was said to have been completely evacuated. In large parts of the country, panic began spreading among many of Assad's loyal followers. Residents in Homs reported that an exodus into the surrounding mountains had begun from districts loyal to the regime. The entire Syrian leadership is reportedly afraid that the defense lines will collapse. Recent weeks have seen the unauthorized withdrawal of previously Assad-loyal militias to their Alawite villages, declining morale among regular troops, and rising military losses. The Syrian army's 4th Armored Division, commanded by Bashar al-Assad's younger brother, Maher al-Assad, is the only unit that possesses launching devices for chemical weapons. Immediately following the chemical attack, it shelled rebel positions with conventional artillery - but was unable to take a single location. Instead, the division lost at least seven tanks in the Damascus neighborhood of Harasta alone. In mid-August, the rebels captured Khan Assir, south of Aleppo, closing off the last corridor to the regime's troops in Aleppo, leaving them completely surrounded.