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Source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.657117
Syria's Assad Faces Growing Rebel Pressure
(Ha'aretz) Amos Harel - Over the past two months, the rebels have earned a great many victories in northern Syria and continue their advance westward: From Aleppo to Idlib, and from there to Jisr al-Shughur, and then onto the Nebi Yunis ridge - from which they can shell Latakia in the heart of the Alawite territory. This pressure, around the areas of Damascus and the Alawite region, threatens the stability of Assad's rule. A great deal of media attention is being focused on the battle in the Qalamoun Mountains, where the Syrian army and Hizbullah are trying to reestablish control of the corridor through which weapons and troops are funneled between Syria and Lebanon. Hizbullah has loudly trumpeted its successes in that campaign, but in reality it has taken over mostly open areas that the Sunni rebels chose to leave.