The terrorists in Syria are changing tactics in favor of a mobile defense.
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The Islamist rebels overran Atshan and surrounding areas in the morning and, despite Russian air support, the army was unable to push them back, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Al-Bayoush, a defector from Assad’s army, said his fighters have a constantly replenished supply and use them not only against tanks but also against troop formations and other positions. The territory is now the heartland for the rebels, a mix of moderate nationalist factions and others with hard-line Islamic ideologies.
Lavrov said the Russian air force could support the FSA, an offer which was turned down at the time by the FSA.
Another government campaign that has stalled aimed to open the highway linking Hama with the city of Homs, further south. In weeks of fighting, troops have been unable to advance despite Russian strikes on the rebel-held towns of Talbiseh and Rastan.
Rebels wrested back a flashpoint town in central Syria on Friday, reversing the last of the gains the army had made in a month-old offensive in Hama province, a monitoring group said.
Activists say Syrian rebels have recaptured a village in the country’s west, days after it was seized by government troops as part of a major offensive.
Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on 4 November that “Russia is fielding its own artillery and other ground assets around Hamah and Homs, greatly increasing their soldiers’ vulnerability to counterattack”. Russian Federation says it is striking mainly Islamic State extremists, although numerous airstrikes have focused on areas where rebels are fighting to topple Assad.
Meanwhile, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed in a statement that insurgents in Syria used sulfur mustard in August, likely killing an infant. Friday’s official confirmation shows another worrying escalation in Syria’s civil war, which has already killed 250,000 people and forced millions to flee.
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Diplomats have said the next round of worldwide talks is likely to begin later this week.
