The Assad regime claimed to have retaken control of Damascus on Sunday night
after its most elite fighting force ruthlessly overwhelmed rebel strongholds
in the city's Sunni suburbs.
Syrian security forces combing through Basatin al-Razi, a dictrict of the capital Damascus, as they look for gunmen.
Backed by heavy artillery and helicopter gunships, the 4th Armoured Division,
commanded by President Bashar al-Assad's feared younger brother Maher, swept
through three rebel-held districts and laid siege to a fourth.
It was confirmed by the Israeli military last night that Mr Assad remains in
the capital, following rumours in the aftermath of last week's attacks that
he had fled for the coastal city of Latakia.
Sunday's counter-offensive effectively ended rebel hopes of capturing the
Syrian capital and bringing a swift end to an uprising that has ground on
for 16 months, which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated
yesterday has now killed over 19,000 people.
For more than a week, the rebel Free Syrian Army, the FSA, had fought a
tenacious campaign to "liberate" Damascus, launching the wave of
daring assaults at the heart of Mr Assad's most-heavily fortified citadel.
Hopes that a quick victory was in their reach were boosted by the most
audacious strike of all – a bomb that struck a meeting of the regime's
14-man national security council, killing four of the president's chief
lieutenants, including his powerful brother-in-law.
The attack dealt Mr Assad the heaviest blow of the uprising, but he has since
succeeded in re-marshalling his forces.
As the president has reasserted his authority, the inferiority of the rebels, both in terms of weaponry and manpower, has begun to tell.
Equipped with only assault rifles and the odd grenade-launcher, the rebels were no match for an enemy that relentlessly struck their alleyway hideouts with tank rounds and cannon-fire from the air.
Having consolidated control of the Midan area, captured on Friday, soldiers from the 4th Division took Qaboon, one of the city's most fiercely contested districts, leaving a trail of rebel corpses in their wake.
A force of more than 1,000 government troops, backed by armoured vehicles, tanks and even bulldozers, then drove the rebels from Mezzeh, the capital's diplomatic district.
Even in the northern suburb of Barzeh, rebels found themselves besieged on all sides and five captured troops were reportedly summarily executed last night.
The revival of the regime's fortunes appeared to owe much to Maher al-Assad, whose perceived tactical deficiencies are outweighed by his use of brute force to bludgeon enemy ranks into submission. He has previously led successful missions to subdue Deraa, Homs and a string of other rebellious cities.
Even so, the bloodiest phase of the uprising – opposition activists reported on Sunday that 2,500 people have died so far this month – is far from over.
Rebel commanders conceded that their "Operation Damascus Volcano" had suffered setbacks, but claimed they still retained the capacity slowly to grind the regime down.
"The FSA don't have the resources to hold ground but they are still everywhere," said an opposition activist in Damascus who identified himself as Tareq.
Despite their losses in Damascus, rebel forces staged a show of strength in Aleppo, Syria's second city, launching an attack on its principal intelligence base. Rebel commanders said a campaign was under way to liberate the city, which is considered broadly loyal to Mr Assad.
As in Damascus, they face an enemy with superior firepower. But the inroads in Aleppo in recent days also point to a weakening of the regime, which has had to pull forces out of the city to defend Damascus.
The assassination of his top officials has hollowed out a significant portion of Mr Assad's power struggle.
But although the edifice has remained superficially intact, it is rotting from within, as demonstrated by a series of high profile defections.
Increasingly suspicious of his own minions, Mr Assad has been forced to rely more than ever on army units like the 4th Division whose loyalty remains unquestioned largely because its ranks are filled with hand-picked soldiers from the president's Alawite minority.
As a result, however, the government's remit has been weakened elsewhere, with rebels able to capture a number of key border crossings.
Although they lost control of one on the Iraqi frontier yesterday, the rebels captured a second outpost on the Turkish border. Turkey, which supports the rebels, responded by bolstering its military presence along the border to deter a Syrian counter-offensive.
Meanwhile, Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, declared over the weekend that the Jewish state was primed to take military action in Syria if it appeared there was a danger of Mr Assad's chemical weapons stockpile falling to Islamists. Mr Barak said that, for the moment, the weapons remained secure.
As the president has reasserted his authority, the inferiority of the rebels, both in terms of weaponry and manpower, has begun to tell.
Equipped with only assault rifles and the odd grenade-launcher, the rebels were no match for an enemy that relentlessly struck their alleyway hideouts with tank rounds and cannon-fire from the air.
Having consolidated control of the Midan area, captured on Friday, soldiers from the 4th Division took Qaboon, one of the city's most fiercely contested districts, leaving a trail of rebel corpses in their wake.
A force of more than 1,000 government troops, backed by armoured vehicles, tanks and even bulldozers, then drove the rebels from Mezzeh, the capital's diplomatic district.
Even in the northern suburb of Barzeh, rebels found themselves besieged on all sides and five captured troops were reportedly summarily executed last night.
The revival of the regime's fortunes appeared to owe much to Maher al-Assad, whose perceived tactical deficiencies are outweighed by his use of brute force to bludgeon enemy ranks into submission. He has previously led successful missions to subdue Deraa, Homs and a string of other rebellious cities.
Even so, the bloodiest phase of the uprising – opposition activists reported on Sunday that 2,500 people have died so far this month – is far from over.
Rebel commanders conceded that their "Operation Damascus Volcano" had suffered setbacks, but claimed they still retained the capacity slowly to grind the regime down.
"The FSA don't have the resources to hold ground but they are still everywhere," said an opposition activist in Damascus who identified himself as Tareq.
Despite their losses in Damascus, rebel forces staged a show of strength in Aleppo, Syria's second city, launching an attack on its principal intelligence base. Rebel commanders said a campaign was under way to liberate the city, which is considered broadly loyal to Mr Assad.
As in Damascus, they face an enemy with superior firepower. But the inroads in Aleppo in recent days also point to a weakening of the regime, which has had to pull forces out of the city to defend Damascus.
The assassination of his top officials has hollowed out a significant portion of Mr Assad's power struggle.
But although the edifice has remained superficially intact, it is rotting from within, as demonstrated by a series of high profile defections.
Increasingly suspicious of his own minions, Mr Assad has been forced to rely more than ever on army units like the 4th Division whose loyalty remains unquestioned largely because its ranks are filled with hand-picked soldiers from the president's Alawite minority.
As a result, however, the government's remit has been weakened elsewhere, with rebels able to capture a number of key border crossings.
Although they lost control of one on the Iraqi frontier yesterday, the rebels captured a second outpost on the Turkish border. Turkey, which supports the rebels, responded by bolstering its military presence along the border to deter a Syrian counter-offensive.
Meanwhile, Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, declared over the weekend that the Jewish state was primed to take military action in Syria if it appeared there was a danger of Mr Assad's chemical weapons stockpile falling to Islamists. Mr Barak said that, for the moment, the weapons remained secure.
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