Syrian Rebels Withdraw From Homs
Syrian Rebels Withdraw From Homs
The last remaining pockets of Syrian rebels withdrew from the historic city of Homs in the past two days, marking an important victory for Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian army. Homs was considered the capital of the revolution, one of the cities that were first to oppose the Assad regime, even proclaiming itself the first “free city” in Syria.
According to certain sources nearly 1,200 rebels retreated from Homs, the third largest city in Syria after the Assad regime campaigned against the city for nearly two years. The capture of Homs isn’t just a symbolic victory for Assad, but also an important strategic one, as the key location of the city allows easy access to Syria’s Mediterranean ports. Through the capture of Homs, Syrian army forces also gained easy access to the coastal mountain chain where the majority of Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect reside.
This recent victory came at a perfect time for Bashar al-Assad as Syria faces presidential elections on June 3rd in which the current president wants to run for another 7-year term.
According to certain Western diplomats and intelligence agencies the turn in tide of the three year long Syrian civil war is mainly due to Iranian backing. Iranian forces provided intelligence, a new “surrender or starve” strategy and battle hardened Hezbollah troops in the tens of thousands.
Posted by
James Fried
on Saturday May 10 2014, 3:39 AM EST.
Ref: csmonitor.
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