Syrian Army Enters Homs Neighborhoods
Al Jazeera reports that Syrian army fighters supported by pro-government militias have entered rebel-held neighborhoods of Homs after besieging the areas for almost two years.
“Activists on the ground and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group on Tuesday both confirmed the operation” in the central city, while Syrian state television said that “the Syrian army and the National Defense Forces have achieved key successes in the Old City of Homs.”
State media also said Assad troops had advanced in several neighborhoods, killing “a number of terrorists,” the state’s word for rebel and extremist fighters. The advance was reported to have begun on April 15.
A Show of Democracy Amid Destruction
Anne Barnard of the New York Times reports from Homs on preparations for Syria’s upcoming presidential elections, in which it is widely assumed that Bashar al-Assad will run for re-election.
“Claiming another seven-year term amid a three-year revolt against his rule would be a remarkable feat of survival for Mr. Assad, embarrassing for his international foes and demoralizing for Syrian opponents who staked their lives, families and towns on his ouster,” she writes.
The Christian Science Monitor also reports on the elections, and the potential for an Assad challenger.
“Everywhere you look in central Damascus, you see President Bashar al-Assad’s face: thoughtful on the T-shirt of a soldier, smiling on a wall, hidden behind sunglasses in a traffic circle,” writes Kristin Solberg in Damascus. “A casual observer might think he is the only candidate in the upcoming presidential election, as he has always been – until this year.” For the first time the incumbent Assad will face a challenger, though election rules have ruled out much of the Syrian opposition, based abroad.
Beirut’s Daily Star cites Al-Watan, a pro-government Syrian newspaper, as saying that Mohamed Jihad Lahham, the speaker of Syria’s parliament, will announce the election date next week.
Rebel Videos Show First U.S.-Made Rockets in Syria
Reuters reports that videos show rebel fighters using what appear to be U.S.-made anti-tank rockets, “the first significant American-built armaments in the country’s civil war.”
Use of the rockets “would signal a further internationalization of the conflict, with new rockets suspected from Russia and drones from Iran also spotted in the forces of President Bashar al-Assad. None of that equipment, however, is seen as enough to turn the tide of battle in a now broadly stalemated war.
“It was not possible to independently verify the authenticity of the videos or the supplier of the BGM-71 TOW anti-tank rockets shown in the videos. Some analysts suggested they might have been provided by another state such as Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, probably with Washington’s acquiescence.” The wire says U.S. officials declined to comment on the situation.
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