Syrian Forces, Helped by Russian Airstrikes, Seize Rebel Stronghold Advances in northwestern Lataika province put Assad regime in striking distance of region under opposition control By Raja Abdulrahim
http://www.wsj.com/articles/syrian-forces-helped-by-russian-airstrikes-seize-rebel-stronghold-1453663114
BEIRUT—Syrian regime forces backed by Russian airstrikes seized control of a rebel stronghold on Sunday, the latest in a series of gains in northwestern Latakia province aided by Moscow’s intervention in the conflict.
The advances in the heartland of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite minority put the regime within striking distance of neighboring Idlib, the only province almost entirely under rebel control. Just a few months ago, rebel fighters were advancing through the Idlib countryside toward Latakia and looked poised to deal more blows to the regime. But the Russian intervention in late September has given the regime’s military the upper hand there.
These gains have given the regime a stronger hand ahead of peace talks that had been set for this week in Geneva, if they go ahead as planned.
“All of the regime and Russian plan and all of the operations that the Russian officers are overseeing are with the goal of advancing before the talks,” said Fadi Ahmad, a spokesman with the U.S.-backed First Coastal Division, a faction of the Free Syrian Army rebel group, which has received training from the Central Intelligence Agency and American antitank missiles.
The regime and allied forces from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah captured the town of Rabia, which has been under opposition control since 2012, said opposition activists and rebels. The victory came after days of clashes and the regime continued to advance through surrounding villages after taking Rabia, they said.
This followed another important gain for the regime less than two weeks ago against U.S.-backed and Islamist fighters, when it took control of the town of Salma—the largest rebel-held town in the Latakia mountains. It was captured with the help of more than 120 Russian airstrikes over two days in addition to hundreds of rockets and missiles fired against the rebels, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group.
The Russian intervention has continued to add to the civilian death toll of the nearly five-year conflict, activists said. More than 100 civilians have been killed in Russian and regime airstrikes in the past three days in the countryside of the eastern city of Deir Ezzour, said local activists and the Observatory.
On Friday, Russia’s military defended the accuracy of its aerial campaign, saying its experience in Syria would boost the performance of its armed forces.
Latakia has long been mostly under regime control. But the rebels had a foothold that, with the loss of Salma and Rabia, is now in danger.
Efforts to restart talks this week in search of a political solution to the conflict have been thrown into doubt over questions of whether the opposition would attend and who would represent it.
A statement released by more than two dozen rebel factions on Saturday affirmed their support for a political settlement but added: “We hold the Assad regime and its Russian ally responsible for any failure of the political process due to their continued war crimes, including the killing, besiegement and starvation of civilians.”
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