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Syrian opposition urges rebels to join key battle

22 May 2013 18:52 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Syria's main opposition alliance on Wednesday urged fighters from around the country to reinforce a rebel-held town under attack by President Bashar Assad's troops and their allies from the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group, APA reports quoting Associated Press.

With its appeal, the Syrian National Coalition sought to bolster embattled rebel forces in Qusair who for a fourth straight day Wednesday came under fierce assault by government troops. The town, which is near the border with Lebanon, lies at the heart of a government offensive to secure a strategic strip of land running from the capital, Damascus, to the Mediterranean coast and Syria's seaports.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah group has been fighting alongside Syrian regime forces in the town and surrounding areas in Homs province for weeks.

"Forces from outside Syria" aim to destroy Qusair and rebels should join the fight to "rescue" the town, George Sabra, the acting chief of the Syrian National Coalition, said in a statement. He also urged Lebanese authorities to respect Syria's sovereignty and prevent foreign gunmen from crossing the border to fight in the civil war.

The Coalition has no control over the mosaic of armed rebel groups fighting on the ground inside Syria, and it was unclear what impact, if any, Sabra's appeal would have.

However, an amateur video released by the Aleppo Media Center showed what it said were dozens of members of the Tawheed Brigade in the northern city of Aleppo who were said to be heading to Qusair to help the rebels. The rebels were driving pickup trucks, cars and trucks, some of them mounted with anti-aircraft guns.

Opposition fighters in Qusair were holding out Wednesday, but appeared to be under increasing strain as government tanks and artillery pounded the town and warplanes bombed it from the sky.

A local government official from the Homs governor's office told The Associated Press on Wednesday that about 80 percent of Qusair was in government hands. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to give information to the media during an ongoing military operation.

He added that Assad's troops had discovered tunnels linking areas around the town, and that the fighting is now concentrated in the northwestern parts of Qusair where the "terrorists" — the phrase regime uses for opposition fighters — were still entrenched. The official's account could not be independently verified because Damascus bans independent media access to much of the country.