By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times –
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian troops pressed an offensive Tuesday in rugged northwest Idlib province after forcing a rebel retreat from the strategic regional capital, opposition officials said.
The government assault in Idlib — which follows an advance in central Homs province, another major rebel stronghold — suggests that the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad may be making progress against insurgent fighters who remain outgunned against tanks and armor. Rebels say they have no shortage of recruits but lack weapons.
Security forces accompanied by dozens of tanks entered Idlib city, the provincial capital, after the rebels withdrew late Sunday, said Mazen Arja, an opposition activist who noted that fighters did not have the firepower to confront heavy weapons. The city had endured days of shelling, killing dozens, according to opposition accounts.
“Even one bullet from a Kalashnikov was responded with by a tank shell,” Arja said over the Skype communications network. “If we had RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) we wouldn’t have left. We could have finished off the tanks. … It’s an orphan revolution.”
Rebel fighters have repeatedly been forced to retreat from their enclaves in the face of overwhelming government force. However, insurgents have been able to trickle back into Homs, Hama and other strongholds once regime troops moved on to fight other battles. Whether the same process will play out in Idlib remains to be seen.
Opposition officials have maintained that Syrian security forces, although well-armed, do not have sufficient troop strength to maintain control of the vast swaths of territory where the rebellion has taken hold.
At the same time, Syrian dissidents have complained bitterly about what they call a lack of outside help to arm rebel combatants, even as government officials label them foreign-backed “terrorists.”
At least two Gulf nations, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have backed the idea of arming the rebels. But insurgent commanders inside Syria and arms smugglers along the Lebanese border say there has been no sign of an influx of cash or arms from the wealthy Gulf monarchies.
Opposition accounts of the fighting in Idlib could not be independently verified because the area is largely closed to foreign media.
The rebels voiced the hope that pulling back from the city of Idlib would relieve pressure on its 150,000 or so residents, many of whom have been hunkered down with no electricity or water and little food and medicine as the town was shelled. About 13,000 residents have fled to surrounding villages, Arja said.
On Tuesday, government forces were said to be advancing inside Idlib’s second city, Maarat Numan, as well as shelling several other Idlib towns, including Bennish and Maarat Misreen. All three have been rebel strongholds. Government forces now also appear to be moving forward from positions outside other Idlib towns and cities.
Meanwhile, each side in the escalating Syrian conflict accused the other of carrying out new massacres Tuesday.
The official state news agency alleged that “armed terrorists” killed 15 people in the strife-torn central city of Homs, including a mother and her four children, while an opposition group said security forces killed seven people riding in a car in Maarat Numan.
The reports come a day after each side accused the other of the cold-blooded killing of dozens of people — mostly women and children — in the Homs neighborhood of Karm Zeitoun.
The daily stream of reports from Syria of murders — impossible to verify because of access restrictions — have put new pressure on international diplomats who have been thus far stymied in efforts to bring an end to the violence.
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a special peace envoy to Syria, told reporters in Turkey on Tuesday that he was expecting a response from Assad on “concrete proposals” designed to end the bloodshed. A short time later, according to news services, a U.N. diplomat said Syrian officials had sent Annan a message and that it was “under consideration.”
The diplomat did not specify what the reply entailed, but Annan reportedly then asked Damascus for some clarifications, the Associated Press reported.
The ex-U.N. chief is said to be seeking a cease-fire, access for humanitarian aid into Syria and a new process for dialogue between Assad and his opponents.
Annan’s mission, with broad international backing, appears to be the best hope at the moment to staunch the bloodshed in Syria, where thousands have died in an almost-yearlong uprising that has evolved from street protests to armed insurrection.
The official government news agency reported Tuesday that funeral services were held for 17 army and law enforcement personnel “targeted by armed terrorist groups.” More than 2,000 security personnel have died in the conflict, the government says.
Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years, announced a plan to hold parliamentary elections May 7, the latest component of what he calls his “reform” plans. The opposition has dismissed the effort as a ploy by Assad to buy time and please his allies in Russia and Iran.
