Activists said fighting between Assad loyalists and rebels was concentrated in the northern suburbs of Latakia city, the provincial capital. The Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights said government troops bombarded rebel positions in the city's outskirts with artillery as they tried to capture several strategic hilltops. Fighter jets also carried out several airstrikes.
State TV said army troops captured one of the hilltop positions known as the Observatory 45. It is a strategic post that is key to both sides because it has a commanding view of the contested surrounding mountains and green plains below. The rebels and opposition groups have not confirmed its capture.
Opposition fighters from several conservative and hard-line Islamic groups, including the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, launched their assault on the northern stretches of Latakia province along the Turkish frontier March 21. So far, they have seized a border crossing, several villages and the predominantly Armenian-Christian town of Kassab. They've also gained control of an outlet to the sea for the first time since Syria's uprising began three years ago.
Their push for the area from which Assad's family hails from appeared to have caught Damascus off guard. Government forces, members from Hezbollah, have recently triumphed against the opposition along the border area with Lebanon, ousting rebels from their border strongholds inside Syria and cutting off supply routes from the neighboring country.
In the Latakia offensive alone, more than 1,000 people have been killed and wounded on both sides of the fighting, according to a statement by the Observatory, which has documented the conflict by sending a daily tally of those killed and wounded in the conflict. Among those killed were at least 194 soldiers and Assad-loyal fighters and 27 army officers, including a second cousin of the president, Hilal Assad.
More than 128 rebel fighters were also killed in the 10-day battle for Latakia, the Observatory said. The number included 56 foreign fighters. AP