Assad: Syrian people must defeat terrorism and extremism

Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Wednesday that the Syrian people "have no other choice but to defeat terrorism and extremism by adhering to moderation and intellectual enlightenment."

Assad also hailed Russia's worldwide role, which "is setting a roadmap for a new world of international justice and the people's freedom."

This comes as the head of the Syrian opposition bloc Ahmad Jarba made a rare trip on Tuesday to Latakia province in Syria, including the recently captured Christian-Armenian town of Kessab where met with rebels fighting against Syrian army, al-Jarba’s media bureau reported.

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s family hails from Latakia, the scene of a fierce 11-day battle in which rebel groups including the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front have made significant gains.

So far, they’ve captured a border crossing with Turkey and a tiny slice of the coast that gives them access to the Mediterranean Sea.

In addition to Kessab, Jarba also toured Latakia’s rebel-held mountainous areas of Jabal al-Turkmen and Jabal al-Akrad, meeting with rebel commanders to assess the “latest plans and needs for the battle on the coast,” the coalition said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that regime airstrikes and artillery targeted a number of locations in northern Latakia, as clashes raged pitting government troops and paramilitaries against several jihadist and rebel groups.


AP/LBCI