REPORT: Syrian Observatory says Syrian regime and Hezbollah's fighters control the region of Ibil

                         
Members of Syria's main opposition group on Thursday dismissed accusations by President Bashar Assad that the West was backing al-Qaeda in civil war Syria.
                              
In a rare TV interview with the state-run Al-Ikhbariya channel aired on Wednesday to Mark Syria's Independence Day, Assad warned the West will pay a price "in the heart" of Europe and the United States as their sponsored terror networks "evolve".                             

Meanwhile, the Syrian National Coalition members in Turkey dismissed the rhetoric voiced by Assad, and placed the responsibility of Syria's conflict on the Syrian regime.              

"There is no al-Qaeda in Syria. There is no terrorist groups in Syria. The only terrorist in the country is this regime," said SNC member, Salem al Meslet.                  

Extremist groups such as the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra are gaining ground in Syria's conflict.         

It has emerged as the most effective force among the mosaic of rebel units fighting against Assad's troops.                             

On another note, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress on Wednesday that the Pentagon is sending around 200 soldiers from an Army headquarters unit to Jordan to assist efforts to contain violence along the Syrian border and plan for any operations needed to ensure the safety of chemical weapons.               

The decision to dispatch the 1st Armored Division troops of planners and specialists in intelligence, logistics and operations, came after several lawmakers pressed the Obama administration for even more aggressive steps to end the Syrian conflict.           

Even the most modest efforts by the international community to end the bloodshed in Syria have failed.                                

The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hear an open briefing on the humanitarian, refugee and human rights crises in Syria later Thursday. And on Friday, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, is to brief the council behind closed doors.                                


On the field                     

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that Syrian army, pro-Syrian Popular Committee fighters and Hezbollah now control the region of Ibil in Homs.              

Earlier, Syrian activists said rebels controlled most of the Dabaa military complex after weeks of fighting with government forces for control of the facility.               

The base is located near Qusair, a contested Syrian town near a key highway between Damascus and the coast.                    

Dabaa is a former air force base and includes an airfield, which hasn't been used in the two-year conflict. The army has based ground troops in the facility to fight rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad's regime.          

More than 70,000 people have been killed since the revolt in Syria started in March 2011.