DAMASCUS — Rebels controlling swathes of northern Syria have pushed the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad on the back foot, reports from the war-torn country claimed Wednesday. The rebels have confronted reinforcements sent by the embattled regime from Mastumah south of Idlib city to Maaret Al-Numan. The regime had also deployed soldiers along the highway to Maaret Al-Numan to secure the passage of its heavy armor to the strategic town on the Damascus-Aleppo highway. The insurgents were battling to halt their advance, however, using rocket launchers and improvised explosive devices, the source said, adding three tanks were damaged. The intensifying battle for Maaret Al-Numan was “very important,” said the rebels who took control of the town on Tuesday after 48 hours of fierce fighting and heavy shelling. Rebels also intercepted troops on the outskirts of Khan Sheikhun, south of Maaret Al-Numan, where intense clashes erupted even as warplanes bombed rebel zones, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “If the rebels, who already have Maaret Al-Numan and Saraqeb, take Khan Sheikhun, they will completely isolate regime troops in Aleppo because redeployments will not be able to arrive,” observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said. Even after suffering several setbacks, the Syrian regime Wednesday rejected a UN call for a unilateral ceasefire. It insisted the insurgents must stop the violence first as it turned down the call issued the previous day by UN chief Ban Ki-moon. “We told Ban Ki-moon to send emissaries to the countries which have influence on the armed groups, so that they put an end to the violence,” foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Maqdisi said. Meanwhile, Turkey's top military commander, Gen. Necdet Ozel, warned of a tougher response if Syria keeps hitting Turkish soil. The general was visiting the town of Akcakale, where cross-border shelling killed five civilians last week. “We have retaliated (for Syrian shelling) and if it continues, we'll respond more strongly,” Gen. Ozel said, as he inspected Turkish troops on a tour of the heavily fortified border zone. Following the deadly shelling in Akcakale Wednesday of last week, Turkey's parliament approved the use of military force if necessary against Syria. — Agencies
