Syrian forces on Sunday unleashed a new round of heavy shelling and sent reinforcements to a mountainous area near the coastal city of Latakia where hundreds of rebels have set up base and which has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent days, activists said. The fighting between the regime troops backed by helicopter gunships and armed groups in the area of Haffa began on Tuesday. An opposition group said at least 58 soldiers have been killed and more than 200 wounded in the operation there since, according to a report of the Associated Press. Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the heavy losses indicate the seriousness of the challenge in the mountainous area where "hundreds" of rebels are entrenched.
