Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — The opposition has reported the rebel capture of another
Syrian town.

Opposition sources said the Free Syrian Army attacked and seized Duma, a
major suburb of Damascus, on Jan. 21. They said FSA units, comprised of
Syrian Army deserters, overran positions of the regime of President Bashar
Assad and captured the entire town after heavy fighting.

“Groups of deserters took control of all districts in the town of Duma, near Damascus after fierce fighting on Jan. 21 with Syrian security forces,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

At first the London-based Syrian Observatory reported that Assad troops fled to a security compound in Duma, 20 kilometers northeast of Damascus. Later, both regime as well as rebel forces were said to have left the suburb.

“Dissident groups withdrew from the town and returned to their bases,” the Syrian Observatory said.

This marked the second town captured by the rebels. On Jan. 20, FSA units were said to have seized Zabadani, a resort community along the Syrian border with Lebanon.

Western diplomats have reported a surge in rebel attacks on the Assad regime, which has been increasingly supported by Iran and Hizbullah. They
said morale in the Syrian Army and security forces appeared to be dropping
amid rising desertions and the arrival of Islamic fighters from around the
Middle East.

Opposition sources said FSA also took control over much of Idlib, a
province near the Syrian border with Turkey. The sources said FSA drove
Assad forces from northern and eastern Idlib in heavy fighting on Jan. 21 in
which 23 Syrian Army soldiers were killed.

The latest Islamic fighters were said to have arrived from Egypt. On
Jan. 19, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said two Egyptians were shot and
killed and two others were injured by Assad forces as they sought to cross
from Jordan into Syria.

The Islamic opposition in Syria was also said to have recruited Sunni
fighters from neighboring Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Jordan has acknowledged providing medical treatment and haven to rebels from
Syria.

“The Syrian border is under a severe security alert, and if infiltrators
are not arrested in Syria, they will be arrested in Turkey,” Egyptian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Roshdi said.

  Amr Roshdi, Bashar Assad, Duma, Free Syrian Army said to capture Damascus suburb, Idlib, Syrian Army, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Zabadani