Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Sunni rebels have been targeting key assets of the regime
of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Syrian opposition has reported attacks on media and security
facilities of the Assad regime. On June 27, rebels stormed the
government-controlled Ikhbariya television and killed three employees.

“What happened today is a massacre, a massacre against the freedom of the press,” Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoebi said. “They carried out a terrifying massacre by executing the employees.”

Zoebi said the rebels planted explosives in the privately-held
television station, located about 20 kilometers south of Damascus. This marked the second rebel attack on Ikhbariya or its employees in June.

On June 26, rebels attacked the Republican Guard in the Damascus suburb of Qudsiya in fighting that resulted in 28 casualties. Officials said the rebels employed rocket-propelled launchers, machine guns and sniper rifles against the Republican Guard division.

The Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility for the attack on the
Republican Guard base. FSA described the operation, comprised of 20 fighters, as an exploratory attack on the base, located some five kilometers from Assad’s official residence.

The Assad regime also reported the abduction of a Syrian Air Force
general. Syrian state television said Lt. Gen. Faraj Al Maqat was abducted
from the exclusive Damascus neighborhood of Adawi, also home to Russian
military advisers.

“We live in a real state of war from all angles,” Assad told the Cabinet
on June 26. “When we are in a war, all policies and all sides and all
sectors need to be directed at winning this war.”

  Free Syrian Army, Ikhbariya television station, Information Minister Omran Zoebi, Lt. Gen. Faraj Al Maqat, Qudsiya, Syrian rebels strike state-controlled TV station