Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Sunni rebels have expanded operations against the regime of President Bashar Assad after a lull in operations.

Opposition and diplomatic sources said Sunni rebels were organizing
attacks on Assad’s military and security forces throughout Syria.

Opposition sources said Sunni rebels were attacking Assad forces on a
nightly basis around Homs and Idlib.

The stream of operations, financed by millions of dollars per month from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, was said to have hampered Assad forces in what has been called a civil war.

“The army attacks by day and kills mostly civilians,” an opposition
source said. “The rebels attack at night and are creating panic among the troops.”

The sources said the operations avoided direct confrontation, but focused on roadside bombings and ambushes against regime personnel and facilities. They said the military and security forces were sustaining steady casualties from rebel bombs as well as attacks
on checkpoints.

The sources, in an assertion confirmed by Syrian soldiers, said the army was no longer deployed in dozens of villages
in northern and central Syria.

“There appears to be more bombs and anti-tank missiles as well as
greater expertise on how to use them,” a diplomat said.

The Assad regime, despite a ceasefire announced on April 12, has
reported nearly daily attacks in central and northern Syria, including
Damascus and Homs. The heaviest fighting was said to have taken place in the
northern province of Idlib near the border with Turkey.

“Violent clashes are raging between Syrian regime forces and armed
military defectors,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on May 12.
“The sounds of strong explosions were heard followed by security forces
using heavy and medium machine-gun fire.”

On May 11, Damascus reported the killing of a would-be suicide bomber in
Aleppo, the largest city in Syria and a new battleground between rebels and
Assad forces. Syrian state television said the would-be attacker was driving
a car with 1.2 tons of explosives, believed to be the largest improvised
explosive device used in the Sunni revolt against Assad, which began in
March 2011.

On May 11, at least 55 people were killed in a double suicide car
bombing in Damascus. Syrian sources said they believe that up to 200 Islamic
fighters — many of them trained in IED production — have arrived in Syria
from Iraq.

“Western countries and the United States, which made alliances to wage
wars using the pretext of fighting terrorism, are now making alliances with
the terrorists which Syria has been facing,” Syrian Information Minister
Adnan Hassan Mahmoud said.

On May 14, Syrian Observatory, described as authoritative, reported the
killing of 23 Syrian Army soldiers in a battle with rebels in Rastan. The
opposition group said rebels also destroyed three armored personnel carriers
on the outskirts of the Sunni city, located in the Homs province.

Assad troops have also been alarmed by the fear of abduction and
execution. Scores of troops were said to have been held hostage, with many
of them executed after the regime refused prisoner exchanges.

“We tell this regime to stop its massacres of the Sunni people or face
the consequences,” Al Nusra Front to Protect the Levant People, which
claimed responsibility for the May 10 bombings in Damascus, said.

  Aleppo, Bashar Assad, Homs, Idlib, Information Minister Adnan Hassan Mahmoud, suicide car bombings in Damascus, Sunni rebels, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syrian rebels terrorizing Assad troops with nightly attacks