Syrian rebels and army clash over coastal town

BEIRUT — Syrian rebels pressed their offensive deeper into the coastal heartland of President Bashar Assad’s Alawite sect on Wednesday, battling government troops backed by warplanes for control of at least two villages in the heavily wooded and mountainous terrain, activists said.

Opposition fighters from conservative and hardline Islamic groups, including Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, launched their assault Friday on the northern stretches of Latakia province near the Turkish frontier. So far, they have seized a border crossing, and gained control of an outlet to the sea for the first time since Syria’s uprising began three years ago.

While modest in terms of territory, those gains have buoyed an armed opposition movement that has suffered a series of recent setbacks on the battlefield. Over the past month, Assad’s forces, backed by his allies from the Lebanese Hizbollah militant group, have captured towns and villages along Syria’s border with Lebanon, squeezing the flow of rebel fighters and materiel across the frontier.

A Latakia-based activist who identified himself as Mohammed Abu Al Hassan said rebels were hoping that the offensive in Latakia would draw more Syrian soldiers to the area, relieving some of the pressure on harried opposition fighters elsewhere in the country.

“The thinking is to open a battle that will make the regime rush to fight,” Abu Al Hassan said via Skype. “The regime can’t imagine losing the sea [of Latakia]. They will bring reinforcements, and that will lessen the pressure [elsewhere].”

On Wednesday, rebels were battling government troops in the Latakia villages of Qastal Maaf and Nabaain, activists said. Syrian military jets were conducting air strikes around to try to push back the opposition fighters, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“So far, it’s attacks and retreats, nothing is certain,” said Abdurrahman.

Both villages are south of the Armenian Christian town of Kassab and the nearby border crossing, which rebels seized on Sunday.

The government has acknowledged the fighting in Latakia near the border with Turkey.

The rebels advanced on Qastal Maaf on Tuesday after seizing a hilltop area known as Observatory 45. Activists said the strategic post was important because it enjoys a commanding view of the surrounding mountains and green plains below.

On the coast, rebels captured a small, rocky strip known as Samra on Tuesday, according to activists.

The activist Abu Al Hassan said the area could be used by rebels to smuggle weapons. He said the shoreline there at the foot of rocky mountains was used by smugglers for decades because of its close access to Turkey and the nearby presence of deep water.

The Turkish government has allowed Syrian rebels, as well as weapons, to move with relative freedom across the frontier with Syria. Still, Samra has no port, and Syrian military aircraft would likely bomb rebels trying to use any sea passage.