The current offense of the Syrian army produced another success:
Syrian government troops have broken through a six-month opposition blockade in northern Syria and are now fighting to recapture a vital highway, opposition and state media said on Monday.
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[Rami Abdelrahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,] counted more than 50 fighters dead or missing from the battle on Sunday. The army advance was not yet a decisive victory but could reopen battlefields in the north where opposition fighters had the advantage, he said.“We will see now what happens but if the opposition can push back the regime, they can avoid a major setback. If the regime is able to hold this opening it could take back the whole road and that will have major strategic consequences,” he said.
This comes on top of other successes in the southern suburbs of Damascus and near the Jordan border.
The foreign supported insurgents have stretched their forces. They have tried to occupy too many areas and places. They also had heavy losses. That leaves them vulnerable to concentrated actions by Syrian government troops.
Meanwhile the U.S. tries to put the Jihadis genie back into the bottle. It will find that only the Syrian government is able to do that:
Turkey, which has been focused on seeing Assad’s downfall, allegedly is of the opinion that al-Nusra is an effective fighter against Assad and that Ankara can control this radical Islamic group.
“Any means necessary for Assad to go, even if it means through al-Nusra, appears to be valid for Turkey. But this is a very short-sighted view,” the Western intelligence sources believe.
In his third visit to Turkey in two months due to take place on April 20, US Secretary of State Kerry will try to convince both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu that allowing al-Nusra to gain a lead position in Syria is unwise.
It will need real heavy pressure from Kerry to achieve a change in the Turkish support for the Jihadis. Erdogan, and especially Davutoglu, have bet too much on an Assad fall. I doubt that the U.S. is yet willing to press enough to achieve a change in the Turkish position. But that time will come. It is harder and harder to explain to the public why the “west” is supporting the Jihadists in Syria when it is fighting them in other countries.
Jabhat al-Nusra’s recent open pledge of allegiance to Al Qaida was a win for the Syrian government. It will hinder some material support for the opposition. It is also a moral boost for its own troops. They know they are justified in their fight. Together with building military success such a moral boost can be decisive.