Battles raged Thursday April 3, over key flashpoints in Syria’s Latakia province, a monitor said, nearly two weeks into a rebel offensive against the heartland of Bashar al-Assad’s clan and Alawite sect, according to a report by AFP.
Fighting was especially fierce over a strategic hilltop known as Observatory 45, overrun by rebels last week, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“… The fighting has been focused on Observatory 45. The army advances and takes over, then the rebels advance and push them back out,” said its director Rami Abdel Rahman.
Hundreds of fighters on both sides have been killed in the battles for Latakia, including 20 rebels killed in the past day alone, said the Observatory.
Just over a week into the fighting, opposition Chief Ahmad Jarba visited several rebel areas of Latakia, expressing support for the opposition fighters there and pledging funding.
More than 150,000 people have been killed in Syria’s three-year war, with half the population estimated to have fled their homes.