The Associated Press quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on recent opposition gains in Syria:
The rebel offensive could eventually link opposition fighters’ positions in Daraa and Quneitra with Damascus’ rebel-held Ghouta suburbs.
“The military objective is to secure lines of communication and to put pressure on the capital,” said Faysal Itani, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Council.
However, despite the rebel advance, Assad’s forces remain strong in the area, holding bases in critical locations that the rebels will find difficult to capture, he said.