海角大神

鈥� A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Syrian rebels say they targeted President Bashar al-Assad鈥檚 convoy with mortar rounds today in the capital of Damascus. If verified, it would be the most direct attack on the Syrian leader since the conflict began in 2011. The government has denied rebel claims.

Artillery shells this morning, residents confirmed with the Associated Press. But the government showed footage of Mr. Assad praying in the area鈥檚 Anas bin Malik Mosque for Eid al-Fitr, the聽three-day Muslim holiday聽which marks the end of Ramadan. The information minister said Assad drove his own car to the early morning service and was not a part of a motorcade.

This was Assad鈥檚 third public appearance in more than a week. There have been a handful of rebel attacks against Damascus locations he frequents and a deadly bomb wiped out top Assad aides, including his brother-in-law, in Damascus last summer. But according to Reuters, 鈥渢here have been no reports of .鈥�

A faction of the Free Syrian Army, Tahrir al-Sham, claimed it fired toward Assad鈥檚 convoy after scouting out the route of his motorcade

"The attack rattled the regime, even if Assad was not hit," Firas al-Bitar, the head of the brigade, told Reuters. "There were two motorcades, one containing Assad and a decoy. We targeted the correct one."

There have been no accounts of casualties or damage as a result of the shelling today, notes the AP.

But more than two years into the Syrian conflict, many question whether the death of Assad would hasten the end of the largely sectarian battle.

鈥淭丑别 two words that really describe Syria today are stalemate and deadlock,鈥� Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics, told 海角大神 late last month. 鈥淭his is the worst scenario because what political deadlock and military stalemate mean is that it鈥檚 turning into a war of attrition, it鈥檚 a long war, it鈥檚 a costly war. Neither side has the means to deliver a decisive blow. What this means is more casualties, more escalation, and more suffering for the Syrian population.鈥�

According to the Monitor, the crisis in Syria, 鈥渋s one of the worst humanitarian disasters in decades.鈥�

The United Nations estimates that the conflict claims as many as 5,000 lives per month, nearly 1 in 3 Syrians are refugees or displaced inside the country, and there are 6.8 million Syrians in need of urgent assistance. Even the most devout newsreader can get lost in the flurry of statistics and layers of conflict.

Rebel groups are splintering and growing, as foreign fighters with their own agendas capitalize on the conflict.聽 A separate Monitor report notes that 鈥渢here are now at least 1,200 different armed opposition groups鈥� in Syria, 鈥渕aking it difficult to determine who is a legitimate fighting group and who is a criminal gang.鈥�

The north of the country is largely rebel-held, near the city of Aleppo earlier this week, reports The Wall Street Journal. But Assad鈥檚 troops have made advances near the Lebanese border and in Homs, and has a strong hold on the center of the country, according to the AP.

鈥淚f you see gains being made by the opposition, you鈥檒l find that they鈥檙e not being made in those areas. They鈥檙e being made in other areas 鈥� where the regime is not pouring resources in there to hold them at all costs,"聽Amr Al Azm, an associate professor of Middle East history and anthropology at Shawnee State University in Ohio told the Monitor last month. "Whereas around Homs they鈥檒l put resources to fight at all costs and the same in Damascus."