海角大神

Syrian opposition forces have reportedly captured part of the road to聽the Damascus airport in fighting today, bringing opposition forces closer to besieging the capital.

Rebels say the violence has forced the closure of the entire Damascus聽International Airport, while Dubai鈥檚 Emirates airline announced that it is聽indefinitely suspending all flights to and from the Syrian capital. In a聽statement on the airline鈥檚 website it wrote that 鈥渢he safety of our聽passengers and crew is of the highest priority and will not be compromised.鈥�

The rebel assault near the airport may indicate that opposition forces are getting聽closer to besieging the capital聽city聽and聽now pose a greater threat to the military鈥檚 air force, both of which are聽major steps toward the removal of President Bashar al-Assad.聽

鈥淭he regime is already thinking in terms of siege mentality in Damascus,聽but the rebels are also not in a position to dislodge the regime聽yet,鈥澛爏ays Joseph Holliday, a senior research analyst at the Institute for the聽Study of War who specializes in Syria.

But their push on Damascus will likely bolster their efforts elsewhere in the country by keeping regime forces focused on the capital.聽

鈥淭he regime still has a much higher preponderance of troops in Damascus聽than anywhere else in the country. The rebels are strong enough there that聽it will prevent the regime from deciding to reinforce the north or聽something like that because they need everything they鈥檝e got in Damascus,鈥澛燼dds Mr. Holliday.

Already there are reports that the government is massing weapons and supplies聽in Damascus, preparing for a heavy battle to defend it. The regime also聽took a significant step today when it shut down the Internet,聽dealing a blow to opposition forces and activists who rely on the Web to聽coordinate their activities, though some rebel elements have been given gear from the US to run their own communications separate from the government's network.

Forces loyal to the embattled president may also be ratcheting up activity聽after opposition fighters managed to down a helicopter and a jet this week, reportedly using surface-to-air missiles.

The regime military has used its air force as a tool to strike opposition聽forces with relative impunity throughout the war. However, the rebel groups聽have recently acquired antiaircraft missiles and created increasingly聽effective antiair defenses聽using聽heavy machine guns.

Until this week, the group had not yet downed a jet using a聽shoulder-launched, surface-to-air missile called a MANPAD, but two days ago rebels downed a helicopter and yesterday they downed a fighter jet. The Free Syrian Army has likely had such weapons since at least聽late this summer that were either captured from the Assad regime or brought聽from outside suppliers.

鈥淚t isn鈥檛 exactly new that they鈥檝e got them. What鈥檚 new is that they appear聽to have ones that can actually shoot something down and they know how to聽use them,鈥� says Jeffrey White, a defense fellow at the Washington Institute聽for Near East Policy. 鈥淚t isn鈥檛 a decisive moment in the war. It鈥檚 part of聽a process of accumulating increasing rebel military capabilities and聽declining capabilities for regime forces."

It is still too early to tell if opposition forces will be able to聽duplicate their success against government aircraft using the missiles. But this week's incidents are a serious morale boost for the rebels; and if they become a trend, it will be a strategic leg up for rebels who have long cited government jets as a huge challenge to advancing against government troops. 聽