海角大神

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

Just a day after the Arab League suspended its monitoring mission to Syria, the nation has erupted into what some observers have called the 鈥渇iercest violence鈥� in months.

After two days of fighting that came within a couple miles of the heart of Damascus, government forces reportedly regained control of the city's restive eastern suburbs, but the violence and fighting has spread to other areas of the country.

鈥淎ctivists say it is the聽fiercest violence聽they have witnessed in months,鈥� said Al Jazeera鈥檚 Anita McNaught. 鈥淭here are fires burning all over Syria, some say almost too many for the army to deploy all over the place.鈥�

The state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency reported that an 鈥渁rmed terrorist group鈥澛燼ttacked a gas pipeline聽in Homs, one of the focal points of the violence since the uprising began in March. Syrian government officials often attribute violence to foreign terrorists.

The ongoing violence led to renewed calls for international action against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Many observers say it is unlikely his regime can endure the current uprising, but if no international action is taken, it will be a long and violent battle before Assad's government is removed from power.

鈥淭he Syrian regime headed by Bashar Assad is doomed in the long run, but is likely to last longer than most believe,鈥� writes Joshua Landis, director of the University of Oklahoma鈥檚 Center for Middle East Studies in a blog for Bitterlemons. 鈥淪o long as the Syrian military leadership remains united, the opposition remains fragmented, and foreign powers remain on the sidelines, the Assad regime is likely to survive, but all three of these elements are changing, even if gradually, in the favor of the opposition.鈥�

This week the international community will take one of its most aggressive steps against Syria so far. The United Nations Security Council will consider a draft resolution calling for聽Assad's resignation, reports CNN.

However, the resolution may not go any further 鈥� it faces opposition from Russia, an ally of Syria who has steadily resisted UN efforts to take more action there and holds veto power on the council.

International efforts and those of the Syrian opposition in exile have offered little hope to those suffering from the increased violence, writes Peter Harling, project director聽with the Middle East Program of the International Crisis Group in a blog for Foreign Policy. Without any serious efforts that provide tangible improvement, or at least the promise of it, the opposition is likely to turn to violence to achieve its goals, he writes.聽

With the end of the Arab League mission yesterday, any restraint by government forces exercised while the observers were on the ground seems to have disappeared. On Monday, a day after the Arab League observer mission suspended its work, Syrian activists reported 60 deaths. There were more than 50 military funerals over the weekend. Monday鈥檚 fighting was heavily focused around the capital, but violence has also been reported in Homs, Hama, Idlib, Deraa, and in other places, reports the BBC.

鈥淚f the Arab League observers had inhibited Syrian government forces from attacking residential areas, any such constraints now seem to be thrown to the winds,鈥� reports the BBC鈥檚 Jim Muir. 鈥淭he government actions reported by activists in the eastern suburbs of Damascus and in Rankous, just to the north of the capital, reinforce the sharp escalation cited by the league as grounds for suspending its observer mission.鈥�