The Syrian capital of Damascus— inhabited as early as 8,000 to 10,000 BCE — is arguably the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.
Syrian rebels — bolstered by an influx of Croatian weapons and new promises from the West— are inching closer to penetrating the fabled city as they gain ground nearby.
"It will become difficult for the regime to claim to govern Syria if the opposition breaks into downtown Damascus," Joseph Holliday of Institute for the Study of War concludes in a recent analysis of the regime’s military strategy over the last two years. "Assad is more likely to destroy Damascus than to abandon it to the opposition."
The Associated Press reportsthat at least three mortar shells struck central Damascus Monday, including one near Tishreen presidential palace — one of three palaces that Assad uses in the capital. Syrian rebels also claimed to have hit the Damascus International Airport, which has been under attack for months, with 27 rockets.
"I don't even feel safe at home any more," one Damascene father of two told Reuters three weeks ago. "It's one thing for government forces to walk around with machine guns. But RPGs? A mortar shell or grenade can come flying through my window any minute. It's ridiculous."
Assad feels the heat — and the morale of his troops is reportedly waning— but the Alawite ruler still has plenty of help and claims that “the war will not end anytime soon.”
Journalist Michael Weiss notes that, according to Holliday's analysis, Assad has "around 18,700-28,700 conventional troops with which to combat an insurgency that now exceeds 100,000."
But Assad is also drawing from 50,000 or more Hezbollah-trained and Iran-financed militiaman called the Jaysh al-Sha‘bia (i.e. "People's Army") and an unknown number of Hezbollah and Iranian fighters using Iranian and Russian weapons.
To get an idea of what the future holds for Damascus, one needs only to look at the country's second city of Aleppo. Syria's commercial hub — which lies near the oldest known human settlement in the world — has been destroyed by vicious fighting over the past year.
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