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Fighting continues over the Assad regime’s last holdout in Jisr al-Shughour, the key city in northwest Syria taken by rebels on April 26.

More than 200 Syrian troops were surrounded in the National Hospital as the opposition established its control over Jisr al-Shughour, near the Turkish border on the main route between Aleppo and Latakia on the Mediterranean coast. They have refused to surrender despite the siege, ground assaults, and vehicle-borne bombs, including one by Jabhat al-Nusra on Saturday that started the latest rebel attempt to occupy the hospital.

A media blackout by the rebels has limited news of subsequent fighting; however, reports indicate opposition fighters are inside the building. Syrian troops are said to be entrenched in the hospital’s four underground floors.

President Assad, finally admitting major rebel victories last week such as the capture of the provincial capital Idlib, has turned the hospital siege into a symbol for the outcome of the four-year Syrian conflict. He said that his forces will defeat the opposition to reach the hospital and reach the valiant and brave men inside.

Syrian forces have tried to advance on the outskirts of Jisr al-Shughour. However, despite loud claims from pro-Assad outlets — State media proclaimed a “dramatic collapse in terrorist organizations” — it appears they have made little advance. Battles continue over positions like the Sugar Factory outside the city.

The launch of the rebel offensive, with the vehicle bomb at 1:22:

Propaganda video from the Assad regime, trying to rally support:

Rebel attack on regime forces at the Sawmill barrier near Jisr al-Shughour:

Video: Deadly Regime Airstrikes on Village Near Jisr al-Shughour in Northwest Syria

Video of the aftermath of one of the airstrikes the Assad regime is carrying out in an attempt to move back into Jisr al-Shughour in Idlib Province:

The attack on al-Quniyeh village killed four people, including three children, and wounded several, according to the Local Coordination Committees. Another pro-rebel outlet claims dozens were killed and “many others wounded”, while a Facebook page lists 12 victims, most of them children.

Opposition: We Will Not Attend UN Envoy’s Geneva Talks

The opposition Syrian National Coalition said on Monday that it will not attend consultations in Geneva, organized by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura.

Coalition head Khaled Khoja made the statement in Istanbul. He spoke alongside Louay Hussein, a leading domestic opposition activist who recently fled to Turkey after detention and intimidation by the Assad regime.

In his sharpest criticism of the Assad regime to date, Hussein said it was “not qualified to participate in any political process” and appealed to the international community to save Syria from “tyrannical forces” working toward a future in which “there will be no Syria on the map for a long period.”

The activist reportedly said that Iran now controls the Assad regime politically and militarily, including through the Lebanese organization Hezbollah. He also denounced other “destructive forces” such as the Islamic State and the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra.

UN envoy de Mistura launched the consultations in Geneva last Tuesday. He said on Monday that he has taken note of the Coalition’s decision but still looks forward to the arrival of an envoy of the group to Geneva.

“This is indeed the whole purpose of the exercise in itself,” he said.

Khoja later confirmed:

Fighting For Thermal Plant in al-Ghab Plain, South of Jisr al-Shughour

In a sign of the continued fighting in the al-Ghab Plain, south of Jisr al-Shughour, a thermal plant has changed hands twice in the last 48 hours.

The plant was taken by the rebels in their offensive across southern Idlib and northern Hama Provinces soon after Jisr al-Shughour fell on April 26. However, regime forces reoccupied it after Syrian airstrikes.

On Sunday, rebels reclaimed the plant but they withdrew on Monday amid more Syrian air raids.

Rebels fighting near the plant:

The opposition still holds the nearby village of Zeizun.

Rumors Circulate Over Status of Assad’s Head of Security Services, Ali Mamlouk

Conflicting dramatic rumors are circulating today over the position of the head of Syria’s National Security Bureau, Ali Mamlouk.

Citing “sources inside the Presidential Palace”, London’s Daily Telegraph claims that Mamlouk is under house arrest after he was suspected of plotting a coup.

The “senior regime source with direct knowledge of the plan” said the security chief was speaking with Turkish intelligence services through an intermediary.

The Telegraph also claims Mamlouk used a businessman from Aleppo as an intermediary to contact Rifaat al-Assad, the President’s uncle, who has been in exile since he was accused of seeking to mount a coup against his brother Hafez in the 1980s.

Last week, prominent activists on social media claimed that Mamlouk is suffering from terminal leukemia. State media denied the report as a “false media campaign”, saying he was “on top of his work and carrying out his functions normally”.

See Syria Daily, May 4: State Media Deny Reports That Head of Intelligence Mamlouk Has Terminal Cancer

The rumors about Mamlouk’s follow the demise of two other intelligence chiefs. Last month Rustom Ghazaleh, the head of the Political Security Directorate, died after he was dismissed and reportedly beaten by the bodyguards of General Rafiq Shehadeh, the head of military intelligence.

Shehadeh was also fired following the incident.