PHOTO: Islamic State fighters in Sukhna in central Syria after capturing it on Wednesday

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THURSDAY FEATURE

Senior US Official “No-Fly Zones, Safe Havens Are Not Happening”

Already reeling from defeats in northwest and southern Syria by rebels, the Assad regime came under further pressure on Wednesday with the Islamic State’s advance in the center of the country.

The militants took the desert town of Sukhna in eastern Homs Province and were reportedly advancing on the city of Palmyra last night.

State news agency SANA does not mention the fighting. However, a pro-Assad site acknowledges the loss of Sukhna and the Islamic State’s seizure of northern and eastern areas of Palmyra, although it claims the militants were later pushed out of the city.

Opposition activists say the Islamic State fighters captured fuel depots at the entrance to the arsenal of weapons, while others hit the Palmyra military airport with Grad missiles.

The Syrian air force is trying to counter with strikes near Palmyra, including one on Burj al-Ishara, 1.5 km (1 mile) to the west.

Sukhna was a main processing center for natural gas before the conflict, while Palmyra, dating back to the Neolithic era, developed as a caravan stop for travelers crossing the Syrian desert and became prominent during the Roman Empire.

The Islamic State made inroads into Homs Province last year during its advance across northern and eastern Syria, claiming oil and gas fields in the area, but had been checked this year from further gains..

Footage from Sukhna:

Meanwhile, the regime is trying to hold out against further rebel victories in Idlib Province in northwest Syria. Opposition forces continued to take territory around the town of Ariha on Wednesday, having blown up and seized military checkpoints and seized high ground the previous day.

Attacks are continuing to clear any remaining regime positions on Mount 40 (Tal Ma’ar Tab’i), the last hilltop with Syrian forces overlooking Ariha.

Footage has been posted of the bodies of Syrian troops at the Fanar checkpoint, struck by a powerful underground bomb on Tuesday, while video shows rebels moving on Mount 40 and surveying Ariha.

As the fighters inspect the “Housing Associations” checkpoint, a spokesman says they will now move on Ariha, as well as the regime’s last military camp south of Idlib city:

Fire from a TOW anti-tank rocket destroying an armored vehicle, with Syrian forces fleeing just before it hits:

Rebels shelling regime forces at the Sawmill checkpoint near the opposition-held Jisr al-Shughour, northwest of Ariha:

Salvation for the regime on the battlefield is coming from the Qalamoun region, near the Lebanon border, where Hezbollah is leading an offensive to take high ground in the mountainous area. The Lebanese organization and Syrian military claimed the capture of Tallit Moussa, the highest point, on Wednesday.

The Hezbollah-Syrian hope is to control a corridor in the western Qalamoun cutting off rebels inside Syria from supplies and movement of men from Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar shows its forces planting the organization’s flag on Syrian hilltops:

While pro-Assad accounts are claiming victory, rebel outlets are saying that the strategy is to stage hit-and-run attacks as the Hezbollah-Syrian force moves through the hills and mountains. On Tuesday, rebels claimed an attack on the Rankous Plain killing 15 Hezbollah and Syrian personnel.

Claims: Israel Airstrike on Hezbollah-Regime Positions in Quneitra Province in Southwest Syria

The Levantine Group summarizes media chatter this morning of an Israeli airstrike in Quneitra Province in southwest Syria, near the Israel-Syria demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights.

The claims, spread in Arab media as well as social media accounts, said targets included the regime base at al-Fawwar, northeast of Khan Arnabeh.

The claims have not been verified by Israeli, Syrian, or Hezbollah sources.

Israel last struck Hezbollah targets near the Golan Heights in January, when warplanes hit a convoy reportedly looking at launch sites for missiles. Seven personnel were killed, including Hezbollah and Iranian commanders and the son of famed Hezbollah military leader Imad Mughniyeh.

Video: Aftermath of Regime Strike Killing 30 in Market in Southern Aleppo Province

The aftermath of a regime bomb on al-Eis village in southern Aleppo Province, killing at least 30 people on Wednesday:

The Local Coordination Committees say they verified the deaths of 46 people across Aleppo Province yesterday.

False Report of New Vehicle Bomb on Regime Holdout in National Hospital in Jisr al-Shughour?

Claims circulated this morning that Jabhat al-Nusra has exploded a third vehicle bomb in an attempt to end the holdout of more than 200 Syrian troops in the National Hospital in Jisr al-Shughour, the city near the Turkish border captured by rebels on April 26.

However, a Jabhat al-Nusra member said that the group only detonated the explosives in a vehicle which had become stuck outside the hospital during a previous operation.

Other rebel sources supported the story.

Last week, following a vehicle bomb, rebels moved into parts of the complex, but the Syrian forces are still in fortified underground floors of the building.

President Assad effectively staked his reputation on the rescue of the troops, saying in a rare public speech last Wednesday that elite Syrian forces would fight their way into the city to reach the hospital.

See Syria Feature: Assad Appears at “Martyrs” Ceremony, Acknowledging Defeats as Well as Claiming Victories

Head of Opposition Coalition Apologizes for Removal of Revolution Flag

The head of the externally-based opposition Syrian National Coalition, Khaled Khoja, has apologized for the removal of the Syrian Revolution flag at a high-profile press conference on Tuesday.

Khoja was appearing with Louay Hussein, a domestic opposition leader who recently fled Syria after he was detained and threatened with lengthy imprisonment, when the incident occurred.

Opposition outlets claimed that Hussein forced Khoja to remove the flag so they would not be tied too closely to the image of revolution.

In a statement on Wednesday, Khoja called on all rebel factions to adopt the revolution’s flag and stay away from others used by forces on the battlefield.

The Coalition President said the political activist “must answer” where an audio, leaked after the conference, in which Hussein denounced the Revolution as trivial was “true or fake”.