PHOTO: Tunnel bomb explosion under regime’s Fanar checkpoint near Ariha on Tuesday

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Rebels have launched an offensive on the town of Ariha, one of the Assad regime’s last positions in Idlib Province in northwest Syria.

On Tuesday opposition fighters took a series of regime checkpoints near Ariha, including one captured after the detonation of a tunnel bomb. They bombarded Mount 40 (Tal Ma’ar Tab’i), the hill overlooking the town.

This morning the rebel coalition Jaish al-Fatah announced the takeover of Musaybeen, to the east of Ariha.

Citizen journalist Hadi al-Abdallah with a Jaish al-Fatah fighter inside Musaybeen:

Rebels inside one of the hilltop checkpoints overlooking Ariha:

State news agency SANA insists that the Syrian military “thwarted terrorists’ attempt to infiltrate into military posts near al-Arba’een Mount…killing dozens of the assailants and destroying their weaponry and munition.” However, the pro-Assad al-Masdar News acknowledges the loss of the Fanar checkpoint and Musaybeen.

Ariha lies south of the provincial capital of Idlib, which was captured by rebels on March 28 as they began their major offensive through Idlib and Hama Provinces. The opposition has been close to the town since last year, but this is the nearest that they have come to capturing it.

The rebel advance would bolster the opposition strategy of cutting the Assad regime’s links between Aleppo and Idlib with Latakia and Tartous, its political and military bases in western Syria on the Mediterranean. Ariha is on the road between Aleppo and Jisr al-Shughour, the city near the Turkish border won by the rebels on April 26.

Orient News’s report on the 700-meter tunnel for the bomb under the Fanar checkpoint, claiming 11 months, 150 men, and 55,000 pounds of explosive:

Storming of the checkpoint after the explosion:

Amid Rumors of His Arrest, Head of Intelligence Appears on TV Alongside Assad

Countering rumors of his demise via arrest or terminal illness, Syria’s head of intelligence Ali Mamlouk has appeared alongside President Assad on State TV.

Mamlouk, who has led the General Security Directorate since 2005, was shown to Assad’s left at a meeting with Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a leading Iranian MP.

MAMLOUK ASSAD MEETING

On Monday, London’s Daily Telegraph claimed that Mamlouk had been arrested on accusations that he was in contact with the Turkish intelligence services and with Assad’s uncle Rifaat, who went into exile in the 1980s. State media countered that Mamlouk was working normally and holding meetings in his office.

Other rumors claim the head of intelligence is suffering from terminal leukaemia and has weeks to live.

Syrian Military Claims Capture, With Hezbollah, of Highest Point in Western Qalamoun Region

The Syrian military is claiming the capture of the highest point in the western Qalamoun region near the Lebanese border.

The military implicitly acknowledged the leading role of Hezbollah in the week-long offensive that has claimed capture of hilltops in the mountainous area:

Army units, in cooperation with the Lebanese Resistance, established full control over the area of Ras al-Ma’ara after establishing control over Tallit Moussa hill in al-Qalamoun ranges in Damascus Countryside.

Dozens of terrorists were killed and their weapons and ammunition were destroyed in those areas, and army units are chasing down the few remaining terrorists in the area surrounding Tallit Moussa.

Hezbollah and regime forces are trying to cut rebel routes between Qalamoun and Lebanon. Syrian troops took cities and towns across Qalamoun, running to the north of Damascus, in 2013-14 but rebels continued to hold most of the countryside.

About 15 km (10 miles) to the south of Tallit Moussa, rebels claim that they have attacked one regime checkpoint in the Rankous Plain, killing Syrian forces and seizing weapons and armored cars, and seized another with its munitions and an armored vehicle.

Report: Kurdish Forces Take Village on Important Highway from Islamic State

Kurdish forces have reportedly captured Aliya village, west of Tel Temir, in northeast Syria from the Islamic State.

Aliya is significant because is on the international highway to Aleppo and has the biggest grain silo in the area. The Kurdish militia YPG and allies had been fighting the Islamic State for a week for control.

Senior US Official: We Don’t Always Want to Confront Assad Over Undeclared Chemical Weapons

Last week, diplomats said that international inspectors had found traces of sarin and VX nerve agent at a military site that had not been declared by the Assad regime.

In a follow-up story, Bloomberg explains why Washington may not raise the issue:

A senior intelligence official told us that the US, working with the UN, the OPCW [Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons], and other international partners, has intelligence indicating that more than 10 of Assad’s suspected chemical weapons sites had not been disclosed. But the U.S. didn’t always favor confronting Assad about them.

“We knew of sites that Assad didn’t declare,” this official said. “It’s a balancing act. You want to do something to get rid of it, but you also don’t want to show them all your cards.”

Regime Continues Barrel-Bombing of Aleppo After 55 Killed on Tuesday

The regime is continuing its barrel-bombing of Aleppo this morning, including this strike on the Hanano section:

On Tuesday, 55 people were killed in or near Aleppo, according to the Local Coordination Committees. Most of the victims were at the al-Hajj roundabout, with people dying in their cars and regime artillery firing on rescuers.

See Syria Daily, May 12: Report — More than 30 Killed in Regime Airstrike on Aleppo Roundabout

Opposition Coalition Rejects Geneva Conference with UN Envoy Because of His “Indifference Towards Assad’s Massacres”

The opposition Syrian National Coalition has published its letter rejecting the invitation of UN envoy Steffan da Mistura to a “Geneva III” political conference.

The Coalition criticizes de Mistura:

Your positions and statements, especially your statement that Bashar al-Assad is part of the solution in Syria, have shown and given us a clear impression of your indifference towards the massacres that the regime is committing in Syria….This shaped our conviction that the UN convoy [sic] has abandoned his neutrality and mediation, and is standing on the side of one party without the other.

This week the Coalition rejected de Mistura’s approach for consultations, although it has sent a member, Haitham al-Maleh, to advise the envoy of its position on the Geneva Communique of 2012 which called for a transitional government in Syria.

Coalition Vice President Hisham Marwa said:

We were waiting for de Mistura to invite us to negotiations, and instead he invited us to unimportant consultations at a time when the Syrian opposition is winning key victories on the ground.

“The invitation to Iran only strained the situation further and that’s our basic problem with de Mistura.

Syrian Soldier in East Ghouta Near Damascus: “Damn Them, Where Are They Coming From? 100s Upon 100s of Rebels”

A Syrian soldier fighting at Tel Kurdi in the East Ghouta area near Damascus posts a snapshot of the growing challenge on the battlefield:

23mm Artillery and Shilka [anti-aircraft guns] did not let us down. Without it our situation would have been difficult.

Damn them, where are they coming from? Hundreds upon hundreds are coming at us as…they’re attacking our positions in farmlands.

Clashes have now minimised and Mortar attacks have also stopped. Going to get a little sleep.

Tel Kurdi (see map) lies east of the Damascus suburb of Douma, where the leading rebel faction Jaish al-Islam is based.

Earlier this month, Jaish al-Islam distributed video and photos showing the “graduation” of 1,700 new fighters after training.