Strategypage writes that the rebels are regaining momentum:
The capture of a military airbase outside Aleppo means that the remaining troops in the city will come under even more pressure. Capturing all of Aleppo would be a major victory for the rebels who have been fought to a standstill in the last two months by the arrival of Lebanese Hezbollah reinforcements and Shia mercenaries recruited from Iraq and other countries by Iran. That has saved the Assad forces from collapse because the army and other security forces are suffering from morale problems after more than two years of rebel attacks. Most of the Assad forces are tied down guarding Damascus and surrounding areas in central Syria as well as the coastal area in the northwest. The rebels are dominant in the north (with the Kurds holding the northeast), the west and the southern border areas. As recent attacks along the coast demonstrated, the rebels can get into “government controlled” areas and launch attacks. This is especially true of the Islamic radical groups, who are into suicide attacks and doing whatever it takes to win.
We'll see how government morale holds up when the rebels start taking the fight back to government held outposts and regions.
UPDATE: Just the effort gets points:
Syrian rebels say they targeted President Bashar al-Assad’s convoy with mortar rounds today in the capital of Damascus, If verified, it would be the most direct attack on the Syrian leader since the conflict began in 2011. The government has denied rebel claims.
Heck, just the claim gets points.
UPDATE: Assad had to send in his increasingly scarce air power to hit rebels in the Alawite homeland:
Warplanes bombed a village in Syria's north overnight in an apparent effort by President Bashar al-Assad to prevent rebels fighting him from advancing on communities in the stronghold region of his Alawite sect.
Assad's forces are on the defensive in his family's home province of Latakia and recent rebel gains across northern Syria, including a military air base captured last week in Aleppo province, have further loosened his grip on the country.
Assad's surge offensive over the last several months did not break the rebels.
