forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Asad are preparing to mount an offensive against rebels based in the coastal town of Banias. Farther south, in Dara'a, eyewitnesses report bodies remaining in the streets uncollected since being killed by Al-Asad's troops. The sound of gunfire is still heard while

setting has been to push society to the brink. As soon as protests started ... state media showed staged footage of arms being found in a mosque in Dara'a, the southern city where protests first broke out, and warned that a sit-in in Homs ... was an attempt to erect a mini-caliphate. This manipulation

setting has been to push society to the brink. As soon as protests started ... state media showed staged footage of arms being found in a mosque in Dara'a, the southern city where protests first broke out, and warned that a sit-in in Horns ... was an attempt to erect a mini-caliphate. This manipulati

the French political scientist Fabrice Balanche has shown, based in the territories and urban quarters of the country's Sunni Arabs. It erupted in Dara'a, a remote provincial EFTA_R1_00234072 EFTA01845126 town in the south, then spread to Hamah, Homs, Jisr al- Shughour, Rastan, Idlib, and Dayr az Z