TODAY’S MESOP SYRIA INSIGHT (II) : Rebels withdraw from short-lived gain in Old Homs

The Syrian government and National Defense Force militias announced Tuesday they had regained complete control of Jeb al-Jandali east of Old Homs after rebels withdrew from the neighborhood due to a lack of manpower. “The operation…succeeded in sending a message that the heroic fighters and mujahideen of Homs have the ability at any moment to penetrate the regime and the shabiha’sfirst line of defense,” a pro-opposition citizen journalist in Old Homs, Abu Rami al-Homsi, wrote on Facebook Tuesday, touting the rebels’ first advance outside Old Homs since June 2012.

Meanwhile, Syrian government forces shelled the neighborhoods of Bab al-Houd, al-Qusour and al-Qarabis inside Old Homs one week after intensifying an effort to seize complete control of the neighborhoods, encircled by government forces since June 2012. Since a temporary United Nations-brokered truce allowed the entry of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of some 1,400 citizens, dozens of rebels have surrendered themselves amidst widespread starvation.