Syrian rebels making gains against Assad

BEIRUT -- Syrian rebels captured most of an eastern oil field and stormed a military base in the south, anti-regime activists said yesterday, further chipping away at President Bashar Assad's hold on the country's hinterlands.

Although Assad's regime does not appear on the brink of collapse, rebels seeking his ouster have scored a string of strategic victories over the past week, also seizing a large dam and the defenses around a major airport.

These and other blows have shrunk the portion of the country that Assad effectively governs and could deprive his regime of resources necessary for its survival.

Yesterday, rebels took control of the town of Shadadah along the Euphrates River in eastern Syria, and had seized most of the nearby Jbeysa oil field, one of the country's largest, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The conquests came after three days of battles.

In the southern province of Daraa, near Jordan, rebels stormed a small military base near the town of al-Sahwa. The Observatory said at least four fighters were killed in clashes at the base, which rebels had surrounded and shelled for days before launching their raids. -- AP