The Syrian troops on Tuesday scored a new strategic victory against the rebels in the northern countryside of capital Damascus, as Moscow is witnessing a flurry of diplomatic activities aimed at paving the way for a successful peace conference on the Syrian crisis in Geneva.
The Syrian government troops have started a large-scale offensive on the northern outskirts of Damascus, after tightening the screws on rebels in the southern rim of the capital.
The Syrian troops backed by a big firepower unleashed on Sunday a military operation to storm a key town in the northern outskirts of the capital Damascus after fully besieging it, as the rebels rained down Damascus with mortars as part of their reprisal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed Thursday his country's support for Syria in a phone conversation with his Syrian counterpart, the state-run SANA news agency reported.
The Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA) has started sending weapons to Jordan with a view to arming small groups of vetted Syrian rebels within a month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The Obama administration on Wednesday announced eased sanctions on the Syrian opposition, just as the United States and Britain were holding discussions on more efforts to aid the rebels in their fighting against the government troops.
An alleged leftist rebel was killed in a clash between government soldiers and the New People's Army in southern Philippines early Monday.
The Syrian army on Sunday launched a wide-scale operation to recapture the border city of al-Qussair near Lebanon, and has regained large swathes of the strategic city, local media reported.
The U.S. government on Monday condemned the recent violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) where rebels seized control of the country's capital on Sunday.
A Syrian opposition group at home has warned of a Kurdish-Arab civil war due to the raging battles between Syrian Kurds and armed rebels in northern Syria, at a time when the Human Rights Watch blamed the rebels of infringing upon minorities' properties.
The Malian army, supported by its French allies, entered the town of Douentza early on Monday morning, a military source told Xinhua on the same day.
Al-Qaida-linked rebels in northern Mali are facing increasing pressure after days of bombardment by French war planes and with more troops to be deployed on the ground to help the government army.
The French air force on Sunday extended strike further north to Gao, one of the three major towns controlled by rebels in northern Mali, according to reports from local residents and official sources in Paris.
Syrian media said Sunday that scores of armed rebels were killed nationwide during clashes with army troops, as the Syrian parliament were working to prepare for a national dialogue among all spectra of the Syrian people.
Violence intensified on Wednesday across war-torn Syria with reports of shelling in several areas and military showdown at a military airport in the north, as the United Nations put the death toll of the 22-month conflict at more than 60,000 people.