Syrian offensive on Qusayr deepens

At least 13 Hezbollah members reportedly killed while backing Syrian military attack on strategic town near Lebanon.

The Syrian military continued its offensive on Qusayr amid reports that at least 13 Hezbollah fighters helping the army in the strategic attack have been killed so far.

Syrian state media said army units pushed deeper into the town near the Lebanese border on Monday, and are fighting street battles with the rebels.

The SANA news agency said that President Bashar Assad's troops took control of most of the town of Qusair on Monday.

Opposition activists said at least 52 people were killed on Sunday. At least 13 Hezbollah fighters were also killed, they said.

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut, said: "It seems the government is able to control most of Qusayr ... it has been a rebel stronghold for about one year."

The attack on Sunday came a day after a rare interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was released, in which he said that his government was not using "fighters from outside of Syria, of other nationalities, and needs no support from any Arab or foreign state".

Our correspondent in Beirut said: "Both sides have sought help from other countries.
"Hezbollah is heavily involved in the fighting, and there are hundreds of foreign fighters in Qusayr. The confrontation has taken a rather regional and sectarian tone. This is about Sunnis fighting Alawites and Shia, not just Syrian rebels fighting government forces."

Assad interview
The attacks came after Assad spoke to the Argentine newspaper Clarin and the Argentine state news agency Telam in a frank and lengthy interview in Damascus, released on Saturday, in which he insisted that he will not resign before elections in 2014.
He also denied that his government has used chemical weapons against the civilian population, and blamed foreign intervention for the crisis.

Assad: To resign is to flee

His comments come amid a rare joint push by the US and Russia to convene the peace conference in Geneva, which he cautiously welcomed.

"We have received the Russian-US approach well and we hope that there will be an international conference to help Syrians overcome the crisis," Clarin quoted Assad as saying.

 "We must be clear ... there is confusion in the world over a political solution and terrorism.

"They think that a political conference will stop terrorism on the ground. This is unrealistic."

Source: Aljazeera