Much of country is under control of rebel fighters and Islamic State after loss of strategic base in Deraa and defeats in Idlib and eastern Homs.
The regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, is under mounting pressure on several fronts in the war, losing swaths of territory to opposition fighters as well as Islamic State, with strategic resources under its control coming under attack.
Assad’s defeats in Idlib, eastern Homs and Deraa in the south, combined with renewed pressure in Aleppo and Deir el-Zour to the east and the possible loss of gas fields to Isis, have left the regime in a precarious position with little choice but to concentrate its forces in its western strongholds, ceding much of the country to the opposition and Isis.
Meanwhile the rebels, buoyed by a series of victories against Assad, face new challenges in governing areas under their control as well as aerial bombardment by the regime and assaults by Isis in an increasingly complex battlefield.
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“This is definitely the most strategically weak position the regime has found itself in since early 2013, but it should not be entirely overplayed yet,” said Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Centre thinktank and author of the book Profiling the Islamic State. “What seems to be happening is a redrawing of the power map in Syria, with the regime seemingly more willing to cede territory outside of its most critically valuable zones.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/11/syria-losses-east-assad-regime-precarious