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                      Syria Pushes Back as Rebels Advance

   by VOA News

   Syrian government warplanes Thursday bombed targets in two Damascus
   neighborhoods which have served as launching points for rebel
   operations.
   The bombings came as the areas of Kafr Souseh and Daraya have seen
   intense fighting in recent days between rebels and government forces.
   The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebel units
   have also launched a new offensive in the country's north, trying to
   take a military base near the main highway to Syria's commercial
   capital of Aleppo.
   According to the group, rebel forces in Idlib province began moving on
   Wadi al-Deif early Thursday.  The base is not far from the rebel-held
   town of Maarat al-Numan, pounded by government airstrikes Wednesday.
   Opposition activists have been voicing increasing optimism that rebel
   forces are making and keeping gains against government forces.  Some
   point to recent successes in shooting down government warplanes and
   helicopters as evidence momentum may be shifting.
   There are also renewed allegations that Syrian rebels are using
   child-soldiers in their efforts to overthrow the government of Syrian
   President Bashar al-Assad.
   Human Rights Watch said [1]children as young as 14 have served in rebel
   brigades acting as lookouts and transporting weaponry. The human rights
   organization said some have even taken part in combat.
   Also Thursday, two U.S.-based monitoring companies said Syria has
   curtailed Internet access nationwide.
   ''
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   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-pushing-back-as-rebels-advance/
   1555248.html

References

   1. http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/29/syria-opposition-using-children-conflict
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-pushing-back-as-rebels-advance/1555248.html