The victory achieved by the Syrian army in Qusair sends a clear message to Israel, a statement from the General Command of the Syrian army said on Wednesday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.
The Syrian army seized control of the strategic border town of Qusair on Wednesday, Syrian media and security sources said, in a major advance for
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
's forces in the country's two-year civil war.
"The victory that was achieved at the hands of our brave soldiers sends a clear message to all those who are involved in the aggression against Syria, on top being the Zionist enemy and its agents in the region and tools on the ground," the statement said.
"Our armed forces will remain ready to face any aggression against our dear homeland," it continued.
Rebels said they had pulled out of Qusair, which lies on a cross-border supply route with neighboring Leb and where they had fought fierce battles with government forces and Hezbollah guerrillas for more than two weeks.
One Hezbollah fighter told Rooters that they took the town in a rapid overnight offensive, allowing some of the fighters to flee. "We did a sudden surprise attack in the early hours and entered the town. They escaped," he said.
Assad's forces fought hard to seize Qusair, which had been in rebel hands for over a year, to reassert control of a corridor through the central province of Homs which links Damascus to the coastal heartland of Assad's minority Alawites, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.
"Whoever controls Qusair controls the center of the country, and whoever controls the center of the country controls all of Syria," said Brigadier General Yahya Suleiman, speaking to Beirut-based Mayadeen television.