"Pas un jour ne passe sans que nos sens ne sont pas matraqué par certains nouvelle flambée du terrorisme au Moyen-Orient. En dépit de nos meilleurs efforts à faire et de garder la paix, politique, économique, et les tensions religieuses conduisent souvent à des troubles, violence, et des émeutes. "

-Jim Bakker dans "la prospérité et l'Apocalypse Coming"

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad praised his soldiers for taking on what he called “armed terrorist gangs” and said that the current battles between his forces and rebels will determine the fate of the country.

Al-Assad did not appear in public to deliver the statement himself but released a written declaration. Al-Assad has not appeared in public in two weeks.

Some of the latest reports of violence include attacks for the first time near two Christian areas in the Old City of Damascus. The UN reports that fighter jets were firing on rebels in Aleppo while the state run media claimed they inflicted “heavy losses” and that they were “mopping up” the remnants of the rebel forces.

Rebels, cependant, appear to still have control over large parts of the city of Aleppo. Rebels denied a report from NBC that they have obtained Turkish surface to air missiles in an attempt to reduce the air attacks.

“Had we acquired such weapons,” Free Syrian Army political adviser Bassam al-Dada told al-Arabiya TV, “ we would have seen the difference on the ground.”