Syrian army 'in control' of Qusair

President Bashar Assad’s army is now in full control of the embattled border town of Qusair where fighting raged with rebels for nearly three weeks, Syrian state TV said today.

It said regime troops “restored security and peace” after successfully dismantling the “terrorist networks” operating in the town over the last few days.

Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV, which has reporters embedded with Syrian troops, was reporting live from the town, showing images of damaged buildings. The reporter said there was no sign of fighting.

Government troops, backed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters, began a wide offensive on the strategic town, which lies near the Lebanese border, on May 19.

The capture of the town close to the Lebanese border solidifies some of the regime's recent gains on the ground that have shifted the balance of power in Assad's favour in the Syrian civil war.

Both sides in the conflict value Qusair, which lies along a land corridor linking two Assad strongholds, the capital of Damascus and an area along the Mediterranean coast that is the heartland of his minority Alawite sect.

For the rebels, who had been in control of the town shortly after the uprising against Assad began in March 2011, holding Qusair meant protecting their supply line to Lebanon, six miles away.

In the past week, rebels in Qusair called on fighters from all over Syria to come to their aid in the town, and foreign fighters were suspected to be playing a large role in the city’s defence.

The Qusair battle has also laid bare Hezbollah’s growing role in the Syrian conflict. The Shiite militant group, which has been fighting alongside Assad’s troops, initially tried to play down its involvement, but could no longer do so after dozens of its fighters were killed in Qusair and buried in large funerals in Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, firmly linked his militant group’s fate to the survival of the Syrian regime, raising the stakes not just in Syria but also in Hezbollah’s relations with rival groups in Lebanon.

The municipal building in the centre of Qusair appeared to be pockmarked from fighting. A Syrian flag was raised above it, claiming government control of the town.

The official Syrian news agency SANA said some of the rebel fighters had surrendered.