this is really the last major pocket of anti-regime territory. and it really has been the focus of this intensification, certainly after the shooting down of that su-25 on saturday evening. and really the situation there is desperate in terms of the civilians who are in a sense caught between a rock and a hard place. this intensifying russian-syrian offensive in the area. also we must admit that many of the syrian factions in that part of the country are hardline, to say the least, among them what is known as the al qaeda affiliate even though they deny any connections with al qaeda, it operates in that area. so the continuing plight of the civilians in that part of syria really underscores why here in lebanon, we continue to see desperate syrians risking their