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In Assad's Coastal Heartland, Syria's War Creeps Closer
(Reuters) A three-week-old offensive by rebel fighters in the north of Latakia province has shattered the sense of relative security in this coastal bastion of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority. Rebels are now fighting in the hills overlooking the sea, bringing the country's main port of Latakia within range, even as Assad sounds ever more confident of holding on in Damascus. Yasmin, a woman in Latakia, said school buildings have filled up with Alawite refugees who fled villages further north to take shelter in the city. Local people say they have begun to see Iraqi Shi'ite militiamen along the coast, apparently boosting the ranks of the Syrian military. The Iraqis have joined those from Lebanon's Hizbullah as well as advisers and commanders from Iran in aiding Assad.