Al-Qaeda stronghold besieged by Syrian troops

The Syrian Army has laid a tight siege on the al-Qaeda terrorists' stronghold in the crisis-hit country, reports said on Saturday.According to FNA dispatches, the Syrian army forces have seized control of a number of villages around the Central town of al-Qasir and tightened their siege on the al-Qaeda terrorists in the town.Qasir is the main stronghold of the al-Qaeda in Syria, and at least 100 al-Qaeda terrorists have been killed in heavy armed clashes with army forces near the town during the last two days.In Aleppo, the army is now in control of al-Sheikh Saeed neighborhood from where it can target the rebel-controlled areas.Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.In October 2011, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.