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The regime’s seizure of Morek is a significant setback for rebel forces seeking to maintain the disruption of the regime’s preferred supply line to Aleppo north from Hama along the M5 highway.
Regime forces appear to be suffering from a heightened manpower shortage.
An assassination campaign against rebel commanders appears to have emerged in western Syria, with at least 12 assassination attempts since the beginning of September 2014.
Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) continues attempts to consolidate control in northern Syria, although its willingness to submit to Shari’a adjudication with other rebel factions in Idlib indicates this may not come at the expense of its relationships with rebel groups.
The assassination of Hassan Aboud, the leader of hardline Salafist Ahrar al-Sham and a former associate of al-Qaeda representative Abu Khalid al-Suri, is likely to have major repercussions for the capacity of rebels to coordinate their efforts across fronts.
Rebel groups including Jabhat al-Nusra have remained on the offensive after their August 27 seizure of the Quneitra Border Crossing.
ISIS continued a multi-front offensive in Syria.
With the help of thousands of fighters from Hezbollah, Iran, and Iraq, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has achieved one of his most important military victories in the past two years by forcing the withdrawal of opposition forces from the town of al-Qusayr. Al-Qusayr now also cuts off access to cross-border weapons supplies to the rebels from Lebanon and provides an important staging ground for future efforts by the regime to retake the north and east.
Recent violence against Sunni communities in Syria’s coastal region raises new concern over sectarianism in Syria. It also suggests to some that Assad will move to form an Alawi state.