Syria Live Coverage: Worries About "Disorganised" Insurgency and a "Failed State"

2152 GMT: Intense Fighting . The town of Busr al Harir, in Daraa province (map), has been the site of heavy fighting for over a month, but this is a claim, made by the LCC, that we've never read before:

Fierce clashes between the Free Syrian Army and regime army are reported as the Free Syrian Army fights back regime army's attempts to deploy paratroopers by helicopter gunships. The Free Syria Army successfully captured a number of soldiers and pro-regime thugs (shabiha) including an officer who were trying to storm the town.

We are not aware that paratroopers have been deployed before in this conflict. This could indicate that the roads in and out of the town are too unsafe, as roadside IED attacks and ambushes have proven costly to the Assad regime in this region in the past. This could also indicate that the Assad military was hoping to catch the rebels off-guard. If the report is to be believed, the tactic did not work.

This is not the first change in tactics reported today:

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