Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
had personally pledged to rescue the trapped troops and civilians, who are said to include senior figures and have been holed up in a hospital complex since rebels captured the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughur two weeks ago.
As the relief column fought its way to within two kilometers (just over a mile) of the complex on Sunday morning, the rebels launched an all-out assault, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
At least 40 rebels and 32 government troops were killed in the heavy fighting that erupted inside the complex and with the advancing column, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The festivities continued into the early hours of Monday with the rebels retaking some ground from the advancing troops before being pushed back.
Among the 250 people holed up inside the complex are around 150 government troops, including "high-ranking officers," as well as their family members and some civil servants, Abdel Rahman said.
It is unclear how much food and ammunition they have left.
The rebels assaulting the complex include fighters of Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.
They seized the rest of Jisr al-Shughur on April 25, extending their gains in Idlib province, where they have also captured the picturesque provincial capital and a military base in recent weeks.