Topic - Khaled Al-Shami

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In this picture taken on Friday Oct. 23, 2015, Free Syrian Army Col. Ahmad Hamada, spokesman of the supreme command of the Syrian revolution, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, at the Turkish-Syrian border of Reyhanli town, southern Turkey. Despite a month of heavy battering by Russian airstrikes, Syria’s rebels have so far been able to fend off offensives by government forces trying to retake territory from the rebel’s heartland. The fierce fighting shows how even greater backing from Syrian President Bashar Assad’s international allies is not swiftly tipping the conflict in his favor. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

L. TODD WOOD: Defectors: Syrian army completely controlled by Iranian militia

**FILE** Smoke rises over the skyline July 19, 2012, in the Qaboun neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, during shelling by Syrian government forces. (Associated Press)

Syrian troops recapture Damascus neighborhood

By Albert Aji and Zeina Karam - Associated Press