Fighting Along Syria-Lebanon Border in Preparation for Government Offensive

Trying to flush rebels out of a border town

President Bashar al-Assad's forces and fighters from Lebanese ally Hezbollah pounded Syria's strategic border town of Yabroud on Wednesday, activists said, in apparent preparation for a new offensive to flush out rebels.

The assault is the latest step in Assad and Hezbollah's campaign to assert control over the Lebanese-Syrian border region and fortify the president's hold on central Syria, from the capital Damascus to his stronghold on the coast.