Syria: Assad cloaking casualties in home turf of Latakia

Assad military forces and plainclothes agents known as the Shabiha have suffered major casualties and lost many of their equipment in an attack launched by Syrian opposition fighters on the Jibil al-Akrad region, Orient TV reported on Monday, August 24th.
Assad troops were forced to flee the scene and retreat from the coastal areas, leaving the bodies of their dead to remain at the site. These are the first casualties suffered by the Assad regime whose bodies remain in the battlefield.
Assad regime’s state-run TV first said 50 soldiers were killed, then lowered the number to 20 and then 12.
Syrian opposition fighters clashed with these forces in four different locations and were able to take control over a number of strategic Jibil al-Akrad heights.