DAMASCUS — Tensions in the crisis-ridden Syrian capital ran high last week as temperatures hit 115 degrees Fahrenheit. A sense of oppressiveness was compounded by the stench of fermenting garbage and barrages of artillery, tank and helicopter gunship fire that rang through the city.
The audacious assassination of members of the regime’s upper echelons and simultaneous penetration, and control, of districts in the capital boosted the opposition’s morale to new heights last week, raising hopes that an end to the Syrian crisis was near.
