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Alawites prepare as IS, Jabhat al-Nusra close in on regime areas

Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad long dismissed the threat from the Islamic State, but that threat has become real as jihadists move into the Homs countryside, approaching Alawite and Christian areas.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SAMMY KETZ
A memorial bearing the portraits of soldiers from the city of Tartus, who died during the Syrian conflict, is seen on a wall in the city northwest of Damascus on May 18, 2014. Tartus has itself largely escaped the conflict in Syria, but posters of its sons killed fighting for the regime elsewhere in the country line the western city's main road. AFP PHOTO/JOSEPH EID        (Photo credit should read JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)
A memorial bearing the portraits of soldiers from Tartous, who died during the Syrian conflict, is seen on a wall in the city northwest of Damascus, May 18, 2014. — JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images

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