State-controlled Syrian media is reporting that shells fired by opposition forces have struck a stadium in Damascus, killing an athlete. The reports come alongside those from the opposition, which indicate that over 50 people were killed in Damascus suburbs yesterday.

The increasingly Islamist rebel forces have been making slow but steady gains in recent weeks against the Bashar al-Assad regime, after the ebb and flow of the two-year Syrian conflict saw them make substantial progress at the end of 2012 only to have their tempo slowed in January. Opposition forces have long targeted the regime’s air bases – the calculation being that without the ability to leverage jets and helicopters it is unlikely the regime could survive for long – and recent days have seen fierce fighting around the Aleppo airport.

Though opposition leaders continue to insist they lack the resources to bring the war to a close, regional actors are already maneuvering for the so-called “day after” Assad’s overthrow.

Iran and Hezbollah, which have backed the regime, are known to be building a network of militias inside Syria to be activated in the aftermath of Assad’s overthrow. In the meantime they continue to support the regime materially and logistically. A top Iranian military official was killed last week while traveling between Syria and Lebanon.

Meanwhile Qatar, which along with regional Sunni actors has been backing the opposition, recently became the first Arab country transfer control of the Syrian embassy on its territory to opposition representatives. Syria’s – a three-star tricolor used before the 1963 Baathist coup – will now fly above the diplomatic mission in Doha.

[Photo: FreedomHouse / Flickr]