- NEW: Rebel troops prepare to face government reinforcements, an official says
- Journalist tells of "comprehensive victory" for Syrian president in Damascus
- Fighting is raging across the country, including Aleppo
- Many Iraqis who took refuge in Syria return home
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(CNN) -- Leaders of Syrian rebel forces ordered their fighters to attack hundreds of government troops heading toward the country's largest city, a Free Syrian Army official told CNN Wednesday.
The Syrian regime withdrew about 2,000 fully equipped troops, along with their tanks and artillery, from Idlib and sent them to Aleppo, the official said.
Word of reinforcements in Aleppo came hours after state media reported that regime troops had regained control and mopped up key Damascus neighborhoods where rebels fought President Bashar al-Assad's security forces last week.
ITN journalist Alex Thomson, writing via a blog from Damascus, noted these military strides, saying "it is quite clear that the regime has just had, in Damascus, the biggest boost to its morale in 16 months of violent civil war."
"The crackling of automatic fire, the crumbling explosion of incoming shellfire, the helicopter gunships quartering the city and firing machine gun bursts -- all those sounds have gone pretty much from Damascus today."
"This is a comprehensive victory of the Assad Regime in its own backyard and capital."
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Syrian crisis zeroed in on Aleppo 
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What's next for Syria's president? But unrest persisted across the country, opposition groups said.
At least 133 people died Tuesday in Syria's violence, including 21 killed during shelling and clashes in Aleppo, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
Rebel forces were working to gain control of Aleppo neighborhoods, activists said.
"There is random shelling of the eastern portion of the city as the Syrian Army is trying to force out the FSA (Free Syrian Army). They are hitting civilian homes over and over," one activist told CNN via Skype.
CNN's Ivan Watson, who is in northern Syria, said he has noticed the rebels have become better armed in the past few months. Where once they only had shotguns, they now have rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. The increased firepower has helped the rebels successfully attack armored vehicles and force some Syrian forces to take resupply by helicopter.
The rebels have also been able to establish growing enclaves in northern Syria and from there try to seize a number of key border crossings. Watson said in the village he was in that hundreds of rebels loaded up with ammunition Monday night and headed to fight in Aleppo.
A Syrian town's 'Street of Death'
The fighting, spiking for months with the emergence of armed rebels willing to take on the Syrian security apparatus, took an ominous turn this week after a Syrian official discussed his country's weapons of mass destruction.
Jihad Makdissi, Syria's Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters Monday that "any stocks of WMD or any unconventional weapon that the Syrian Arab Republic possesses would never be used against civilians or against the Syrian people during this crisis at any circumstances, no matter how the crisis would evolve.
"All the stocks of these weapons that the Syrian Arab Republic possesses are monitored and guarded by the Syrian Army," Makdissi said. He further said the "weapons are meant to be used only and strictly in the event of external aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic."
Syria says it has weapons of mass destruction in case of foreign attack
U.S. President Barack Obama, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and others reacted strongly after the official uttered the threat Monday.
"They will be held accountable by the international community and the United States should they make the tragic mistake of using those weapons," Obama said at a VFW convention.
Russia said Syria has ratified 1925 Geneva protocols "banning the use of asphyxiating, toxic and other gases in military conditions" and expects the country to heed that agreement. That protocol was drawn up and signed "under the auspices of the League of Nations" and "entered into force" in 1928, the United Nations said.
"Russia's policy is based on the understanding that Syrian authorities will continue to strictly follow their international obligations," the Foreign Ministry said. Russia has been a friend and ally of the al-Assad regime.
Attack a major blow to Syrian regime 
Syrian rebels drive through Selehattin near Aleppo during clashes with government forces on Monday, July 23. Fierce fighting has been reported in Aleppo, Syria's largest city. Rebel control of this commercial hub would deal a heavy blow to President Bashar al-Assad's financial ties. 
A Syrian rebel runs through the streets of Selehattin during an attack on a municipal building. The rebel Free Syrian Army says it is attempting to "liberate" several districts of Aleppo. 
Syria rebels work to locate snipers during clashes Monday between the opposition and government forces in Selehattin. 
Syrian rebels make their way down a street Monday in Selehattin near Aleppo. If they gain control of Aleppo, it would mark a pivotal point in the Syrian crisis. 
Syrian rebels take cover behind sandbags during fighting Monday at the entrance to the city of Selehattin. 
On Sunday, July 22, a Syrian refugee looks out from a bus as he arrives at a refugee camp in Turkey, which is opposite of the Syrian commercial crossing point Bab al-Hawa. 
Syrian refugees flee from a refugee camp nicknamed "Container City" on the Turkish-Syrian border in Kilis province, southern Turkey, on Sunday. 
Smoke from artillery shelling rises above Jbatha Al-khashab. 
An armed Syrian rebel wearing the jersey of FC Barcelona rests with comrades near the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday. The rebel Free Syrian Army announced the start of the battle to "liberate" Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub and a traditional bastion of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. 
In this photo released by the Shaam News Network, a truck burns after shelling in the Erbeen suburb of Damascus on Saturday, July 21. 
Refugees fleeing the violence in Syria arrive by bus in Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday. 
Turkish soldiers stand guard at the Cilvegozu border gate in Reyhanly that connects to Syria's Bab al-Hawa post. An estimated 120,000 people have fled Syria to Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan. 
Burned-out trucks at the Bab al-Hawa Syrian border post with Turkey on Friday, July 20. Syrian rebels seized control of the post after a fierce battle with Syrian troops, an AFP photographer at the scene reported. 
Syrian soldiers celebrate in the al-Midan area in Damascus on Friday. Syrian regime forces routed rebel fighters from the Damascus neighbourhood of Midan, Syrian state television reported, saying troops had "cleaned" the district of "terrorists." 
Journalists are shown a dead body on a government tour of the al-Midan area in Damascus on Friday. 
Members of Syria security forces rest in the al-Midan area in Damascus on Friday. 
Syrian army soldiers hang their national flag in a partially destroyed neighborhood in the al-Midan area in Damascus. 
Smoke hangs in the air in a partially destroyed neighborhood in the al-Midan area in Damascus. 
Members of Syria security forces pose for photographers in the al-Midan area in Damascus after driving out the rebel fighters. 
Syrian residents take goods from a truck that rebels captured at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey on Friday. 
A picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on July 19 shows Syrian General Fahd al-Freij meeting with President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus after his swearing-in ceremony as defense minister. 
A man holds up a picture of President Bashar al-Assad at a former police station in Atareb after clashes between Syrian soldiers and Free Syrain Army near Aleppo on Thursday, July 19. Rebels seized control of border crossings with Iraq on Thursday, dealing a new blow to al-Assad, as China and Russia dismayed the West by blocking U.N. action against his regime. 
People walk along the street in Atareb amidst damage caused by clashed between Syrian soldiers and the Free Syrian Army. 
A Syrian man checks the former police station of Syrian regime after a clash at Atareb on Thursday. 
Smoke ascends from from alleged shelling of the Syrian village of Jebata al-Khashab as seen from the hill village of Buqaata in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on Thursday. 
The death toll in Syria on July 12 reached 287, making it the bloodiest day in Syria since the uprising began. As it has done consistently, Syrian state television blamed "armed terrorist groups" for the killings. 
A Syrian woman sits with her grandson outside a damaged building after attacks in the Syrian village of Treimsa on July 13, 2012. More than 200 people were massacred in the town, according to activists. 
A Syrian demonstrator holds an opposition flag during a protest in Damascus on July 2, 2012. There have been increasing reports of violence in the Syrian capital. 
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad waves as he arrives for a speech to Syria's parliament in Damascus on June 3, 2012. The embattled president denied that government forces were behind the "outrageous" massacre in Houla. 
People gather at a mass burial on May 26, 2012 for victims reportedly killed during an artillery barrage from Syrian forces in Houla. The attack left at least 108 people dead, including nearly 50 children, according to the United Nations. 
Members of the Free Syrian Army return to Qusayr on May 12, 2012 after an attack on Syrian regime forces in the village of Nizareer, near the Lebanese border in Homs. 
A U.N. observer speaks with Syrian rebels and civilians in the village of Azzara on May 4, 2012, days before the country's parlianemtary polls were held against a backdrop of unrest. 
Thousands of Syrians wave their national flag and hold portraits of President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, right, during a rally to show support for their leader on March 29, 2012 in Damascus. 
Syrian rebel fighters man a checkpoint leading into the town of Taftanaz in the rebel stronghold province of Idlib on March 20, 2012. 
A Free Syrian Army rebel mounts his steed in the Al-Shatouria village near the Turkish border in northwestern Syria on March 16, 2012, a year after the uprising began. The Free Syrian Army is an armed opposition group made up largely of military defectors. 
Syrian refugees walk across a field before crossing into Turkey on March 14, 2012. International mediator Kofi Annan called for an immediate halt to the killing of civilians in Syria as he arrived in Turkey for talks on the crisis. 
A day after the twin suicide bombings, Syrian mourners pray over the coffins of the 44 people killed during a mass funeral in Damascus. 
A Syrian man who was wounded in a suicide attack rests at a hospital in Damascus on December 23, 2011. Suicide bombers hit two security service bases in the Syrian capital, killing dozens of people. 
Arab foreign ministers attend an emergency meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on October 16, 2011, to discuss the crisis in Syria. 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to the media in Washington on August 18, 2011. Clinton said U.S. sanctions on Syrian oil "strike at the heart of the Syrian regime." 
Syrian youths wave national flags while army troops drive out of Daraa on May 5, 2011. During a week-long military lockdown of the town, dozens of people were reportedly killed in what activists described as "indiscriminate" shelling on the city. 
Syrians in Damascus protest in the street on March 25, 2011, after clashes with government forces in Daraa left several dead. 
Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rally on April 1 in Istanbul, Turkey, as delegates from dozens of countries gather to push for ways to end the deadly violence in Syria. The United Nations estimates more than 10,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the crisis in March 2011. The conflict is now being labeled a civil war by the International Committee of the Red Cross. 
Showdown in Syria 
Syrians surround a U.N observer vehicle after placing the bodies of a girl and man on the car in Houla on Saturday, May 26, 2012. The photo is from the opposition Shaam News Network. Forty-nine children were among the 108 slaughtered in Houla on Friday, May 25, U.N. monitors say. The massacre in Houla, a suburb of the anti-government bastion of Homs, has reignited international fury against Bashar al-Assad's regime. 
The body of a slain Syrian child lies next to other shrouded bodies at a hospital mortuary in Houla on Saturday in another photo from the opposition Shaam News Network. Al-Assad's regime insists it is not behind the massacre and blames terrorist groups. Syria has attributed violence on "armed terrorist groups" throughout the 14-month-old uprising. 
Bodies of children lie in a Houla hospital morgue before their burial Saturday in another photo from Shaam News Network. Images from the town show a room crammed with mangled and bloody bodies of children -- some with their skulls torn open. 
U.N. observers visit a hospital morgue in Houla on Saturday before the burial of massacre victims. Opposition activists and residents blame al-Assad's regime for the bloodbath. 
A Houla resident shows a body to a U.N. observer at a mosque in the central Syrian town. Some U.N. Security Council members condemned the attacks "that involved a series of government artillery and tank shellings on a residential neighborhood" as well as killings of civilians by close-range gunshots. 
Syrians gather at a mass burial Saturday in Houla. "Those responsible for these brutal crimes must be held accountable," Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League special envoy, said in a statement. 
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