Syria's Assad says military 'needs time to win battle'
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the government needs more time to "win the battle" against rebel forces.
In an interview with pro-government al-Dunya TV, Mr Assad also dismissed as "unrealistic" the idea of creating humanitarian buffer zones within Syria.
Opposition activists say the army has launched offensives across the country to regain control of rebel-held areas.
Heavy shelling has been reported in the capital, Damascus, Aleppo, and the north-western province of Idlib.
Officials told state media on Wednesday that soldiers had repelled a "terrorist attack" on the military air base in the northern town of Taftanaz.
The reports came after the rebel Free Syrian Army claimed it had destroyed several military helicopters using two captured tanks.
The claims could not be independently verified, but a video posted online by local activists purported to show the destroyed helicopters. Smoke could be seen rising from the airfield.
Security forces 'heroic'
In excerpts of his interview with al-Dunya, which will be broadcast in full on Wednesday evening, Mr Assad said the Syrian government was "fighting a battle both regionally and internationally".
"It definitely needs time to bring it to a decisive end. But I can sum it up in one sentence: we're heading forward," he told al-Dunya. "The situation on the ground is better now, but the conclusion is not there yet. That needs some time."
The security forces were "doing a heroic job in every sense", he added.
"Everyone is worried about their country - that is normal. But [the rebels] will not be able to spread fear, they never will," he said. "I say to Syrians: destiny is in your hands, and not in the hands of others."
The president mocked senior government and military officials who have defected in recent months, saying their departure amounted to a "self-cleansing of the government firstly, and the country generally".
Responding to rumours about his whereabouts since a July bombing in Damascus killed four senior officials, he revealed that he was being interviewed from the presidential palace in the capital.
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