Army soldiers are now able to keep the militants in check, although victory remains elusive, according to a report by the service chief Gerhard Schindler, Spiegel Online website reported.
 

The assessment is a reversal from last year when the service, the Bundes Nachrichten Dienst (BND), pointed at a wave of desertions by government troops and predicted its fall by early 2013.

Schindler reportedly told top German security officials in a secret briefing that in recent months Syrian soldiers had rebuilt supply lines for weapons and for fuel for tanks and airforce jets.

They had also severed many supply and retreat routes of the divided militant groups, which include extremists and terrorists.

On current trends and after recent advancements of the army in restoring security in many parts of the country, the report predicts the army is now capable of regaining control of the entire south of Syria by the end of the year.

Syrian army has been engaging in a massive operation against terrorist groups at southern parts of the country near Lebanon borders. The army successfully entered the strategic town of al-Qusayr, one of the main bastions of the terrorist al-Nusra Front, and following fierce clashes took control over many parts of the town.

As Army is struggling with foreign-backed militant groups, US and its western allies have been stepping up pressures on the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to leave his post and hand over the government to a divided opposition which has turned to be a cover for terrorists groups.

In his report, Schindler said that there was no clear chain of command between the Syrian opposition abroad and the militants on the ground, complicating the outlook for negotiations.

On May 7, Russia and the United States agreed in Moscow to hold an international conference on Syria, which will serve as a follow-up to an earlier Geneva meeting held in June 2012. The new event is reportedly expected to take place in early June this year.