see photos of the conflict from November." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto001" width="640"/>Smoke rises after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Deir Al-Zor on Friday, January 4. Click through to view images from Syria from December and January, or
see photos of the conflict from November.
A resident reacts to the death of two of his children who activists said were killed during shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the al-Ansari area of Aleppo on Thursday, January 3.
Syrians carry the body of a victim who activists said was killed during the bombing in the al-Ansari area of Aleppo, January 3.
A street is filled with debris after fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels in Aleppo on January 3.
Rebel fighters inspect the debris on a street in the Bustan al-Basha district in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday, January 1.
Syrians reach for bread at a bakery in Aleppo on Monday, December 31.
Free Syrian Army fighters stand near damaged cars in Aleppo on Thursday, December 27.
A man walks near a missile on Tuesday, December 25, at an army barracks outside Damascus, Syria, that has been taken over by the Free Syrian Army.
Free Syrian Army fighters prepare a homemade missile before they launch it toward the military airport in Aleppo, Syria, on Sunday, December 23.
Free Syrian Army members display shrapnel from what they say are the remains of a rocket fired from the Syrian army in northern Aleppo on Thursday, December 20.
An unexploded bomb is seen lodged in a street in Ghouta, east of Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, December 19.
A Free Syrian Army fighter aims his weapon through a hole in the wall of the structure where he is positioned in the Qastal Harami area of Aleppo on December 19.
see photos of the conflict from November." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0013" width="640"/>A child sits in the back of a vehicle at the border crossing leading to Masnaa, Lebanon, as people wait to stamp their documents before leaving Syria on December 19. Click through to view images from Syria from December, or
see photos of the conflict from November.
Palestinian children who fled the Syrian refugee camp of Yarmuk wait at the Masnaa Border Crossing leading into Lebanon on December 19.
Syrians line up outside a bakery offering cheap bread in Aleppo, Syria on Sunday, December 16.
A Syrian boy walks past a rebel fighter in the northern town of Darkush, Syria, on Friday, December 14.
Two men on a motorcycle lead a horse through the northern town of Darkush, Syria, on December 14, 2012.
Rebel fighters push out a boat carrying two Syrian women fleeing to Turkey through the Orontes River near the northern Syrian town of Darkush on December 14.
Passengers gather at a terminal at the airport in Aleppo, Syria, on Wednesday, December 12.
see photos of the conflict from November." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0020" width="640"/>A member of the Syrian opposition's Al-Buraq Brigade stands guard on a main road in the northern Syrian town of Ain Dakna near the Turkish border on Monday, December 10. Click through to view images of the fighting from December, or
see photos of the conflict from November.
A Free Syrian Army fighter takes position as he aims his weapon in Aleppo's al-Amereya district on Tuesday, December 11.
Men warm themselves by a fire on a street corner in Aleppo, Syria, on Sunday, December 9.
A rebel soldier watches Al-Jazeera news in a shop near the front lines in Aleppo on December 9.
A rebel soldier prays in a shop in Aleppo on December 9.
Syrians mourn a fallen fighter at a rebel base in the al-Fardos area of Aleppo on Saturday, December 8.
A Syria rebel commander sits behind a desk in his bombed-out position in Aleppo on December 8.
A Syrian rebel fighter emerges from a hole in a wall in Aleppo on December 8.
Rebel fighters take part in a demonstration against the Syrian regime after Friday prayers in Aleppo on December 7.
A wounded rebel fighter is transported to a hospital in the back of a truck in Aleppo, Syria, on Thursday, December 6. At least 23 people died in Syria on Thursday, most of them in Damascus and Aleppo, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria.
Rebel soldiers stand guard inside a building in Aleppo on December 6.
Angelina Jolie, special envoy for the U.N. refugee agency, meets with Syrian refugees at the Zaatari refugee camp outside Mafraq, Jordan, on December 6.
In this handout from the Shaam News Network, Free Syrian Army fighters stand guard against forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Al-khalidiya neighborhood of Homs on Tuesday, December 4.
In this handout from the Shaam News Network, Free Syrian Army fighters take cover in destroyed buildings during clashes with regime forces on December 4.
Syrians cross the border from Ras al-Ain, Syria, to the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar on Tuesday, December 4.
Boys walk through a damaged area In Aleppo, Syria, seen through a destroyed car on December 4.
A man inspects rubble in a neighborhood of Aleppo on Sunday, December 2.
The bodies of three children reportedly killed in a mortar shell attack are laid out for relatives to identify at a makeshift hospital in Aleppo on December 2.
Smoke rises from fighting in the Hanano and Bustan al-Basha districts of Aleppo on Saturday, December 1.
Syrian-Kurdish women and members of the Popular Protection Units, an armed opposition group to the Syrian government, stand guard during a comrade's funeral in a northern Syrian border village on December 1.
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- Al-Assad's speech comes as fierce battles move closer to the capital, Damascus
- A rebel leader says the opposition is gaining ground
- Opposition: "International silence is only encouraging the regime to commit more crimes"
(CNN) -- Nearly two years into a gruesome civil war that has wrought bloodshed and misery across the country, President Bashar al-Assad will address his nation in a rare speech Sunday.
It's the first speech for the embattled president since June. Since then, tens of thousands of Syrians have been killed, and the country is no closer to a resolution.
But now, the battles between al-Assad's forces and rebels seeking his ouster are raging closer to the president's doorstep, with some of the fiercest fighting taking place near Damascus.
Al-Assad's speech is expected to touch on a recent meeting between the president, United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Burns' Russian counterpart Mikhail Bogdanov, according to Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese news agency that is known to support al-Assad.
During his last publicized speech in June, al-Assad called for unity.
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"We are in a state of real war, in every aspect of the words. And when we're in a state of war, all of our politics has to be concentrated on winning this war," al-Assad said at the time.
But the latest reports from inside Syria suggest rebels are gaining ground.
Opposition fighters chipped away at al-Assad's air power Saturday in the northwestern province of Idlib, where 800 rebels pummeled Taftanaz air base with anti-aircraft guns and tanks, a rebel leader said.
"The fight is closing in on them," rebel leader Capt. Islam Aloush said from Damascus. He said the head of the base was killed.
Al-Assad's forces use the base to launch helicopter attacks on nearby towns. Syrian warplanes dropped cluster bombs on Taftanaz in a raid that destroyed several buildings, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said Saturday.
Aloush said his militia and other groups want to target the many military bases in Idlib "to minimize the reach of the regime's warplanes," which opposition say attack civilians areas.
Opposition and government sources report that the extremist al-Nusra Front, which the United States has designated as a terrorist group with links to al Qaeda in Iraq, is taking part in the assault on Taftanaz.
Farther south in the Damascus suburbs, government forces have been cutting off food and medical supplies for weeks, Aloush said.
"They have sometimes resorted to field executions when they find people smuggling in syringes and other basic medical items," he said.
Other dissident groups have also reported the government ratcheting up the violence near the capital.
In an open letter Friday, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, head of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, implored the U.N. Security Council and world leaders to take action.
"Our people are subjected to genocide, and our country is being destroyed as the international silence is only encouraging the regime to commit more crimes against humanity," he wrote. "Halting massacres in Syria is an international obligation everyone should bear responsibility for."
More than 60,000 people have been killed across Syria since demonstrators protested against the Syrian government in March 2011.
CNN cannot independently confirm government or opposition reports out of Syria, as the government has restricted access by journalists.
CNN's Saad Abedine contributed to this report.
