Syria's Assad lauds his army, says he will win war
Marking Syria's Army Day, president says 'had we not been confident of victory we wouldn't have lasted more than two years'
The Syrian president has lauded his military troops, saying they are fighting the "fiercest" war but that he is confident they will win in the country's conflict.
Bashar Assad's comments came in a statement marking Syria's Army Day on Thursday.
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Assad says: "Had we in Syria not been confident of victory, we wouldn't have been able to resist" for over two years.
According to Syrian state-run TV said Assad visited a tense Damascus suburb to inspect his troops.
The visit on Thursday is Assad's first known public trip outside the capital, his seat of power, since he visited the Baba Amr district in the central city of Homs after troops seized it from rebels in March 2012.
Syrian TV did not provide details but the presidency's Facebook page released a photo of Assad in a blue suit and tie chatting with two soldiers before what appears to be a damaged building in Daraya.
Daraya, just south of Damascus, was held by rebels for a long time and it took the army weeks of heavy fighting to regain control earlier this year.
More than 100,000 people have been killed since the uprising against the Assad family's four-decade rule began in March 2011. The revolt later escalated into a civil war, which has uprooted millions of people from their homes.
Assad's forces have been making significant gains against the rebels on several key fronts recently, mostly in the central province of Homs and near the capital Damascus.
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