ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION<br/> <br />Rebel soldiers said they had taken control of the Syrian town of Morek in the central Hama province on Saturday (March 8) after two weeks of clashes.<br/> <br />The town, which is controlled by regime forces, is considered important due to its strategic position, enabling Assad forces to use its roads for supplies and reinforcements.<br/> <br />But while clashes were continuing, the rebels said they now had control of key posts in the town.<br/> <br />Syria's civil war has killed over 140,000 people since it started three years ago as a peaceful protest movement against four decades of rule by the family of President Bashar al-Assad.<br/> <br />The conflict has become increasingly tangled as rebel groups - including many hardline Islamist factions - have turned on one another, leading to clashes that have killed thousands of people this year alone.
