A day after the Syrian government claimed that 120 security personnel were “massacred” by so-called “armed gangs” in the northern town of Jisr al-Shoughour, it is still far from clear what took place there. According to an account in the New York Times, residents of the region reached by phone denied the government version of the story. They insisted that the fighting was between a growing number of defectors from the security forces and those still loyal to the Assad regime.

Whether the massacre that took place reflects genuine casualty reports of government forces or not, it is clear that the anti-Assad protests have reached a new level. If the resistance in the north is being led by defectors that is a telling blow to the government. The Assad clan and other members of the Alawite minority in Syria have an absolute grip on power in the country. But if they can no longer command the loyalty of the rank and file, the stage may be set for a genuine rebellion. And that is why the regime is going all out to crush dissent in the north before things get out of hand.

The other major development today was the reported defection of the Syrian ambassador to France that was reported on French TV. France, the former colonial overlord of Syria, has a special interest in the country and having his ambassador in Paris go over to the opposition is another body blow to Bashar Assad.

But despite the desertions from his ranks, there is no sign that Assad is going soft or losing confidence in his ability to hang on. If anything, the signs of organized resistance in the north, where theoretically a dissident government could be set up similar to what opponents of the Qaddafi regime did in Benghazi, Libya, presents Assad with a challenge that he cannot back away from.