 On 31 January ten activists and their relatives were killed in ar-Rastan after their building collapsed from Syrian Army fire.On 6 February a local FSA unit commander Ala'a al-Sheikh reported that at least 42 people were killed by the Syrian Army in the preceding three days.By 4 March the FSA had managed to repel the Syrian Army, although many of their fighters retreated "for tactical reasons" according to their local commander.