BEIRUT — In a lavish ceremony, a smiling and confident President Bashar Assad was sworn in for a third seven-year term on Wednesday, praising his supporters for “defeating the dirty war” and denouncing insurgents who have “failed in trying to brainwash you or break your will.”

As he declared victory, the Western-backed push to topple him or reach a political deal seem increasingly elusive. And while new conflicts in the region have grabbed attention, Syria’s 3-year-old civil war is grinding on without reprieve, with 170,000 dead and a third of the country displaced.

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Syria’s President Bashar Assad is sworn for his third seven-year term, in Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday. The Associated Press

While combat continues along all major front line towns and cities across the country – opposition activists say more than 400 people have been killed in the past three days alone – much of the fighting has now shifted.

Rebels once focused on Assad’s forces are now simultaneously fighting increasingly belligerent jihadis seeking to expand a cross-border fiefdom they carved out with neighboring Iraq.

The stunning takeover by militants of the Islamic State group of large areas of northern and eastern Syria and parts of neighboring Iraq has created a new adversary for the West – one that threatens their national security far more than Assad ever did.

No longer the focus of attention, Assad’s forces continue to steadily advance against rebels in key areas, most recently in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and a much coveted prize for both sides of the conflict.

“This is a critical moment for the West to give promised aid to the moderate forces,” said Hussam Al-Marie, a spokesman for the Western-backed Free Syrian Army in northern Syria. “If not enough aid is given, we could see the annihilation of several battalions, who have said they’ll fight to the last bullet.”

Assad appeared keenly aware of the advantage he now holds over the weak and arms-strapped rebels as he took the oath of office Wednesday.

Looking confident and self-assured and striking a victorious tone, he suggested that he was fighting terrorism on behalf of the entire world “which will sooner or later be subjected to similar terrorism.”

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