Syrian rebels have taken control of the strategic city of Hama, forcing pro-government forces to retreat. The rebel advance, which includes the capture of the central prison, marks a significant setback for President Assad and his allies, Russia and Iran. The Syrian army claims it is redeploying to prevent urban combat and civilian casualties.
AMMAN – Syrian rebels ousted pro-government forces from Hama on Dec 5, bringing the insurgents a major new victory after a lightning advance across northern Syria and dealing a new blow to President Bashar al- Assad and his Russian and Iran ian allies.
Al Jazeera broadcast what it said were images of rebels inside the city, some of them meeting civilians near a roundabout while others drove in military vehicles and on mopeds.Their capture of Hama, which has remained in government hands throughout the civil war triggered by a 2011 rebellion against Mr Assad, will send shockwaves through Damascus and fears of a continued rebel march south.
Russia has been focused on the war in Ukraine since 2022. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which had been the most potent Iran-backed force in Syria, has suffered heavy losses in its own war with Israel. Hama lies more than a third of the way from Aleppo to Damascus. Its capture would open the road to a rebel advance on Homs, the main central city that functions as a crossroads connecting Syria’s most populous regions.
Mr Golani referred to that bloody episode in his statement, saying “the revolutionaries have begun entering the city of Hama to cleanse that wound that has persisted in Syria for 40 years”. HTS and the other rebel groups are trying to consolidate their rule in Aleppo, bringing it under the administration of the so-called Salvation Government they established in their north-western enclave.
SYRIA REBELS HAMA ASSAD RUSSIA IRAN
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