Syrian army withdraws from Hama city after rebel advance

2024-12-05 16:30:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Syrian army has redeployed troops "to protect civilian lives and prevent fighting in the city" after Islamist-led rebels entered the key city of Hama. This is another defeat for the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and for his allies, Russia and Iran.

"In the last hours, after the intensification of clashes between our soldiers and terrorist groups... these terrorist groups managed to break a number of the axes of the city and entered it," the Syrian army said.

Hama - the fourth largest city in Syria - is an important city for the defense of Damascus and is the gateway to the naval cities of Tartus and Latakia, one of which also houses a Russian naval base.

A day earlier, Syrian and Russian forces carried out airstrikes aimed at halting the rebel advance.

"With the advance in Hama, Assad is in big trouble. Homs is the next city and its rural areas are well-suited to facilitate an opposition advance," Charles Lister, senior fellow and director of the Syria and Counter-Terrorism and Extremism Programs at the Middle East Institute, wrote in X . The rebels, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have made major advances in recent days, including taking Aleppo, Syria's largest city. The rebels have also taken control of 14 villages and towns and have come within 35 kilometers of the Khmeimim Air Base, which is operated by the Russians.

Syria gave the airbase to Russia in 2015 after Moscow helped Damascus turn the tide of the civil war in its favor.

In addition to HTS – which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States – the rebels also consist of an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias known as the Syrian National Army.

The United Nations has said that tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced as a result of the fighting./ Rel