Smoke from combating billows within the edges of the city of Hama, Syria, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024.
Omar Albam/AP
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Omar Albam/AP
Syrian opposition forces have entered the strategic central metropolis of Hama.
The Syrian military, loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, stated it had redeployed exterior the town, which lies on the primary freeway south resulting in the town of Homs after which to the capital Damascus.
The renewed offensive got here after the insurgent forces led by Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) – which is listed by the U.S. as a terrorist group for its previous hyperlinks to Al Qaeda, however which has since reduce ties with the group – took Syria’s second metropolis of Aleppo in a lightening marketing campaign that caught the regime off guard.
The occasions of the previous week has ended years of stalemate that had led many observers to imagine that the Assad regime had received the civil warfare, which broke out in 2011.
Hama has been one of many few cities in Syria that been utterly underneath authorities management because the civil warfare broke out.
It is also a provide route utilized by Iran to maneuver arms to their Lebanese ally, Hezbollah.
If the insurgent forces seize the town totally, it could be a serious victory for them since they launched a shock offensive final week which noticed them take Aleppo.
Violent clashes broke out on the jap outskirts of Hama, however Syria’s state run media denied that the insurgents had utterly breached the town.
However the Syrian Military put out a press release that appeared to substantiate the autumn of Hama. It stated that ” military units stationed there have been redeployed and repositioned outside the city” so as to “preserve the lives of civilians.”
This can be a growing story and can be up to date.
