Syria
Anti-government fighters rest at a position in the northern outskirts of Syria's west-central city of Hama on December 4, 2024. Photo: Bakr al Kassem/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syrian rebels led by the jihadist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on Wednesday surrounded the strategic central city of Hama “from three sides,” a war monitor reported, despite government reinforcements attempting to halt their advance.
“Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham surrounded the city of Hama to impose a siege on the city from three sides,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, adding that the rebels are three kilometers away from the city.
A coalition of Syrian rebels led by HTS launched a blistering offensive against the Syrian army over the past week. They took control of the northern city of Aleppo, the largest in the country, and advanced their offensive into Hama province.
Citing a military source, Syria’s state SANA news agency said that joint Syrian-Russian strikes against rebel positions “killed dozens of terrorists and destroyed their equipment and vehicles.”
“There is no truth to the news circulating by terrorist pages and media channels that talk about terrorists entering the city of Hama from any direction, and the situation in the entire city of Hama is normal and safe,” the source said.
The United Nations on Wednesday estimated that over 115,000 people have been displaced in Idlib and Aleppo by the renewed clashes.
Syrians rose against the Assad regime in 2011, leading to a full-scale civil war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, left millions more in dire need of humanitarian assistance, and left much of the country’s infrastructure in ruins.
More than 13 million Syrians, half the country’s pre-war population, have been displaced since the start of the civil war, more than 6 million of whom are refugees who have fled the war-torn country, according to United Nations figures.
“Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham surrounded the city of Hama to impose a siege on the city from three sides,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, adding that the rebels are three kilometers away from the city.
A coalition of Syrian rebels led by HTS launched a blistering offensive against the Syrian army over the past week. They took control of the northern city of Aleppo, the largest in the country, and advanced their offensive into Hama province.
Citing a military source, Syria’s state SANA news agency said that joint Syrian-Russian strikes against rebel positions “killed dozens of terrorists and destroyed their equipment and vehicles.”
“There is no truth to the news circulating by terrorist pages and media channels that talk about terrorists entering the city of Hama from any direction, and the situation in the entire city of Hama is normal and safe,” the source said.
The United Nations on Wednesday estimated that over 115,000 people have been displaced in Idlib and Aleppo by the renewed clashes.
Syrians rose against the Assad regime in 2011, leading to a full-scale civil war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, left millions more in dire need of humanitarian assistance, and left much of the country’s infrastructure in ruins.
More than 13 million Syrians, half the country’s pre-war population, have been displaced since the start of the civil war, more than 6 million of whom are refugees who have fled the war-torn country, according to United Nations figures.
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