Violent fighting pitted the Syrian army on Tuesday, December 3, against a coalition of rebels led by radical Islamists, who are trying to advance towards the strategic town of Hama, in central Syria, according to an NGO.
The groups of fighters, whose main component is Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, an emanation of Al-Qaeda breaking with the jihadist movement, launched a dazzling offensive last week which allowed them to seize Aleppo , Syria's second city, in the north, over which regime forces have completely lost control for the first time since the start of the civil war in 2011.
“Violent clashes are taking place in the north of Hama province”while “Russian and Syrian air force carries out dozens of strikes” on the positions of the rebels, announced the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
The latter were able to take control of several towns and villages in the Hama region, added the NGO based in the United Kingdom and which has a vast network of sources in Syria. An Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer on Tuesday morning saw dozens of abandoned Syrian army tanks and military vehicles on the road leading to Hama.
Progression of anti-regime groups
The Syrian army announced that it had sent reinforcements to the region, which helped slow the progress of the rebels over the past two days.
According to the Syrian Ministry of Defense, “violent clashes” opposed the army on Monday, supported by Syrian and Russian airstrikes, “to terrorist organizations in the north” from the province of Hama. “We are progressing towards Hama after cleaning” the localities which lead there, assured AFP a rebel fighter, introducing himself as Aboul Houda Sourani.
Hama is a strategic city in central Syria, on the road linking Aleppo to the capital, Damascus. The progress of the rebels “threatens the popular base of the regime”the surroundings of the city being populated by Alawites, the community from which President Bashar Al-Assad comes, underlines Rami Abdel-Rahmane, director of the OSDH, to AFP.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday “alarmed by the recent escalation of violence” in Syria and called for a “immediate cessation of hostilities”.
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