The Syrian army launched a counter-offensive on Wednesday to repel rebels led by Islamists who arrived on the outskirts of the large city of Hama. Russia, Iran and Turkey are in ‘close contact’ to stabilize the situation in that country.
After seizing dozens of towns and most of Aleppo, Syria’s second city, the rebels arrived on Tuesday, according to an NGO, ‘at the gates’ of Hama. This city is strategic for the army, because its protection is essential for that of the capital Damascus, located approximately 220 kilometers further south.
Hama, Syria’s fourth city, was the scene of a 1982 massacre by the army under the rule of President Bashar al-Assad’s father who was suppressing a Muslim Brotherhood insurgency. It was also in this city that some of the largest demonstrations took place at the start of the 2011 pro-democracy uprising, the repression of which sparked the civil war.
‘Terrifying’ noises
On Wednesday, ‘violent clashes’ opposed the army to the rebels in the north-east and north-west of Hama, according to the official Sana news agency. ‘Last night the noises were terrifying and you could clearly hear the sound of the incessant bombing,’ said a 36-year-old driver.
Regime forces, who had not put up significant resistance in Aleppo, launched a counter-offensive ‘after midnight’, under air cover, in the Hama region, and repelled the attackers, the government announced on Wednesday. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
This NGO has reported significant population displacements in this region, while tens of thousands of civilians have already fled the more northern regions of Aleppo and Idlib.
Diplomatic contacts
The fighting and bombings, which left 602 dead in one week, including 104 civilians, according to the OSDH, are the first of this magnitude since 2020 in Syria.
Among the dead are also 299 fighters from the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is leading the rebel offensive with allied factions, according to this NGO, and 199 soldiers and pro-government fighters.
Russia and Iran, Damascus’ main allies, as well as Turkey, a major supporter of the rebels, are in ‘close contact’ to stabilize the situation in Syria, Russian diplomacy announced on Wednesday.
The country, ravaged by the civil war which left half a million dead, is now divided into several zones of influence, where the belligerents are supported by different foreign powers.
Relative calm since 2020
While relative calm has been maintained since 2020 in the northwest after a ceasefire sponsored by Ankara and Moscow, a coalition of rebels dominated by HTS, the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, launched on November 27 a lightning offensive in this region.
In a few days, the rebels seized large swaths of northern Syria and a large part of Aleppo, which completely escaped regime control for the first time since the start of the civil war, inflicting a heavy setback to regime forces supported by Syrian and Russian planes.
Iran said on Tuesday it was ready to ‘study’ any sending of troops to Syria if that country requested it.
Hospitals overwhelmed
In Aleppo, held by armed rebels, a medical student said Tuesday that hospital staff were ‘largely absent, with services operating at half capacity’. ‘We try to respond to emergencies, we save equipment,’ he testified.
The UN reported Tuesday “numerous civilian casualties, including a large number of women and children” in attacks by both camps and the destruction of health facilities, schools and markets. Aleppo’s hospitals, fewer than eight of which continue to operate, are overwhelmed, the World Health Organization said.
Faced with the rebel offensive, Bashar al-Assad denounced on Monday an attempt to ‘redraw the regional map’. With the military support of Russia, Iran and the pro-Iranian Lebanese movement Hezbollah, the regime recaptured a large part of the country in 2015 and the entirety of Aleppo in 2016.
/ATS
