Residents of Homs flee en masse after rebel advance

(Keystone-ATS) Located south of Aleppo, Syria’s second city, Hama commands the road to Homs, about forty kilometers to the south, and the capital Damascus, two large cities still in the hands of power.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported Friday airstrikes on the strategic Al-Rastan highway bridge on the Hama-Homs axis, in a context of advances by rebel forces.

On Thursday evening, tens of thousands of residents of Homs, mainly members of the Alawite community from which Mr. Assad comes, were seen fleeing towards the west coast, according to the OSDH.

The rebels led by the extremist Islamists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a surprise offensive on November 27 from their stronghold of Idlib (northwest), seizing dozens of localities, most of Aleppo (north) and Hama. The hostilities left more than 800 dead, according to an NGO.

“Tactical” measure

Syrian Defense Minister Ali Abbas assured Thursday that the withdrawal of government troops from Hama was “a temporary tactical measure” and that they were “still close to the city.”

The OSDH has since affirmed on Friday that “combat aircraft carried out several airstrikes targeting the Al-Rastan bridge on the Homs-Hama highway (…), attempting to cut the road between Hama and Homs and ensure security of Homs.”

Furthermore, “the regime forces transported more than 200 military vehicles to Homs carrying weapons and equipment in order to reinforce their positions,” added this NGO based in the United Kingdom and which has a vast network of sources. in Syria.

The residents of Homs, Syria’s third city, have made no secret of their fear of the rebel advance.

“Fear covers the city,” Haidar, a resident of an Alawite neighborhood reached by telephone, told AFP, who is trying to flee as quickly as possible for Tartous, an Alawite stronghold on the western coast, where he has already evacuated his parents.

After the rebels entered Hama, residents took to the streets, on foot or in long lines of cars, to cheer them, according to AFP images. Some set fire to a giant portrait of the Syrian president hanging on a municipal building.

Rebels fired into the air, others knelt to pray, while a corpse lay in the street.

“Collective failure”

The rebel coalition boasted on Telegram of the “total liberation of Hama”, and in particular of having released “hundreds of prisoners” from the central prison.

According to the OSDH, “more than 200 military vehicles” of the army left Hama towards Homs.

The hostilities are the first of this magnitude since 2020 in a country ravaged by a devastating civil war which has left half a million dead since 2011, and divided it into zones of influence, with belligerents supported by different foreign powers. .

Since November 27, fighting and bombings have left 826 dead, including 111 civilians, according to the OSDH. Of this total, 222 fighters have died since Tuesday around Hama, the Observatory said.

The UN reported 115,000 displaced people in one week.

His boss, Antonio Guterres, called for an end to the “carnage” in Syria, the result of a “chronic collective failure” to initiate a political settlement of the conflict.

“Indescribable joy”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a major backer of the rebels, called on Mr. Assad, supported by Russia and Iran, to “urgently” find a “political solution.”

After the launch of the rebel offensive, Russia, which has bases in Syria, launched air raids on areas controlled by the insurgents, in support of government forces.

It is thanks to the crucial support of Russia but also of Iran and the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah that the Syrian government reversed the course of the war in 2016 by retaking a large part of the territory.

Today weakened by two months of open war with Israel, Hezbollah has once again said it stands by Mr. Assad.

For his part, HTS leader Ahmed al-Chareh, known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, called on neighboring Iraq to stay away from the conflict.

In Aleppo, the large northern city, residents who returned with rebel troops celebrated their reunion with their loved ones.

“An indescribable joy,” said Mohammed Jomaa, 25, who fled the city and left his family when the government completely took over Aleppo in 2016.

Police and military personnel who had deserted also lined up in front of offices to register with the insurgent forces.

“No revenge”

The HTS leader said there would be “no revenge” in Hama, in a video message, after announcing that his fighters had entered the town “to close the wound opened 40 years ago.”

Hama was the scene of a massacre in 1982 under the presidency of Hafez al-Assad, father of the current leader, during the suppression of a Muslim Brotherhood insurgency.

“The loss of Hama is a very hard blow for the Syrian government, especially after its defeat in Aleppo. This is where the army tried to reverse the situation (…) but it did not succeed,” Aron Lund, researcher at Century International, told AFP. “HTS will now try to advance towards Homs. »