Rebels in Syria advanced towards Homs on Friday and are now five kilometers from the country’s third city, after taking control the day before of the strategic town of Hama, further north.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), in recent hours, rebels led by the extremist Islamists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) “entered the towns of Rastan and Talbisseh”, located in the province of Homs, in the total absence of regime forces.
The rebels are now five kilometers from Homs. 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 population was Homs
In addition, Syrians fled en masse on Thursday from the city of Homs after the rebels captured Hama, a nearby strategic city, during a dazzling offensive which dealt a blow to the power of Bashar al-Assad.
The OSDH reported Friday airstrikes on the strategic Al-Rastan highway bridge on the Hama-Homs axis, in a context of advance of rebel forces.
-By Thursday evening, tens of thousands of Homs residents, mainly members of the Alawite community from which Al-Assad comes, were seen fleeing toward the west coast.
Syrian Defense Minister Ali Abbas assured Thursday that the withdrawal of government troops from Hama was a matter of“a temporary tactical measure”and that these 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 the security of Homs.”
Moreover, “regime forces transported more than 200 military vehicles carrying weapons and equipment to Homs in order to reinforce their positions”added this NGO based in the United Kingdom and which has a vast network of sources in Syria.
