On Friday, December 6, the Syrian opposition forces continued their advance towards Homs Governorate, after they had extended their control over the city of Hama yesterday, Thursday, as part of the “Deterring Aggression” operation that they launched towards Aleppo ten days ago on November 27. the past.
The factions entered the city of Hama on Thursday, and on Friday they took control of the village of Marzaf, northwest of the city, and concluded an agreement with the people of Salamiyah city in the eastern countryside of Hama stipulating that “they will not bear arms against us and we will not enter their city,” according to the opposition forces.
According to the official Syrian News Agency (SANA), the Syrian army brought reinforcements from Homs, Tartous, and Latakia to the outskirts of Hama, and targeted armed opposition vehicles and gatherings there.
The “Deterrence of Aggression” forces continued their path south towards Homs, taking control of the cities of Rastan and Talbisah, which are considered the northern gates of Homs. Rebels in Rastan had anticipated the opposition factions’ arrival there, so they attacked army positions in preparation for their entry.
However, the Syrian and Russian warplanes tried to slow down the movement of the opposition forces, bombing the Rastan Bridge in the northern countryside of Homs, and launched a number of raids on the city, and its surroundings were subjected to artillery bombardment after the armed opposition announced its control over it.
Government forces sent reinforcements to locations around Homs, and carried out operations that SANA described as qualitative operations towards al-Dar al-Kabira, Talbisah, and al-Rastan in the Homs countryside, with Russian aircraft coverage.
However, the Military Operations Department, which leads the operation to deter aggression, confirmed its control over the last village on the outskirts of the city of Homs, and sent a “last call” to the regime forces in the city to defect en masse and head towards Hama.
Anger in the south
Southern Syria also witnessed many important movements. Factions of the Syrian opposition announced the establishment of the “Southern Operations Room” in the governorates of Daraa, Quneitra, and Suwayda in southern Syria.
In Daraa, the Syrian armed opposition forces confirmed that they were besieging the city of Daraa, cutting off supply routes to the regime forces inside it, and controlling the Nassib border crossing. The Jordanian Ministry of Interior announced the closure of the Jaber border crossing, opposite the Nassib crossing, due to security conditions.
-The armed opposition factions announced that they took control of 12 military sites in the governorate after battles with regime forces, including the “52nd Brigade,” which is one of the main army bases near the town of Al-Harak. They also captured a number of regime forces members. The fighting has extended to the country’s southern border with Jordan.
The opposition forces took control of at least 42 villages and towns, including Busr al-Harir, Nawa, Inkhil, and Mahajjah. They also took control of all military checkpoints in the city of Khirbet Ghazala and its environs in the central countryside of Daraa, the strategic site of Tal al-Hara in the Daraa countryside, and 6 military checkpoints for the regime forces in the Al-Lajat region to the east. And on 3 military hills in the western countryside of Daraa and the central countryside of Quneitra, southern Syria.
In general, the opposition said that it controlled 80% of Daraa Governorate.
Also in the Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria, 3 people were killed in clashes between local factions and Syrian government forces, before the faction forces took control of the police headquarters building (the main police station in the city), a number of military points in the city, and a prison.
The local factions in Suwayda seized 5 tanks and announced a 24-hour curfew in the city. 250 regime forces defected during today’s battles throughout the governorate.
Eastern Syria also witnessed important developments. The Syrian army handed over the center of Deir ez-Zor Governorate to the Syrian Democratic Forces, after withdrawing its forces deployed in the governorate. It also withdrew from Deir ez-Zor military airport and handed it over to them as well, coinciding with the opposition factions approaching the city of Homs.
For its part, the Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the deployment of its members in the city of Deir ez-Zor and west of the Euphrates after the Syrian army withdrew from it. Reuters quoted two Syrian military sources as saying that the Albukamal border crossing with Iraq is currently controlled by the “SDF” forces.
