Rebels seize two strategic villages in Hama province

 (Zaman Alwasl)- Syrian rebels on Friday took control of two strategic villages in Hama province as regime warplanes rocked towns the western northern countryside in response, activists and monitoring group said.

Activists said controlling the villages of Arza and Shayha may assist rebels to attack Hama’s military airbase, Assad's powerful stronghold.

Rebels’ advance came after long calm in the historic province of Hama which witnessed bloody clashed and memorable protests at the beginning of Syrian uprising in 2011.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for human Rights reported raids by Assad’s warplanes on the southern neighborhood of Khattab town in the western northern countryside of Hama, in addition to raid on al-Shayha village.

Assad’s forces have bombarded al-Ma'rzaf town and its surrounding farmlands and areas in al-Sayad hill north of Kafar Zita, no reports of human losses.