Armed opposition groups said on Thursday they had started pushing into Syria’s Hama, a major city where pro-government forces backed by intense Russian airstrikes are trying to stave off a new victory and halt the opposition’s lightning advance.
Opposition commander Hassan Abdul Ghany posted on social media that the insurgents had begun to penetrate Hama. State media had earlier reported that pro-government forces had repelled an attack.
Armed opposition forces have been battling to try to enter Hama since Tuesday and there was heavy fighting overnight with the Syrian army and allied Iran-backed militia groups supported by a Russian bombardment, both sides said.
The opposition took the main northern city Aleppo last week and have since pushed south from their enclave in northwest Syria, reaching a strategic hill just north of Hama on Tuesday and advancing towards the city’s east and west flanks on Wednesday.
Hama has stayed in government hands throughout the civil war which erupted in 2011.
The city lies more than a third of the way from Aleppo to Damascus and its capture would open the road to an opposition advance on Homs, the main central city that functions as a crossroads connecting Syria’s most populous regions.
Hama is also critical to the control of two major towns with big minority religious communities, Muhrada which is home to many Christians and Salamiya where there are many Ismaili Muslims.
The most powerful opposition faction is the militant “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS), the former al Qaeda
affiliate in Syria. Its leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has pledged to protect Syria’s religious minorities but many remain fearful.
On Wednesday al-Golani visited Aleppo’s historic citadel, a symbolic moment for fighters who were driven out of the city in 2016 after months of siege and intense fighting, their biggest defeat of the war. Aleppo was Syria’s biggest city before the war.
HTS and the other armed opposition groups are trying to consolidate their rule in Aleppo, bringing it under the administration of the so-called Salvation Government they established in their northwestern enclave.
Aleppo residents have said there are shortages of bread and fuel, and that telecoms services have also been cut.
Reuters
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.