Islamist insurgents continue to advance towards the city of Homs, in central Syria, after they took Hama on Thursday in a new advance of their offensive towards the strategic city controlled by the Syrian government of President Bashar al Assad.
“Our forces continue to advance towards the city of Homs with a firm step, thank God, after the arrival of convoys transporting hundreds of displaced people from Homs to deter Al Assad’s aggression against their city,” the Command of Military operations of the insurgent coalition led by the Levant Liberation Organization (HTS) group, which split from what was the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda.
Thousands of people from the city of Homs fled the city tonight, as reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and as testified by some witnesses.
Islamist insurgents announced Thursday that they have “completely” dominated the city of Hama, just hours after they entered the country’s fourth largest city.
For his part, the Syrian Defense Minister, Ali Mahmoud Abbas, assured that the withdrawal from Hama is “a temporary tactical measure,” and asked for patience and trust from the Syrian people.
If the insurgents arrive in Homs, located on the M5 highway – the backbone of the country since it connects Syria from south to north – and control it, they would further isolate Damascus and prevent them from connecting by land with the coastal province of Tartus, a fiefdom of The Al Assad family.
The loss of Hama marks the second provincial capital to fall into the hands of the Turkish-backed insurgents in just over a week of offensive, after last Friday they controlled the city of Aleppo, the second largest in Syria.
According to data from the UN World Food Programme, the fighting that began on November 27 has already displaced a total of 280,000 people in Syria.
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