Idlib, Syria, Dec 6 (EFE).- Syrian rebels said Friday that they were advancing towards the central city of Homs in a new push in their offensive towards the strategic city controlled by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad after taking Hama the previous day.
“Our forces continue to advance towards the city of Homs with firm steps, thank God, after the arrival of convoys transporting hundreds of displaced people from Homs to deter Al-Assad’s aggression against their city,” said the Military Operations Command of the rebel alliance led by the Tahrir al-Sham (Organization for the Liberation of the Levant) group, which split from what was the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda.
The Islamist insurgents announced Thursday that they had “completely” dominated the city of Hama, just a few hours after they entered the country’s fourth-largest city.
On Thursday, Syrian Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas said that the capture of Hama was a temporary tactical measure and asked Syrians for their patience and trust.
If the rebels reach Homs, located on the M5 highway—the backbone of the country connecting Syria from north to south, and take control of it, they would further isolate Damascus and cut it off from the coastal province of Tartus, an Assad family stronghold.
Hama was the second provincial capital to fall into the hands of the rebels backed by Turkey in just over a week of the offensive, after they took the second city of Aleppo last Friday. EFE
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