Syrian insurgents combating forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have launched assaults within the central province of Hama, threatening to chop off authorities troops from a key route linking the capital, Damascus, with rebel-held Aleppo.
The military was participating in “violent confrontations” with armed teams in Hama, the Syrian state information company Sana reported.
Insurgents mentioned they had been positioned about 6 miles from Hama metropolis, the nation’s fourth largest metropolis, and that their forces had captured the cities of Maardis and Soran simply north of the town.
Individually, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a longtime impartial conflict monitor, mentioned on Tuesday morning that insurgent factions within the province had managed to grab a number of cities in the previous couple of hours.
“Syrian and Russian air forces carried out dozens of strikes on the area,” mentioned the Britain-based monitor, which has a community of sources inside Syria.
After their lightning assault on Aleppo over the previous few days, militants led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have superior south in the direction of Hama. The town sits on a crucial highway linking Aleppo within the north with main central areas equivalent to Homs metropolis, the coastal ports of Latakia and Tartous, and Damascus within the south.
Hama was a bastion of opposition to the Assad authorities when pro-democracy protests first erupted through the Arab spring in 2011. A bloody response by safety forces to peaceable marches throughout the nation led the opposition to arm itself, and a years-long civil conflict ensued.
Since retaking Aleppo in 2016, Assad has regained a decent grip over the nation, though he has by no means totally retaken all of Syria’s borders. The sudden rebel victory in Aleppo is essentially the most critical problem to the dictator’s management in years.
Iran, Assad’s most important backer, mentioned on Tuesday that it could take into account sending troops to Syria if requested by Damascus. Iran’s overseas minister, Abbas Araghchi, mentioned the “expansion of the activities of terrorist groups in Syria” may additional destabilise the area.
Tehran has turn into more and more alarmed that a few of its key provide strains to its allied militia in Lebanon and Iraq could possibly be threatened by the unfold of the Syria battle.
Syria has turn into a proxy battleground for worldwide energy struggles, with Russia and Iran supporting Assad whereas Turkey and the US have backed varied insurgent teams. Insurgents propped up by Turkey have engaged in the newest assault on Aleppo.
In the meantime, Israel, to the south, repeatedly bombs Iranian, Syrian and Lebanese militia in Syria. On Tuesday the Israeli army confirmed that its forces had killed Salman Jumaa, a senior determine from the Lebanese group Hezbollah, in Damascus. Jumaa was answerable for liaising with the Syrian military.
A number of hundred miles to the east of Hama and Aleppo, fighters from a US-backed, Kurdish-led coalition battled authorities forces early on Tuesday, opening a brand new entrance for Assad’s army. The combating by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was reported in villages throughout the Euphrates River from Deir ez-Zur, a regional capital.
A US official, talking on situation of anonymity to Reuters, mentioned Washington had carried out at the very least one strike in “self-defence” in Deir ez-Zur, which they mentioned was unrelated to the Aleppo offensive. Washington maintains a small variety of troops at a base in a gasoline subject within the Deir ez-Zur province. The area additionally has a presence of Islamic State militants, whom US troops have been combating since 2014.
The UN excessive commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, voiced concern on Tuesday concerning the escalation of hostilities in north-west Syria. Medics have reported intensive aerial assaults by Syrian and Russian jets.
Türk’s workplace mentioned it had documented “a number of extremely concerning incidents resulting in multiple civilian casualties, including a high number of women and children,” from assaults by HTS and pro-government forces.
The UN says practically 50,000 folks have been displaced by the combating that has killed tons of, largely fighters, for the reason that finish of November.
Russia, together with Iran, is a key backer of Assad and entered the Syrian civil conflict practically a decade in the past in assist of his regime. In the meantime, HTS, a former al-Qaida affiliate, is combating alongside insurgent teams backed by Turkey.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who’s a primary backer of teams against Assad, mentioned on Tuesday that the advance by militants confirmed that the Syrian president wanted to carry talks with the opposition.
The rout of Syrian military forces from Aleppo and experiences that their defensive strains have crumbled has undermined Assad’s already fractured management of the nation. Whereas his forces nonetheless management Hama, the town has an extended historical past of dissent in opposition to dynastic, authoritarian rule. Assad’s late father, Hafez, repressed an anti-government rebellion there in 1982.
On Tuesday, an AFP journalist within the northern Hama countryside noticed dozens of Syrian military tanks and army automobiles deserted by the facet of the highway resulting in Hama.
Assad has remained a pariah determine within the west though there have been current makes an attempt to reopen diplomatic channels. The US state division spokesperson Matthew Miller mentioned in a briefing on Monday that Assad was “a brutal dictator with blood on his hands, the blood of innocent civilians”, and that Washington’s stance on his rule had not modified.
Reuters, the Related Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
