Syrian rebels captured the city of Hama on Thursday, a major victory in a week-old lightning advance across northern Syria and a devastating new blow to President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies.
Advertisement
After years locked behind frozen front lines, the rebels have burst forth to mount the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since a rebellion against Assad descended into civil war 13 years ago. The capture of Hama gives them control of a strategic central city they have never managed to seize before.
The Syrian army said it was redeploying outside the city “to preserve civilian lives and prevent urban combat” after what it called intense clashes.
Rebels said they were preparing to keep marching south towards Homs, a key crossroads city that links the capital Damascus to the north and coast.
“Your time has come,” said a rebel operations room in an online post, calling on Homs residents to rise up in revolution.
Al Jazeera television broadcast images of rebels inside Hama, some of them greeting civilians near a roundabout while others drove in military vehicles and on mopeds.
Advertisement
The rebels took the main northern city of Aleppo last week and have since pushed south from their enclave in northwest Syria. Fighting has raged around villages outside Hama for two days but once rebels entered the city the battle ended in hours.