The Syrian army launched a counter-offensive this Wednesday, December 4, to try to repel the rebels led by radical Islamists who arrived on the outskirts of the large city of Hama, in the center of the country, after a dazzling offensive carried out from the north. After seizing dozens of towns and most of Aleppo, Syria’s second city, the rebels arrived on Tuesday, according to an NGO, “at the gates” of Hama, a strategic town for the army because its Protection is essential for that of the capital Damascus, located about 220 kilometers further south.
Hama, Syria’s fourth city, was the scene of a 1982 massacre by the army under the rule of President Bashar al-Assad’s father who was suppressing a Muslim Brotherhood insurgency. Decades later, the scars of this massacre, which drove thousands of Syrians into exile, have still not healed. It was also in this city that some of the largest demonstrations took place at the start of the 2011 pro-democracy uprising, the repression of which sparked the civil war.
On Wednesday, “violent clashes” opposed the army to the rebels in the northeast and northwest of Hama, according to the official Sana news agency. “Last night, the noises were terrifying and we could clearly hear the sound of the incessant bombings,” testified a 36-year-old driver, named Wassim, contacted by AFP. “I’m going to stay at home because I have nowhere to go. We’re tired, we’ve been on edge for four days.”
Tens of thousands of civilians have fled
The regime’s forces, which had not put up significant resistance in Aleppo, launched “after midnight a counter-offensive”, under air cover, in the Hama region, and repelled the attackers, announced Wednesday the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). This UK-based NGO, which has an extensive network of sources in Syria, has reported significant population displacements in this region, while tens of thousands of civilians have already fled regions further north. Aleppo and Idlib.
The fighting and bombings, which left 602 dead in one week, including 104 civilians, according to the OSDH, are the first of this magnitude since 2020 in Syria. Among the dead are also 299 fighters from the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is leading the rebel offensive with allied factions, according to this NGO, and 199 soldiers and pro-government fighters. Russia and Iran, Damascus’ main allies, as well as Turkey, a major supporter of the rebels, are in “close contact” to stabilize the situation in Syria, Russian diplomacy announced on Wednesday.
Russia and Iran as allies
The country, ravaged by the civil war which left half a million dead, is now divided into several zones of influence, where the belligerents are supported by different foreign powers. While relative calm has been maintained since 2020 in the northwest after a ceasefire sponsored by Ankara and Moscow, a coalition of rebels dominated by HTS, the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, launched on November 27 a lightning offensive in this region. In a few days, the rebels seized large swaths of northern Syria and a large part of Aleppo, which completely escaped regime control for the first time since the start of the civil war, inflicting a heavy setback to regime forces supported by Syrian and Russian planes. Iran said on Tuesday it was ready to “study” any sending of troops to Syria if this country requested it.
In Aleppo, held by armed rebels, a medical student told AFP on Tuesday that hospital staff were “largely absent, with services operating at half capacity”. “We try to respond to emergencies, we save equipment,” he testified, refusing to give his name. The UN reported Tuesday “numerous civilian casualties, including a large number of women and children” in attacks by both camps and the destruction of health facilities, schools and markets. Aleppo’s hospitals, fewer than eight of which continue to operate, are overwhelmed, the World Health Organization said. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, the water distribution network was damaged. Faced with the rebel offensive, Bashar al-Assad denounced on Monday an attempt to “redraw the regional map”.
With the military support of Russia, Iran and the pro-Iranian Lebanese movement Hezbollah, the regime took back a large part of the country in 2015 and in 2016 the entirety of Aleppo, the eastern part of which was taken over. 2012 by the rebels.