rebels entered key town of Hama, regular army conceded defeat

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It is the second city that the rebel coalition, led by the extremist Islamists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has seized in the space of a week: Aleppo, the country’s second city, fell on December 1 . Now the rebels entered several neighborhoods of the city of Hamaand street battles are taking place there with the regime forces », indicated the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

Strategic city

The Syrian army admitted having lost control of the city and indicated that his forces had “ redeployed » outside Hama. Located 210 km north of Damascus, Hama is a strategic city for the government of Bashar al-Assadbecause it commands the road to the capital.

The OSDH reported, this Thursday morning, fighting “ relentless » between the rebels led by the extremist Islamists of HTS and the Syrian army, which had brought reinforcements into the city. The rebels managed on Wednesday evening to almost completely surround the fourth city of Syriaafter a dazzling offensive from the north which allowed them to take Aleppo.

Hundreds of prisoners released

On Thursday, they announced that they had taken Hama prison and freed hundreds of inmates. “ Our forces entered Hama Central Prison and freed hundreds of unjustly detained prisoners », Announced on a Telegram channel Hassan Abdel Ghani, a military leader of the rebel coalition led by radical Islamists.

Russia and Iran, Damascus’ main allies, as well as Turkey, a major supporter of the rebels, are in “close contact” to stabilize the situation, Russian diplomacy said on December 4. For his part, the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, warned against a resurgence of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, where this jihadist formation had self-proclaimed a “ caliphate » in 2014, straddling Iraq, before being defeated several years later.

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