Violent fighting pitted the Syrian army on Tuesday against a coalition of rebels led by radical Islamists, who are trying to advance towards the strategic town of Hama, in central Syria, according to the OSDH. Calls for de-escalation increased Monday in the face of the rebel offensive which has seized large areas of northern Syria, raising fears of a resumption of large-scale fighting after more than a decade of civil war.
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The rebels launched last week a dazzling offensive which allowed them to seize Aleppo, second city of Syriain the north, over which regime forces have completely lost control for the first time since the start of the civil war in 2011.
According to the Syrian Ministry of Defense, “ violent clashes » opposed the army on Monday, supported by Syrian and Russian airstrikes, “to terrorist organizations in the north” of the province of Hama. Same observation from the OSDH, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which announces that “ violent clashes take place in the north of the province of Hama “, Or “ Russian and Syrian air force carries out dozens of strikes » on the rebel positions. The latter were able to take control of several towns and villages in the Hama region, added the NGO based in the United Kingdom and which has a vast network of sources in Syria.
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The Syrian army announced that it had sent reinforcements to the region, which helped slow the progress of the rebels over the past two days. But an AFP photographer saw dozens of abandoned Syrian army tanks and military vehicles on Tuesday morning on the road leading to Hama.
Hama is a strategic city in central Syria, on the road linking Aleppo to the capital Damascus. The progress of the rebels threatens the popular base of the regime “, the surroundings of the city being populated by Alawites, the community from which President Bashar al-Assad comes, underlines Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the OSDH, to Agence France Press.
Calls for de-escalation
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: alarmed by the recent escalation of violence » in Syria and called for a “ immediate cessation of hostilities “.
Secretary General Antonio Guterres is alarmed by the escalation of violence that has gripped northwest Syria… He is also concerned about the worsening health situation, due to unburied bodies and lack of of drinking water, underlines our correspondent in New York, Carrie Nooten.
The fighting is the first of this magnitude in four years, and the country is already suffering from one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with 7 million displaced and nearly 17 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. UN aid distribution operations have also had to be largely suspended in certain areas of Aleppo, Idler and Hama, since teams from the Humanitarian Affairs office can no longer access the warehouses where the humanitarian aid is stored.
“ He calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities. All parties must do their utmost to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including allowing the safe passage of civilians fleeing hostilitiesdeclared its spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. Syrians have suffered this conflict for almost 14 years. They deserve a political horizon that will lead them to a peaceful future, not more bloodshed. »
Tens of thousands of people are fleeing the fighting. “ Worrying. Tens of thousands of people are on the move », Commented on X the boss of Ocha, Tom Fletcher. Washington urged “ all countries » to work for a “ de-escalation “, just like the European Union which has ” sentenced »Russian strikes« in densely populated areas “.