After Aleppo, Syrian rebels capture key city of Hama as army withdraws

Syrian rebels captured the city of Hama on Thursday after the Syrian army withdrew from the strategically important and symbolic central city.

This marks the second major victory for the newly formed rebel coalition, which also captured Aleppo last week.

“Over the past few hours, with the intensification of confrontations between our soldiers and terrorist groups and the rise of a number of martyrs in our ranks, these groups were able to penetrate several parts of the city and entered it,” CNN quoted the Syrian military as saying in a statement carried by state news outlet SANA.

Last week, rebel groups recaptured Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, after a surprise offensive that overwhelmed President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and allied militias.

The offensive dealt a significant blow to Assad and his backers in Iran and Russia, reigniting a civil war that had been largely dormant for years.

Hama, strategically located at a key crossroads in western-central Syria, offers direct supply lines between Damascus and Aleppo. Rebels had been unable to seize the city since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

Abu Mohammad Al Jolani, leader of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), the main rebel group leading the assault, said his forces entered Hama to “cleanse a 40-year-old wound.”

The city holds symbolic significance as the site of one of Syria’s largest and most brutal massacres in 1982, when President Hafez al-Assad – the current ruler’s father – ordered a military crackdown on a revolt. A 1983 Amnesty International report estimated the death toll on both sides to be between 10,000 and 25,000.

The rebels have now vowed to continue their advance southward, targeting the city of Homs, about 165 kilometers (100 miles) from the capital, Damascus, reported CNN.

“Our heroic people in Homs, your time has come. Declare it a revolution against oppression and tyranny,” CNN quoted Hassan Abdulghani, the spokesperson for the rebels, as saying.

Syria’s civil war began in 2011 during the Arab Spring, when the government cracked down on protests against President Assad, who has been in power since 2000. The protests escalated into an armed rebellion, plunging the country into full-scale civil war.

Hama was one of the first cities to witness protests against the Syrian regime during the Arab Spring.

With inputs from agencies