Rebels have launched a significant offensive in opposition to the federal government in Syria, seizing cities in a lightning advance that has expanded the territory beneath their management.
The rebels captured town of Hama on Thursday in a major new blow to President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies.
Seizing Hama offers them management of the strategically situated central metropolis for the primary time since a rebel in opposition to Assad descended into civil conflict 13 years in the past.
Syria’s key ally Russia is finishing up air strikes in opposition to the rebels led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) however it’s unclear how – or if – Assad will be capable of cease an advance that would threaten his authorities’s survival.
Map: Where is Syria?
Syria, a rustic with a inhabitants of about 22 million folks, is situated on the east coast of the Mediterranean sea. It borders Turkey to the north, Lebanon and Israel to the west and southwest, Iraq to the east and Jordan to the south.
Turkey, Western powers and a number of other Gulf Arab states have backed various parts of the Syrian opposition to various levels through the battle.
The Lebanon-based Hezbollah motion, backed by Iran, has fought alongside the Syrian regime military however has been severely weakened by its battle with Israel.
Israel, involved by what it calls Iran’s “navy entrenchment” in Syria, has launched air strikes in opposition to Syria’s navy.
How a lot territory have rebels gained?
After years locked behind frozen frontlines, the rebels have swept south from what was the final remaining territory beneath their management in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, which border Turkey, to mount the swiftest battlefield advance by both facet within the civil conflict.
Hama lies a 3rd of the way in which down the 330km (205 mile) street that hyperlinks Aleppo and Damascus.
Its seize will hamper any swift try by Assad and his allies to launch a counteroffensive in opposition to insurgent beneficial properties of the previous week.
The arrival of insurgent fighters in Hama got here simply over per week after the beginning of a sweeping offensive that has captured Aleppo and damaged a years-long stalemate.
The insurgents had been combating to achieve Hama since Tuesday, to encircle town from the north, east and west, the place they clashed with the Syrian military.
Hama’s seize may clear a path for an additional insurgent push on the centrally-located crossroads of Homs and additional southwards, together with the capital Damascus.
Where subsequent for the rebels?
The insurgents have stated they’re able to march on south in the direction of Homs, a crossroads metropolis that hyperlinks the capital Damascus to the north and to the coast.
A insurgent advance on Homs, 40 km (24 miles) south of Hama, may lower Damascus off from the coastal area, an space the place Assad has assist and the place his Russian allies have a naval base and airbase in Latakia.
The rebels have been advancing alongside the important thing street which hyperlinks Aleppo to Damascus, proven within the map beneath.
The street is massively essential to the rebels because it permits its fighters, who normally journey in convoys of small automobiles and motorbikes, to maneuver simply and at pace to their subsequent targets – and in the end, Damascus itself.
Assad has vowed to “crush” the rebels and accused Western powers of attempting to redraw the map of the area.
