Syrian rebels have captured the central city of Hama after Aleppo. The rebels made the announcement after withdrawing government forces from the city of Hama. As a result, President Bashar al-Assad and his allies Russia and Iran have been under great pressure after losing two important cities in a short period of time.
The BBC reported that the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies captured Aleppo last week in a rapid offensive.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based Syrian civil war monitoring organization, said that on Wednesday night, Assad's forces and rebels clashed on various roads on the way to Hama. The rebels attacked Hama from "several directions". The rebels said they had taken control of Hama's central prison and released prisoners. Later on Thursday afternoon, the Syrian army admitted that it had lost control of Hama.
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, said in a video message that his fighters had entered Hama to heal the wounds that have been inflicted on Syria for 40 years. Through this, he alluded to the massacre that was carried out in the name of suppressing the Muslim Brotherhood in 1982.
In 2011, the civil war began in Syria. The city of Hama was in the hands of the Assad government throughout the civil war. But now the fall of the city has become a major headache for Damascus. After the fall of Hama, the rebels have now opened the way to advance towards the city of Homs.