(VOVWORLD) - Fierce fighting between Syrian government forces and Islamist-led rebels continues in Hama, Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Thursday. The government is "resolutely resisting and trying to stop the advance of the rebels".
 Vehicles are destroyed in Idlib, Syria, on December 1, 2024. (Photo: Reuters/VNA) |
Hama is strategically located in central Syria and, for the army of President Bashar al-Assad, is crucial to safeguarding the capital and seat of power, Damascus. The fighting around Hama follows a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels who have seized significant territory, including Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo.
Russian and Syrian air forces, along with artillery units, are carrying out concentrated attacks on the rebels in the Hama area, according to Syrian state media.
The Observatory says the violence has killed more than 700 people, mostly combatants but also 110 civilians. 115,000 people have been “newly displaced across Idlib and northern Aleppo” by the fighting, said the UN on Wednesday.