Air strikes targeted a bridge on the highway linking the Syrian cities of Homs and Hama, according to a war monitor. Government forces are reportedly scrambling to secure Homs after rebels captured Hama and the commercial hub of Aleppo.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that fighter jets executed several airstrikes, targeting Al-Rastan bridge on the Homs-Hama highway, as well as attacking positions around the bridge. The aim was to cut off the road between Hama and Homs and secure Homs.
The rebels, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched their offensive just over a week ago, coinciding with a ceasefire in neighbouring Lebanon between Israel and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ally Hezbollah.
To slow the rebel advance, Assad's forces erected soil barriers on the highway north of Homs, Syria's third-largest city, which is located just 40 kilometers south of Hama. Tens of thousands of members of Assad's Alawite minority community were reportedly fleeing Homs on Thursday, fearing the rebels would continue their advance.
The rebels captured Hama on Thursday following street battles with government forces, announcing "the complete liberation of the city" in a message on their Telegram channel. Many residents turned out to welcome the rebel fighters, with some setting fire to a giant poster of Assad on the facade of city hall.
The army admitted losing control of the city, which is strategically located between Aleppo and Assad's seat of power in Damascus. Defence Minister Ali Abbas insisted that the army's withdrawal was a "temporary tactical measure," stating that "our forces are still in the vicinity."
The war in Syria, which had been mostly dormant for years, is now bound to resume, according to analysts. The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, reported that 826 people, mostly combatants but also including 111 civilians, have been killed since the violence erupted last week. This marks the most intense fighting since 2020 in the civil war sparked by the repression of pro-democracy protests in 2011.
Assad ordered a 50-per cent raise in career soldiers' pay, as reported by state news agency SANA on Wednesday, in an effort to bolster his forces for a counteroffensive. The rebels launched their offensive in northern Syria on November 27, the same day a ceasefire took effect in the war between Israel and Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon. Both Hezbollah and Russia have been crucial backers of Assad's government but have been mired in their own conflicts in recent years.
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