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.