Syria opposition factions advance to outskirts of Hama City

Armed groups, opposing Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime, have most recently taken control of 6 more settlements including Zor al-Mahruka, Zor al-Haysa, Zor Abu Zeid, Zor al-Maselih, Zor Aj-Jadid and Khattab settlements and Nasiriyah Hill in Hama, Syria on December 3, 2024 [Kinene Hindevi – Anadolu Agency]

Armed opposition factions in Syrian seized control of 18 villages and towns in the rural areas of Hama province on Tuesday, Anadolu has reported. They are now just six kilometres from Hama City, the provincial capital.

Fighting between Syrian regime forces and armed groups led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered its seventh day yesterday, extending towards Hama.

Among the captured villages and towns are Abu Lafa, Al-Mustariha, Bayoud, Tharwat Al-Rahjan and northern and southern Sarha, as well as the strategic town of Ma’arshour on the city’s outskirts. According to Anadolu, the opposition factions are advancing towards Hama city centre from three directions. Field sources told the agency that the regime has begun evacuating banks and currency exchange offices in the city.

Syrian opposition factions have been engaged in renewed fighting with regime forces since 27 November across several areas in the country. They entered Aleppo last Friday, taking control of most of the city’s neighbourhoods. By Saturday, they had secured full control over Idlib province, capturing numerous towns and positions.

READ: Syria rebels offer amnesty for Assad regime military, security personnel if they defect

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.