HTS leader says 'no vengeance' after anti-regime factions seize Syria city of Hama

People gather in the city center, celebrating the anti-regime armed groups, opposing the Bashar al-Assad regime taking control of the city center of Hama, Syria on December 5, 2024. [Ammar Hatib – Anadolu Agency]

There will be “no vengeance” following the entry of opposition factions into the strategic Syrian city of Hama, the leader of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani, said yesterday.

The city was the site of a 1982 Muslim Brotherhood uprising against the Assad regime, which was forcefully suppressed by Damascus, which carried out a massacre in the city.

In a brief video on the messaging platform Telegram, Jolani addressed the city’s residents, saying: “I bring you glad tidings that your revolutionary brothers have begun entering the city of Hama to heal this wound that has remained in Syria for 40 years.”

He added: “I pray to Almighty God that this will be an opening filled with mercy and compassion, not one of vengeance.”

Read: Syrian opposition groups capture key city of Hama in fresh blow to Assad

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