ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syrian rebel forces have launched a multi-pronged offensive on the key city of Hama, closing in on the country’s fourth largest city, as their fighting with the army caused major civilian displacement from the city, a war monitor has reported.
Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other rebel groups have taken control of large swathes of territory in northern Syria, including the province of Aleppo, since last Wednesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said late Tuesday that the Islamist rebels led by HTS were "now at the gates of Hama city,” shelling several neighborhoods.
The SOHR, which has a network of sources across the country, said the fighting to capture Hama by the rebels has resulted in a massive "wave of displacement.”
Citing an army officer, Syrian state news agency SANA reported that Damascus has dispatched "large military reinforcements" to Hama "to bolster the forces on the front lines."
Syrian opposition armed groups, led by HTS, launched a surprise offensive against the Syrian army in Aleppo and Idlib countryside on Wednesday, triggering one of the bloodiest escalations in the Syrian civil war in years.
The United Nations has reported that around 50,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since last week.
Over 600 people have been killed, including 104 civilians, according to the SOHR.
Iraq, which is seriously worried about the resurgence of extremist groups in neighboring Syria, has assured Damascus of its support, sending troops and heavy weapons to secure its 600-kilometer-long border with Syria.
In a phone call on Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani told President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey that Baghdad would not "stand idly by to watch the dangerous repercussions taking place in Syria."
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