Rebel army seizes one of Syria's biggest cities as government forces retreat
Rebel forces entered the Syrian city of Hama and forced out government troops Thursday, in a development that may have significant consequences in the country's 14-year-long civil war.
Rebel forces entered the Syrian city of Hama and forced out government troops Thursday, in a development that may have significant consequences in the country's 14-year-long civil war.
Both the Syrian Defense Ministry and an official from the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, known as HTS, said that insurgents had gained access to the country’s fourth-biggest city and that despite fierce fighting, the troops of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had left the city.
Hassan Abdul-Ghani, senior commander of the HTS-led forces, told NBC News that tanks had been used during the incursion and that fighters had “entered the Hama Central Prison and freed hundreds of unjustly imprisoned individuals.”
In a statement posted on Facebook, the Syrian Defense Ministry said that rebel groups “managed to penetrate several positions within the city and enter it,” and that “to safeguard the lives of the civilian population in Hama and to avoid involving them in urban combat, the military units stationed there have redeployed and repositioned outside the city.”
Armed groups opposing Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime, in the western province of Hama on Thursday.Ibrahim Hatib / Anadolu via Getty ImagesNBC News was unable to independently confirm claims by either side because independent journalism is very difficult in Syria, owing to the rapid changes in territory held by different groups and the repression of media by the official government.
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