Syrian opposition fighters drive past a burning government armoured vehicle south of Hama, Syria, on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

A Syrian opposition war monitor and a pro-government media outlet say government forces have withdrawn from much of the central city of Homs.

FOLLOW MORE: Syria civil war LIVE updates: Homs central prison captured by Syrian rebels; Government forces seen withdrawing

The pro-government Sham FM reported that government forces took positions outside Syria’s third-largest city, without elaborating. Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian troops and members of different security agencies have withdrawn from the city, adding that rebels have entered parts of it.

Major blow for Syria’s Bashar Assad

Losing Homs is a potentially crippling blow for Syria’s embattled leader, Bashar Assad. The city stands at an important intersection between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base.

Its capture is a major victory for insurgents, who have already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began Nov. 27. Analysts said Homs falling into rebel hands would be a game-changer.

Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria gained speed on Saturday with news that they had reached the suburbs of the capital and with the government forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country.

Syrian rebels in Damascus

The rebels’ moves around Damascus, reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters.

The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad’s government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army.

Government airstrikes in Idlib on Sunday (December 1, 2024) killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Syrian military rushed in reinforcements and struck Idlib city Sunday (December 1, 2024) in an attempt to push back insurgents from advancing farther after seizing Aleppo and surrounding strategic locations in an adjacent province in a surprise offensive.

The insurgents led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took over most of Aleppo on Saturday (November 30, 2024) and claimed to have entered the city of Hama. There was no independent confirmation of their claim.

The swift and surprise offensive is a huge embarrassment for Syrian President Bashar Assad and raises questions about his troops’ preparedness. It also comes at a time when Assad’s allies — Iran and groups it backs and Russia — are preoccupied with their own conflicts.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travels to Syrian capital Damascus later Sunday (December 1, 2024). He told reporters that Tehran will back the Syrian government and army. Arab leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in calls with Assad expressed their solidarity with Damascus.

Turkey, a main backer of Syrian opposition groups, said its diplomatic efforts had failed to stop Syrian government attacks on opposition-held areas in recent weeks. Turkish security officials said a limited offensive by the rebels was planned to stop government attacks and allow civilians to return, but the offensive expanded as Syrian government forces began to retreat from their positions.

The insurgency, led by Salafi jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and which includes Turkey-backed fighters, launched their offensive on Wednesday (November 27, 2024) with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the Idlib countryside before moving toward Hama province. In Aleppo province, they captured a strategic town that lies on the highway linking Aleppo with Damascus and the coast.

Rebel commander Col. Hassan Abdulghani said that despite the government counteroffensive, his fighters were making gains in Aleppo. He says they took control of Sheikh Najjar, also known as the Aleppo Industrial City, Aleppo’s military academy and the field artillery college.

Abdulghani said 65 Syrian troops were taken prisoner in eastern Aleppo.

Elsewhere, he said the insurgents advanced in the Idlib countryside, putting all of the province under their control.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria said the shock push by the rebels poses a risk to regional security and called on resuming diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

“I have repeatedly warned of the risks of escalation in Syria, of the dangers of mere conflict management rather than conflict resolution,” Geir Pedersen said in a statement. He said the reality is that no Syrian party or grouping of actors can resolve the conflict via military means.

According to Syrian state news agency SANA and a war monitor, the army overnight pushed back insurgents in the northern countryside of Hama province.

Syrian state media said government resupply included heavy equipment and rocket launchers while Syrian and Russian airstrikes targeted weapon depots and insurgent strongholds.

Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that government reinforcements created a “strong defensive line” in the northern Hama countryside. Syrian state television claimed government forces had killed nearly 1,000 insurgents over the past three days, without providing evidence or details.

Government airstrikes in Idlib on Sunday (December 1, 2024) killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas. Among the targets were the Aleppo Hospital University in the city center, though there was no word of casualties.

The insurgents vowed to push all the way into Damascus, but life in the Syrian capital remained normal with no signs of panic.

In his first public comments since the start of the offensive, released by the state news agency Saturday (November 30, 2024) evening, Assad said Syria will continue to “defend its stability and territorial integrity against terrorists and their supporters.” He added that Syria is able to defeat them no matter how much their attacks intensify.

The 2016 battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters after 2011 protests against Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war. After appearing to be losing control of the country to the rebels, the Aleppo battle secured Assad’s hold on strategic areas of Syria, with opposition factions and their foreign backers controlling areas on the periphery.

Syrian opposition fighters ride in a truck as they enter the village of Anjara, western outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, on Thursday (November 28, 2024), part of their major offensive on government-controlled areas in the country’s northwestern Syria.
| Photo Credit: AP

Thousands of Syrian insurgents pushed on with their advances on government-held areas in the country’s northwest, reaching the outskirts of Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, and wrestling control of several strategic towns and villages along the way, activists and fighters said Friday (November 29, 2024).

Syria’s state media said projectiles from insurgents landed in the student accommodations at Aleppo’s university, killing four people, including two students. Public transportation to the city has also been diverted from the main highway linking Aleppo to the capital Damascus to avoid clashes, state-controlled media reported.

Fighters also advanced on the town of Saraqab, in northwestern Idlib province, a strategic area that would secure supply lines to Aleppo.

This week’s advances were one of the largest by opposition factions, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, and come after weeks of low simmering violence. It is the most intense fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters.

Syria’s Armed Forces said the insurgents are violating a 2019 agreement that de-escalated fighting in the area, which has been the last remaining opposition stronghold for years.

State media reported airstrikes on insurgents’ positions in Aleppo countryside.

The insurgents reported that fighters have wrestled control of the Scientific Research Center neighborhood, on the western outskirts of Aleppo city. It is the closest the rebels have come to Aleppo city since they were ousted from its eastern side in 2016.

Russia and Iran had helped Syrian government forces reclaim control of all of Aleppo that year, after a gruelling military campaign and a siege that lasted for weeks.

The battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters since the 2011 protests against Bashar Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war.

The war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of fighters from both sides have been killed in the battle that started Wednesday (November 27, 2024). The insurgents have seized control of more than 50 villages in their advance, which seems to have caught the government forces unprepared.

Insurgents posted videos online showing they were using drones in their advance, a new weapon they had not had previously in the earlier stages of their confrontation with government forces. It was not clear to what extent the drones were used on the battleground.

Aid groups said the fighting has displaced thousands of families, and forced some services to be suspended. The opposition fighters said their offensive will allow the return of thousands of displaced people who were forced to flee government bombardment in recent weeks.

The offensive also came as Iran-linked groups, who had backed Syrian government forces since 2015, have been preoccupied with their own battle at home.

Israel and Hezbollah, the lead group in the Iran-backed alliance, have been locked in a war that escalated since September. A cease-fire was announced Wednesday (November 27, 2024), the day the Syrian opposition factions announced their offensive. Israel has also escalated its attacks against Hezbollah and Iran-linked targets in Syria during the last 70 days.

Russia, along with Iran, backed Syrian government forces soon after the anti-government protests in 2011 turned into a war. Turkey has backed an array of opposition forces and established a military presence in parts of northwestern Syria. Meanwhile, the United States has supported Syrian Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants largely in the east of the country.