We could see significant gains for insurgents this weekend, but don't expect a clear outcome

Analysts have described Bashar al-Assad's military as hollowed out by poor morale, defections and corruption

- Jason Burke

So far the rebel advance in Syria appears unstoppable. Yesterday, the columns of pickup trucks and motorbikes of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and their allies were reported to have reached the outskirts of the city of Homs, just over 100 miles from Damascus, the capital.

The extraordinarily rapid advance made by the coalition of rebel groups has stunned not only observers and regional powers but also, it appears, the regime of Bashar al-Assad. HTS swept first from its northwestern stronghold into Aleppo, the country's second biggest city, and then Hama, another major city 80 miles south.

Assad's military forces have offered little resistance. Poorly trained policemen have been pressed into service, with predictable results. Shortly before the rebels arrived outside Hama, the country's defence ministry called its defensive lines "impregnable". The Syrian army then said it had withdrawn "to preserve the lives of civilians".

Few are fooled by such claims from a regime responsible for such vast numbers of civilian casualties over 13 years of civil conflict.