Syrian rebels capture key city of Hama in new blow to Assad

AMMAN - Syrian rebels captured the key city of Hama on Dec 5, bringing the insurgents a major victory after a lightning advance across northern Syria and dealing a new blow to President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies.

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The Syrian army said it was redeploying outside the city "to preserve civilians' lives and prevent urban combat" after what it called intense clashes.

Rebels said they were preparing to keep marching south towards Homs, Syria's great crossroads city that links the capital Damascus to the north and coast.

"Your time has come," said a rebel operations room in an online post, calling on city residents to rise up in revolution.

Al Jazeera broadcast what it said were images of rebels inside the city, some of them meeting civilians near a roundabout while others drove in military vehicles.

The rebels took the main northern city Aleppo last week and have since pushed south from their enclave in north-west Syria.

The fall of Hama, which has remained in government hands throughout the civil war triggered by a 2011 rebellion against Mr. Assad, will send shockwaves through Damascus and raise fears of a continued rebel march south.

Mr. Assad relied heavily on Russian and Iranian backing throughout the most intense years of the conflict, helping him to claw back most territory and the country's biggest cities before front lines froze in 2020.