Reports Indicate Rebel Forces Enter Homs as Syrian Military Adjusts Positions Nearby
Click to start listening
Damascus, Dec 8 (NationPress) Reports indicate that rebel factions have entered the central Syrian city of Homs, while government troops are repositioning around the area, as per information from war monitors and local news sources.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitoring group, reported that the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allied groups have taken control of various neighborhoods within Homs, as noted by Xinhua news agency.
Local authorities at the central prison of Homs have opened the gates and released all prisoners, according to the Observatory's reports.
Simultaneously, the pro-government radio channel Sham FM stated that the Syrian army is redeploying its forces on the outskirts of Homs, although it did not provide specifics on whether any units have retreated from urban settings.
Homs, once a significant bastion of the Syrian opposition during the early stages of the civil war, has mainly remained under government authority since 2014.
This city has recently become the latest to be seized by rebel forces following a substantial offensive that began on November 27, during which they have already captured Aleppo, all of Idlib province in northern Syria, and the city of Hama in the western-central region.
