Syrian Armed Forces Ramp Up Assault on Rebel Groups, Claiming 300 Lives
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Damascus, Dec 5 (NationPress) The Syrian armed forces have engaged in intense combat in the central province of Hama against rebel factions, predominantly the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), leading to the elimination of at least 300 militants, as stated by the Syrian Defence Ministry.
The ministry indicated that units of the Syrian army stationed along the front lines in northern rural Hama have been clashing since the morning with armed terrorist organizations associated with HTS, according to Xinhua news agency.
"Our forces are targeting terrorist gatherings in depth and their convoys on all movement axes using artillery, rockets, and joint Syrian-Russian warplanes," the ministry declared in a statement.
"These operations have led to the annihilation of at least 300 militants, including foreign fighters, and the destruction of over 25 drones," it added, noting that reinforcements have been dispatched to strengthen the front lines and halt further rebel progress.
Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, mentioned that HTS and its allied factions are advancing from three fronts—north, northeast, and west—in an effort to reach the city of Hama.
"Hama is a battle of attrition; hence the ongoing media campaign on social media," Abdulrahman remarked.
In the morning, the Syrian army pushed HTS back by 15 kilometres from Hama. "By evening, HTS was able to cut off the Syrian Desert road and introduced their so-called 'Red Bands' elite units on the northern outskirts of Hama," he added.
The clashes in Hama involve advances and retreats from both sides, in contrast to the battle for Aleppo, he noted.
In the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, life in the government-held city remains unaffected despite nearby skirmishes, following a day when Kurdish-led militias attacked government positions and military sites in an attempt to seize seven villages in the Deir al-Zour countryside without success, according to the pro-government Sham FM radio.
Meanwhile, in Aleppo, which fell to the rebels last Friday, Sham FM reported ongoing incidents of theft in several homes and neighborhoods by unidentified armed individuals, believed to be escaped convicts from Aleppo Central Prison.
"Civil society organizations are urging residents to secure their homes and refrain from interacting with these armed groups," the report stated.
The city has also faced intermittent communication disruptions, causing partial outages in cellular networks and internet services, which has led to a loss of contact between residents of Aleppo and their relatives in other provinces.
The recent escalation in Hama and other areas highlights the intensifying conflict between Syrian government forces and rebel groups, including HTS, which maintains control over parts of northwest Syria.
The United Nations and humanitarian organizations have consistently called for the protection of civilians and unobstructed access to aid, expressing alarm over the ongoing conflict's impact on the Syrian populace.
