After rebels capture Hama, now possible advance towards Homs

 Friday, December 6, 2024

Islamabad (News International / Pakistan Point News - 11th Dec, 2024 ) The capture of Hama has given the extremist rebels of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and their allies strategic control over the central city, which they did not have until now. Last week, they captured Aleppo after a surprise attack that has never escaped the hands of the Damascus government in the Syrian war that has been going on for more than a decade.

Syrian rebels enter Hama

The leader of the militant organization HTS, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, declared a ‘victory’ in Hama, reiterating that ‘revenge will not be taken’.

Earlier, HTS fighters and their allies captured the central prison of Hama after fierce clashes and released several prisoners, while the army announced that it had deployed its troops outside the city.

Hama is home to one million people and is located 110 kilometers south of Aleppo.

Now likely to advance towards Homs

Aaron Lund, a fellow at the Century International think tank, called the loss of Hama “a huge blow to the Syrian government because the army should have defeated the rebels there but they couldn’t.”

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He said HTS would now try to advance towards Homs, where many residents had already fled their homes on Thursday.

Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported a mass exodus of members of Assad’s minority Alawite community from the city.

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Tens of thousands of people are heading towards areas along Syria’s Mediterranean coast, where followers of the Alawite sect, a branch of the Shiite sect, are in the majority.

“We are afraid and worried that what happened in Hama will be repeated in Homs,” said a civil servant, who gave his name only as Abbas. “We are afraid that they (the rebels) will take revenge on us,” said the 33-year-old.

The implications of rebel control of Hama

Taking control of Hama is also important for gaining control of the two major cities of Mahrada and Salamiyah.

Mahrada is home to a large Christian population and Salamiyah to the Ismaili Muslim religious minority.

In a video posted online, HTS leader Abu Muhammad al-Julani said his fighters had entered Hama to “cleanse the wounds that have been inflicted on Syria for 40 years.” He was referring to the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in 1982, which left thousands dead.

He later used his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, for the first time, instead of his alias, in a message on Telegram, “congratulating the people of Hama on their victory.”

A peaceful uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011 and quickly escalated into a civil war. The conflict has killed nearly half a million people, with Russian and US intervention turning it into a proxy war.

In the past, Assad has relied on Russia and Iran to crush his rivals. But with both allies themselves embroiled in new conflicts in the region, it is unclear how they will be able to stop the advance of rebels who now pose a direct threat to the survival of Assad’s government.