Rebel forces pushed their offensive in Syria further south early Friday, closing in on central Homs as humanitarian groups sounded the alarm over worsening conditions for trapped civilians. in the fight.
It comes as the Russian embassy in Damascus urged its nationals to leave Syria on commercial flights, state news agency TASS reported.
A day earlier, anti-government forces were driven out of Hama, Syria's fourth largest city. That gave the insurgents a major new victory after a lightning advance across northern Syria as they dealt another blow to President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies.
If rebel groups succeed in seizing the main city of Homs, they would cut off the Syrian capital Damascus from the coast, long suspected of Assad's Alawite minority and home to the country's naval and air bases. Russia.
“The battle for Homs is the mother of all battles and it will decide who rules Syria,” said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a researcher war against.
In another setback for Assad, a US-backed alliance led by Syrian Kurdish fighters has taken Deir Al-Zor, the government's main stronghold in the country's vast desert east, sources told Reuters. Friday.
It was the third major city, after Aleppo and Hama in the northwest and center, to fall out of Assad's control in a week.
Damaged military vehicles rested on roads in Hama, Syria, on Friday after Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham rebels captured the city.
The violence has already displaced some 280,000 people since it erupted in late November, according to the latest United Nations figures.
“If the situation continues (at the same)… The branch of Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy, told reporters in Geneva.
After years trapped behind frozen front lines, the insurgents have burst out of their base in northwestern Idlib to make the fastest advance on the battlefield on either side since the street uprising against Assad into the civil war 13 years ago.
Rebel fighters led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has been listed as a terrorist organization by Canada since 2013that they took over the towns of Thalbiseh and Rastan. The group, which broke away from al-Qaeda in 2016, says it poses no threat to the West and has spent years trying to change her image, presenting itself as a viable alternative to Assad.
Children 'pay the heaviest price'
Save the Children Syria is sounding the alarm about the harm to children caught up in the fighting, which was already recovering from the effects of 13 years of war, a subsequent humanitarian and economic crisis and a devastating crisis . an earthquake that affected nearly 40 percent of the population.
The UK-based group said at least 69 civilians, including 26 children and 11 women, were killed in north-west Syria last week. At least 228 others were reported injured, including 88 children and 53 women.
Rasha Muhrez, Save the Children's Syria response director, said she received reports of families fleeing the fighting, with nowhere to go, sleeping on the streets for several days. Muhrez said that some schools have been converted into shelters but they cannot provide enough space for people.
“It's winter, it's the middle of the school year. … In the end, kids are paying the heaviest price for it,” Muhrez told CBC News Friday from Amman, Jordan.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says after years of conflict in Syria, it is 'time' for all parties to engage in real action and a path to a solution the crises that have existed for a long time.
About 120 schools in the northeastern city of Raqqa are being used to accommodate 35,000 people, according to the group.
Aid groups say they have raised less than a third of the $4 billion needed to run programs in 2024 before the fighting began last week.
Earlier this month, the UN humanitarian office said they had to cut food rations Syria up to 80 percent due to insufficient funds.
“The situation in Syria was not easy before this escalation, so we are looking at a crisis on top of a crisis. And that is why we emphasize the urgent need for funding,” said Abdel Jaber.
Jordan closes the Syrian border
On Friday, Jordan also closed the only passenger and commercial border into Syria – known as the Jaber crossing – the Jordanian interior ministry said. Jordanians and Jordanian trucks would be allowed to return through the crossing, on the Jordanian side, but no one would be allowed to enter Syria.
A Syrian military source told Reuters that armed groups that infiltrated the crossing attacked Syrian army posts located at its Nassib border into Jordan.
Muhrez said the border closure will have a major impact, although it is not clear how it will affect the delivery of special aid. She said the crossing has been crucial in delivering financial and humanitarian aid to Syria and Lebanon.
Homes will be empty as residents flee
A resident of Homs said that the offices of Syria's main security branches there were evacuated on Friday morning, with members leaving the city.
SOHR said thousands of people had started fleeing Homs on Thursday night, heading for the Mediterranean coastal areas of Latakia and Tartus.
Wasim Marouh, a Homs resident who decided not to leave, said most of his main commercial streets were empty as anti-government militia groups patrolled the area. the streets.
Meanwhile, a rebel operations room urged Homs residents in an online post to rise up, saying: “Your time has come.”
Syrian rebels captured the city of Hama, a major victory in their advance across northern Syria and a devastating new blow to President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies.
Russian bombing overnight destroyed the Rastan bridge on the M5 highway, the main route to Homs, to prevent rebels from using it to advance, a Syrian military official told Reuters, adding that the forces government bringing reinforcements to positions around Homs.
Assad relied heavily on Russian and Iranian military support during the most intense years of the civil war, helping him retake most of Syria's territory and major cities before front lines hardened. in 2020.
But Russia has been aiming to invade Ukraine since 2022. And many in the top leadership of Hezbollah, Iran's most powerful militia force, have been killed by Israel over the past two months. who left
A senior Iranian official said Tehran is likely to have to send military equipment, missiles and drones to Syria in addition to sending more advisers and deploying forces. He said that Tehran is currently providing information and satellite support.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah sent a small number of Lebanese “command forces” to Syria overnight to prevent anti-government fighters from capturing Homs, two senior Lebanese security sources told Reuters.
