Anti-Assad forces advance toward Damascus: Jihadist groups in Syria move toward Homs

Jihadist groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have continued their attacks against Assad forces in Syria since November 27.

It has been reported that the jihadist groups, which have taken control of the Hama city center, are advancing toward the city of Homs.

In the morning hours, the districts of Rastan and Talbiseh, which serve as the gateway to Homs province, were captured by the HTS-led jihadist groups.

Rastan and Talbiseh are located on the M5 highway, which connects Aleppo, Hama, and Homs and extends to Damascus.

Having taken the village of Ter Maela and the town of Dar al-Kabirah in the north, the jihadist groups continued their advance, reaching within 3 kilometers of the outer suburbs north of Homs.

HTS also captured the villages of Al-Gantu, Zaafarana, Majdal, Deir Ful, Asilah, Abu Humamah, Hashimiyyah, East Farhaniyah, West Farhaniyah, Wazeiyah, Izz al-Din, Al-Ghasibiyah, Al-Mukramiyah, Sa'an, Izz al-Din, and Gharnata.

The jihadist groups, which are conducting operations toward Homs from the Salamiyah district of Hama—a city of strategic importance that opens the way to the capital, Damascus—have begun entering the outer suburbs of the city center.

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SYRIA?

Clashes between the Assad regime and jihadist armed groups began on November 27 in the western countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria.

On November 30, the jihadist groups, which had seized most of the center of Aleppo from the Assad regime, established control over the entire Idlib region on the same day.

Following intense clashes, the groups took the Hama city center from regime forces on December 5.

In the "Dawn of Freedom" operation launched by the Syrian National Army against the terrorist organization PKK/YPG in the Aleppo countryside on December 1, the center of the Tel Rifaat district was liberated from terrorism.