Rebel advance nears Homs, Assad's forces face retreat
Islamic rebels, who launched a massive offensive against Bashar al-Assad's regime forces in November, have approached within about 5 kilometres of the Syrian city of Homs. Thousands of residents have left their homes to escape the advancing rebel forces.
According to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) units have entered the towns of Rastan and Tablisa in the Homs province in the last few hours. The organization highlights that the rebels face no resistance from Assad’s army.
Syrian forces opposing the regime are divided into many factions that often conflict with each other. The most important external patron for the rebels is Turkey, which claims it does not directly support HTS. However, the Syrian National Army (SNA), backed by Ankara, also fights against government troops.
SNA fighters have been conducting an offensive against the Kurdish-dominated and Western-supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) controlling northeastern Syria for several days.
