Syria: Govt forces scramble to secure third-largest city after rebels capture Aleppo, Hama

Air strikes targeted a bridge on the highway linking the Syrian cities of Homs and Hama, a war monitor said on Friday, as government forces scramble to secure Homs after rebels captured Hama and commercial hub Aleppo.

"Fighter jets executed several airstrikes, targeting Al-Rastan bridge on (the) Homs-Hama highway... as well as attacking positions around the bridge, attempting to cut off the road between Hama and Homs and secure Homs," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The rebels led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched their offensive a little more than a week ago, just as a ceasefire in neighbouring Lebanon took hold between Israel and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ally Hezbollah.

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.

To slow the rebel advance, the Observatory said Assad's forces erected soil barriers on the highway north of Homs, Syria's third-largest city which lies just 40 kilometres south of Hama.

Tens of thousands of members of Assad's Alawite minority community were fleeing Homs on Thursday, for fear that the rebels would keep up their advance, the Observatory said earlier.

The rebels captured Hama on Thursday following street battles with government forces, announcing "the complete liberation of the city" in a message on their Telegram channel.

Many residents turned out to welcome the rebel fighters. One photographer saw some residents set fire to a giant poster of Assad on the facade of city hall.

The army admitted losing control of the city, strategically located between Aleppo and Assad's seat of power in Damascus.

Defence Minister Ali Abbas insisted that the army's withdrawal was a "temporary tactical measure".

"Our forces are still in the vicinity," he said in a statement carried by the official SANA news agency.

War bound to resume

Until last week, the war in Syria had been mostly dormant for years, but analysts have said it was bound to resume as it was never truly resolved.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said 826 people, mostly combatants but also including 111 civilians, have been killed in the country since the violence erupted last week.