Assad facing the end?
Jihadists on the verge of capturing Hama
The large-scale offensive by Islamists in Syria continues (see video above) - and is thus jeopardizing the power of dictator Bashar al-Assad. His army is now attempting to push back the rebels with a counter-offensive - which the army has already succeeded in doing just outside Hama.
Kronen Zeitung als bevorzugte Google-Quelle hinzufügen Since last week, the insurgents of the "Committee for the Liberation of the Levant" have been advancing in northern Syria. They have already captured Aleppo, the country's second largest city. Now, according to observers, fighters from the jihadist group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) are on the verge of capturing Syria's fourth largest city, Hama.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported on Tuesday evening that some districts had been bombed. Families from Hama were fleeing to the south of the province or further into the neighboring province of Homs.
Assad's allies weakened
The military success of the jihadists is probably partly due to the fact that the Syrian ruler's most important allies have been weakened: Iran and its allied Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon due to the fighting with Israel and Russian troops due to the war in Ukraine.
However, the Iranian General Javad Ghafari is now supposed to support the government troops. He became known as the "Butcher of Aleppo" due to his role in the recapture of Aleppo in 2016. On Wednesday, it was reported that Assad's army had launched a counter-offensive. During the night, the armed forces pushed back the insurgents from the city of Hama around ten kilometers to the north.
Dictator had demonstrators shot at
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, whose information comes from an extensive network of informants on the ground, more than 570 people were killed in the recent fighting, including almost 100 civilians. The civil war had already flared up in 2011 after dictator Assad had demonstrators shot at. The insurgents were quickly joined by Islamist groups and a war developed.
In 2015, the Russian government intervened and the tide turned back in Assad's favor. He was able to hold on to power. HTS is a Syrian offshoot of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, but has claimed to have had no links to the network for several years. At the beginning of the war, Hama was a bastion of opposition to the government.
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