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Syria, Hama under siege: Assad withdraws his soldiers

Violent fighting and shelling have marked the entry of rebel groups into the Syrian city. Assad withdraws troops, while Hama is isolated from the rest of the country

Hama, one of the strategic cities in central Syria, is the scene of violent clashes between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and armed groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a coalition dominated by former al-Qaeda affiliates. According to reports by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, but sources on the ground, fighting has intensified in the north-eastern part of the city, accompanied by aerial bombardments and raids by Assad’s forces on surrounding localities.

The tensions culminated in the withdrawal of government forces from the city. In an official statement released by the state-run Sana agency, the Syrian Defence Ministry said that the deployment of troops outside Hama was decided ‘to protect civilians and avoid fighting inside the city’. However, the withdrawal has left Hama at the mercy of rebel factions, who claim to have taken control of significant parts of the urban territory.

One of the most significant incidents reported by rebel groups is the raid on Hama’s central prison, resulting in the release of hundreds of inmates. ‘Our forces have freed hundreds of unjustly detained prisoners,’ Hassan Abdel Ghani, one of the HTS commanders, said via Telegram. The statement, if confirmed, would represent an important symbolic and strategic development in the battle for control of the city.

Meanwhile, Hama has been cut off from the main arteries connecting it to the rest of the country. HTS fighters have blocked the roads that connect the city to vital centres such as Aleppo and Raqqa, thus cutting off supplies and making all communication by land impossible.

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