Syrian rebels have entered the suburbs of the key city of Homs - Media
Kyiv • UNN
The rebels broke through the defenses and entered the suburbs of Homs, advancing 30 km from Damascus. In a week, they captured several major cities, including Aleppo, Hama and Deir ez-Zor.
Syrian rebels entered the suburbs of the key city of Homs on Saturday. This was reported to Reuters by sources, reports UNN.
A resident of Homs, as well as sources in the army and rebels, reported that the rebels had broken through government defenses from the north and east of the city. The Syrian military did not immediately comment on the reports.
Fighting has raged around the north of strategically important Homs since Friday evening, government forces have been reinforced and used intense airstrikes to defeat the rebels.
The rebels also captured almost the entire southwest within 24 hours and advanced 30 km (20 miles) from Damascus as government forces retreated to more defensible positions, the rebels said.
Underlining the possibility of a renewed uprising in the capital itself, protesters in a Damascus suburb, according to local residents, demolished a statue of Assad's father, and a video showed them tearing it to pieces.
Assad remains in Damascus, the Syrian state news agency reported.
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After the rebels captured Aleppo a week ago, government fortifications were crumbling at breakneck speed as the rebels captured a number of major cities and rebelled in places where the uprising had long seemed to end.
In addition to capturing Aleppo in the north, Hama in the center and Deir ez-Zor in the east, the rebels said they had captured southern Quneitra, Deraa and Essaouida.
The dual threat to the strategically important Hamsa and the capital Damascus now poses an existential threat to Assad's decades of rule in Syria and the continued influence there of his main regional patron Iran.
The pace of events has stunned Arab capitals and raised fears of a new wave of regional instability.
The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 as an uprising against Assad's rule, has drawn in major external powers, created space for jihadist militants planning attacks around the world, and led to millions of refugees fleeing to neighboring states.