The Syrian army says it’s redeploying to avoid urban combat, reversing earlier denial of rebel fighters in the strategic city of Homs.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported to Sky News Arabia that “the Syrian army withdrew from the city of Homs,” as battles intensified in the Homs countryside with the advance of armed factions led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.
Earlier, Reuters quoted a Syrian officer as saying that “Russian bombing on Thursday night destroyed the Rastan Bridge along the main road to Homs to prevent the advance of the rebels,” noting that “Syrian government forces sent reinforcements to sites around Homs.”
This comes at a time when battles continue between the Syrian army and armed factions that have taken control of Aleppo, Idlib and Hama.
Iran can no longer supply Hezbollah arms via Syria
Commenting on the reports that Iran and Hezbollah plan to join the fight against Syria’s rebels, the Director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdul Rahman said in an interview with LBC channel that “in the past, we used to call Syria the Tehran-Beirut road, and today this road has been completely cut off and the Syrian Democratic Forces have taken control of it in Deir Ezzor province.”
He believes that “Iran can no longer supply Hezbollah with weapons through Syria and Hezbollah can no longer take the Syrian road towards Iran.”
Rami Abdul Rahman added, “We have not seen Hezbollah at all in Syria. We have not documented the killing or injury of any of its members until now, even in Homs, where Hezbollah is considered strong.”
He continued, “Hezbollah has been present in Homs and in some villages since 2013, and after that, it moved to other areas. It seems that today it no longer has anything to fight for in Syria, and 70% or more of Syria is no longer under the control of the regime, and Hezbollah is the most affected by what is happening to the regime.”
If Assad’s military loses Homs, it could be a crippling blow. The city, parts of which were controlled by insurgents until 2014, lies on an important intersection between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, where Assad enjoys wide support. Homs province is Syria’s largest in size and borders Lebanon and Iraq
The foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq and Syria — three close allies — gathered in Baghdad on Friday to consult on the rapidly changing war. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein expressed “deep concern,” saying his government is closely following the situation in Syria.