Just a few days ago, as the insurgent coalition led by the radical Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, meaning Levant Liberation Organization) seized Aleppo, Syria’s second city, the Damascus bourgeoisie “continued to live in a bubble, as if the ship wasn’t sinking,” reported a Syrian who makes frequent visits to the capital. Indolence is no longer an option for this elite who, by choice or lack of alternative, have adapted to the regime over the last few years. On Wednesday, December 5, rebels took control of Hama, a town in central Syria, 200 kilometers north of Damascus, which was supposed to be the line of defense for loyalist forces. For fighters hostile to Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Hama is a strategic gateway to other areas under government control. After taking control of the city in the morning, they continued their advance southward
As in Aleppo, regime forces were unable to resist the advance, despite launching a counter-offensive in the preceding days. On Wednesday, Defense Minister Ali Abbas attempted to downplay the defeat, claiming that the redeployment of the army and its allied militias was “a temporary tactical measure,” adding that these forces “are still close to the city.” Al-Assad, for his part, has still not spoken publicly, aside from issuing a press release following the fall of Aleppo. His portraits have been torn down by the new leaders of Hama.
By seizing this town, the insurgent coalition has extended its advantage in the lightning military turnaround it has achieved in a country where, at the end of November, the fronts still seemed set to remain frozen for a long time to come. In just a few days, the alliance, dominated by HTS (a former branch of al-Qaida in Syria), has more than doubled its territory, which until November 26 had been limited to the Idlib region in north-western Syria.
“HTS has become a very well-equipped group. The Proturk factions fighting alongside it benefit from Ankara’s support. Their morale is very high, thanks to their successes. As in Aleppo, the armed groups in Hamah had sleeper cells,” noted an observer familiar with the Syrian terrain. “Conversely, the Syrian army is in a disastrous state: tired, demotivated and poorly paid. Bashar al-Assad has been trying to modernize it for two years but without success. In what may appear to be an act of desperation, he has announced the doubling of soldiers’ salaries to defend Hama.”
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