Syrian army, allies gain ground against rebel groups near Hama

BEIRUT: The Syrian army and allied forces advanced against rebels in western Syria near Hama city on Sunday, building on recent strategic gains in the area, a military source and a monitoring group said. Government forces captured the town of Halfaya and nearby villages, they said, taking back territory that rebels seized last year from Syrian forces. “We gained control of Halfaya and several hills in the area,” the Syrian military source said. “The army will of course continue its fight.” Boosted by Russian air strikes and other militias, the Syrian army has pushed into rebel areas north of Hama, expanding its control last week along the western highway that links Damascus and Aleppo.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, said the army began advancing into areas near Halfaya when rebels withdrew on Sunday, following intense battles and air strikes. Sources on the rebel side could not immediately be reached for comment. Warplanes have pounded Halfaya and swathes of territory near the highway in a region vitally important to the government, which has shored up its rule in the populated west of the country. Rebel factions, spearheaded by fighters from the former Al Qaeda affiliate and also including Free Syrian Army groups, have been fighting fiercely to defend the towns in recent days. The army’s earlier capture of Soran, its northern gateway to Hama city, meant it had reversed most of the territorial gains rebels made in their major offensive last month.

With the help of its allies, the government has gained the military upper hand in the six-year war against the wide array of rebels, including some groups supported by many allies. Meanwhile, an Israeli attack on a Syrian training camp near the Golan Heights killed three members of a pro-government militia on Sunday, an official from the forces said. The Al Fawwar camp in Syria’s southwestern Quneitra province is used by the National Defence Forces (NDF), which command some 90,000 fighters across Syria. The NDF official said that two fighters were also wounded in the Israeli attack, but said it was unclear how the damage was inflicted. — Agencies