Syrian rebel forces entered the central city of Hama on Thursday after a two-day battle, marking another major territorial gain in their week-long offensive against the forces loyal to Damascus and their Russian and Iranian allies.
The Syrian army confirmed that rebel forces had entered Hama city after intense clashes, prompting its units to redeploy outside the city, according to a statement published by state media. The army added that its forces "fought fierce battles to repel and thwart the violent and successive attacks launched by the rebels on the city of Hama".
Abu Muhammad Al Golani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, an Al Qaeda offshoot that has led the offensive, said the rebels entered the city “to cleanse a 40-year-long wound. The conquest of Hama will contain no revenge”.
The latest escalation in Syria’s protracted civil war comes as President Bashar Al Assad's key allies are preoccupied with their own conflicts: Russia in Ukraine and Hezbollah and Iran with Israel.
Hama fell despite intense Russian air bombing to prevent the rebel forces from attacking the city in a pincer movement. The scene of a 1982 massacre after a failed uprising against the president's father Hafez Al Assad, the city is the second major urban centre since the offensive started last week. The rebels took the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's business capital, and have since advanced into areas near the heartland of the Alawite minority, who form the bedrock of support for the president.
Aleppo's takeover marked the first opposition attack on the city since 2016, when an intense Russian air campaign retook it after rebel forces had initially seized it. Interventions by Russia, Iran and Iranian-allied Hezbollah and other militant groups have allowed the Syrian government loyal to President Al Assad to remain in power.
“We, as Hezbollah, will stand by Syria to repel this aggression with whatever we can,” Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech on Thursday evening, without elaborating on whether the group would send additional reinforcements to Syria.
Hezbollah has been a key ally of the government of Mr Al Assad in the more than 13-year civil war in Syria. But the group has been severely damaged by a 13-month war with Israel that has seen most of its senior leaders killed.
Fawaz Tello, a prominent opposition figure, predicted that the city of Homs would fall next as bases and defences of the Syrian army could crumble in front of a “well-planned” advance.
The Syrian army said its units have “redeployed” outside the city after “fierce battles.” It said that the military units repositioned themselves outside the city “to preserve the lives of civilians”. It added that "over the past few hours, with the intensification of confrontations between our soldiers and terrorist groups... these groups were able to breach a number of axes in the city and entered it".
Losing Hama could prove catastrophic for President Bashar Al Assad, whose strategy in the civil war has been to preserve Damascus and other mercantile urban centres that some analysts call “useful Syria”, as opposed to fringe areas where his government had lost control early on in the civil war. Hama is also crucial for the main Russian coastal base of Hmeimim and the coastal mountains.
The capture of Aleppo last week has already deprived the core regime's coastal areas of depth that had helped Mr Assad's government survive the 2011 revolt against his rule and the ensuing civil war. Hama governorate, like the rest of Syria, is mostly Sunni. Armed resistance in the area against Syria's Alawite rulers has traditionally been small.
In 1982, the Defence Companies, an elite unit of the Syrian military led by Rifaat Al Assad, the President's uncle, overran Hama after an uprising in several parts of Syria. As many as 45,000 civilians were killed in the attack, according to Syrian lawyers who traced civil records.
When the nationwide Syrian revolt broke out in March 2011, Hama residents joined the mass protest movement. Hundreds of people in the city and its suburbs were killed in the ensuing crackdown on forces loyal to Mr Assad, which culminated in Syrian tanks rolling into the city in July of that year.
Spokesman of the rebel forces Hassan Abdul Ghan said that they are “returning Hama to its people”, and that they had released hundreds of detainees from Hama central prison after taking the city.
Civil%20War
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The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 480hp at 7,250rpm
Torque: 566Nm at 4,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: L/100km
Price: Dh306,495
On sale: now
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Copa del Rey
Semi-final, first leg
Barcelona 1 (Malcom 57')
Real Madrid (Vazquez 6')
Second leg, February 27
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
more from Janine di Giovanni
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Results
2.15pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner: Maqam, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).
2.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner: Mamia Al Reef, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
3.15pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m
Winner: Jaahiz, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel.
3.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m
Winner: Qanoon, Szczepan Mazur, Irfan Ellahi.
4.15pm: Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Cup Handicap (TB) Dh200,000 1,700m.
Winner: Philosopher, Tadhg O’Shea, Salem bin Ghadayer.
54.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m
Winner: Jap Al Yassoob, Fernando Jara, Irfan Ellahi.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
'C'mon C'mon'
Director:Mike Mills
Stars:Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Woody Norman
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Qalandars 112-4 (10 ovs)
Banton 53 no
Northern Warriors 46 all out (9 ovs)
Kumara 3-10, Garton 3-10, Jordan 2-2, Prasanna 2-7
Qalandars win by six wickets
Abdul Jabar Qahraman was meeting supporters in his campaign office in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded on Wednesday.
The blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah killed the Afghan election candidate and at least another three people, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another three were wounded, while three suspects were detained, he said.
The Taliban – which controls much of Helmand and has vowed to disrupt the October 20 parliamentary elections – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mr Qahraman was at least the 10th candidate killed so far during the campaign season, and the second from Lashkar Gah this month. Another candidate, Saleh Mohammad Asikzai, was among eight people killed in a suicide attack last week. Most of the slain candidates were murdered in targeted assassinations, including Avtar Singh Khalsa, the first Afghan Sikh to run for the lower house of the parliament.
The same week the Taliban warned candidates to withdraw from the elections. On Wednesday the group issued fresh warnings, calling on educational workers to stop schools from being used as polling centres.
About%20My%20Father
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Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
