Opposition forces enter key towns north of Syria’s third largest city after taking control of Hama
Rebel groups are reported to be within five miles of Syria's third largest city, Homs, the gateway to the capital, Damascus.Rebel groups are reported to be within five miles of Syria's third largest city, Homs, the gateway to the capital, Damascus.Syrian insurgents have entered towns north of the country’s third largest city, Homs, sweeping along a highway that eventually leads to the capital, Damascus, in a lightning-fast advance that has shaken the Middle East.
Speaking to reporters outside a mosque in Istanbul, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, offered a message of support to the insurgency. He had previously offered to “discuss shaping the future of Syria,” together with Assad, he said, “but we received no response”. Insurgents have called on the people of Homs to rise up against the regime, telling them “your time has come” in a message circulated online, as thousands fled to Damascus or into the province of Latakia.
In a rare late-night address, the Syrian defence minister, Ali Mahmoud Abbas, called his forces withdrawal from Hama a “temporary tactical measure,” and said his forces had “deployed to save lives”.
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