Opposition activists say warplanes have carried out several airstrikes in Syria’s Hama, killing at least 25 people, amid a lightning advance by insurgents on government-controlled areas of the central province.
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The town of Halfaya was stormed on Monday after the hardline jihadist Jund al-Aqsa alongside Free Syrian Army (FSA) brigades launched a battle overnight that overran several army and pro-government checkpoints in northern Hama countryside.
They are pushing south from rebel-held Idlib province into a swathe of government-held land which reaches down to the capital Damascus.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, the strikes have killed at least 25 people.
Al-Ahmed, who is now in Turkey, said government forces in Hama province may have been weakened because many troops were transferred to Aleppo city, where they are bogged down in vicious fighting with advancing rebels.
The source pointed out that clashes are now underway in the village of Ma’ardes, only 5 km from Hama, amid reports that the rebels have actually taken control of it.
Syria’s civil war, which started with peaceful anti-government protests more than five years ago, has degenerated into a multi-front conflict and dragged in world powers and forces backed by some neighbouring countries. De Mistura acknowledged that such tactics “could be a strategy taking place”. Another 15 people were killed further to the west, the center said.
Egeland warns that sieges on al-Waer in Homs and Madaya, near Damascus, could compel similar evacuations.
De Mistura said he was planning to present “an important political initiative” for Syria even as the prospect of renewed peace negotiations remains dim.
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Meanwhile, humanitarian adviser to United Nations special envoy to Syria, Staffan De Mistura has said a 48-hour humanitarian pause in Aleppo was needed urgently so that food and other supplies could be delivered to those in need.
