Syrian rebels captured the city of Hama on Thursday after a swift advance through northern Syria, marking a significant gain for the insurgents and posing a challenge to President Bashar al-Assad and his allies, Russia and Iran.
The Syrian army said that rebels entered Hama following intense clashes and announced its decision to withdraw from the city “to preserve civilian lives and prevent urban combat.”
Rebel forces, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), captured areas in the northeastern part of Hama and took control of the central prison, releasing detainees, news agency Reuters reported.
Also read: Who are Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, jihadist group behind resurgence of Syria conflict?
This comes after the rebels captured Aleppo last week. Since then, they have moved southward from their position in northwest Syria, reaching a strategic hill north of Hama on Tuesday and advancing toward the city’s eastern and western outskirts on Wednesday.
Hama has been under government control since the Syrian conflict began in 2011. The city’s fall could impact Damascus and its allies. Located over a third of the way from Aleppo to Damascus, Hama’s capture could allow rebels to advance further south to Homs, a central city connecting major regions of Syria.
Hama’s bloody history
Hama has a history of major anti-government demonstrations in 2011 and a violent crackdown in the 1980s, which remains a significant event in Syria’s modern history.
Located about 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of Damascus, Hama is strategically positioned between Aleppo, which rebels captured on December 1, and Damascus, the base of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The city has a population of around one million, mostly Sunni Muslims, with a minority of Alawites, the sect to which Assad belongs. Assad’s family has ruled Syria for over 50 years.
In 2011, Hama, like other Syrian cities, rebelled against Assad after the government’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests, triggering a civil war that drew in foreign powers and jihadists.
Hundreds of thousands protested in the city, where government forces were not present. The situation drew international attention when ambassadors from the United States and France met demonstrators, angering the Syrian government. On July 31, 2011, government forces launched an offensive, killing at least 139 people, according to opposition groups.
Decades earlier, in February 1982, Hama experienced a much more severe crackdown during an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood, then the main opposition to President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father. After the Brotherhood killed members of the ruling Baath Party in Hama, the government responded with heavy artillery and tank attacks. Estimates of the death toll range from 10,000 to 40,000.
The operation was led by Hafez al-Assad’s brother, Rifaat, who headed the defence brigades, an elite force. Rifaat earned the nickname “Butcher of Hama” for his role.
In March this year, Swiss authorities charged Rifaat al-Assad with “ordering homicides, acts of torture, cruel treatments, and illegal detentions” as commander of the defence brigades during the Hama crackdown.
Hama is also known for its waterwheels, or “norias,” along the Orontes River. These medieval structures were used to bring water to gardens, bathhouses, mosques, and wells. Unesco describes them as “unique, not only on the Orontes and in Syria, but probably in the entire world.”