Another blow to Assad: The Syrian army withdrew from Hama

The Syrian army has withdrawn from the city of Hama after rebels breached its defenses, in another blow to President Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian army said it withdrew from Hama and took up positions outside the city to protect civilian lives. The announcement came hours after opposition fighters entered the city and headed for the center.

Hama is one of the few cities that remained under full government control during the Syrian civil war.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fierce fighting was taking place inside Hama.

"If Hama falls, it means the fall of the regime has begun," Observatory chief Rami Abdurahman told The Associated Press before the city was captured.

Hama is the main traffic junction in Syria, connecting the center of the country with the north, east and west. It is located about 200 kilometers north of the capital Damascus.

Tens of thousands of people were displaced in the new conflicts that began with the opposition's sudden offensive at the end of November.

The offensive is being led by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as well as a Turkish-backed Syrian militia group called the Syrian National Army. Their surprise capture of Aleppo was a stunning success and reignited a conflict that had largely stalled for the past few years.

The rebels' next target is likely to be Homs, the country's third-largest city. Homs is about 40 kilometers south of Hama.

The capture of Aleppo marked the opposition's first attack on the city since 2016, when a brutal Russian air campaign returned it to Assad after rebel forces initially seized it. The intervention of Russia, Iran and Iran's ally Hezbollah, as well as other militant groups, allowed Assad to remain in power.

The civil war in Syria began in 2011 and is estimated to have killed over half a million people and displaced half of the pre-war population.