Syrian rebels enter Homs, they don’t even have to fight along the way

The rebels, among whom the strongest group is Hajját Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) with links to al-Qaeda, formed in the evening in the south of Hama for the next advance on Homs. They reached the northern bank of the Orontes River and later reached the city, AFP reported. Syrian government troops tried to bomb the bridge over the river to slow down the progress of the rebels, but apparently the engineers failed to detonate it, the analytical group Critical Threats and the Institute for the Study of War said.

However, the Reuters agency reported that the Russians succeeded, but even that did not stop the progress of the rebels. They could have used other bridges.

According to the analytical group Critical Threats and the Institute for the Study of War, the situation after the fall of Aleppo, when government troops were unable to create a defensive line between the provinces of Aleppo and Hama, is repeating itself. Now they apparently failed to build it even between Hama and Homs.

The conquest of Hama has not only a strategic significance, but also a symbolic one, because it is the city where in 1982 Hafíz Assad, the father of the current autocratic president, harshly suppressed the Sunni rebellion led by the Muslim Brotherhood. That is why it was one of the centers of resistance against Bashar Assad in 2011.

The fall of Homs would mean that Damascus would lose its main access to the coast, where there are Russian bases in Latakia province.

The rapid progress of the rebels is linked to the fact that the supreme command of all Fatah Mubín rebel groups has always been able to agree with the local communities that they will not attack them if they hand over the city to them. Its inhabitants thus avoid fighting.

Quotaib Idlibi’s Twitter account stated, citing reliable sources, that they were able to come to an agreement with the representatives of the large city of Salamis. They also agreed with the representatives of two Christian communities north of Homs. According to unverified sources, even the administration in Talisah, only eight kilometers from Homs, is discussing handing over the village to the rebels.

At the same time, Fatah Mubin is trying to ensure that advancing fighters leave towns and villages alone, and is limiting operations in the city.

In Syria, the government and the army did not control the territories that were officially under their control directly, but through local militias and groups that provided security and expressed loyalty to the government. The advancing rebels were able to negotiate for the militia to go over to their side.

HTS leader Abu Muhammad Julani asked Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Sudani on Thursday to prevent the involvement of Iraqi Shiite militias from the Popular Mobilization Front (PMF) in the conflict. His point is that they do not come to Syria to help the Assad regime, his letter was quoted by the Reuters agency: “We urge the Iraqi politicians and we hope that Muhammad Shia Sudani in particular will fulfill his duty and prevent the Iraqi militia Hashd al-Shaabi (Arabic name PMF) intervened in what is happening in Syria.”

Djulani said that the fighting should not spread to Iraq and that the insurgents want to have strategic political and economic relations with Iraq.

It is unclear whether the challenge will be successful, as militias do control Sudan, but many are linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and controlled from Tehran. In addition, some had already fought on the side of Bashar Assad.

However, the challenge shows how strong the position of the rebels is and how tactically they are trying to act.