The army says it’s redeploying ‘to preserve civilian lives and prevent urban combat’ reversing an earlier claim denying that rebel fighters had entered the strategic city.
Hama lies more than a third of the way from Aleppo to Damascus and its capture would open the road to a rebel advance on Homs [Bakr Al Kassem/AFP]
The army said in a statement on Thursday that it was redeploying its forces “to preserve civilian lives and prevent urban combat”, reversing an earlier claim that denied rebel fighters had entered the city
pposition commander Hassan Abdul Ghany posted on social media earlier on Thursday that his fighters had begun entering Hama, which they had been laying siege to since Tuesday amid heavy fighting overnight with the Syrian army, which was backed by intense Russian air attacks.
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