The Syrian army has withdrawn from the central city of Hama after insurgents broke through its defenses, the military said Thursday.
The Syrian army has withdrawn from the central city of Hama after insurgents broke through its defenses, the military said Thursday, in another setback for President Bashar Assad.
The announcement came hours after opposition fighters said they had entered the city and were marching toward the center.
The Syrian army said it redeployed from Hama and took positions outside the city to protect the lives of civilians.
The capture of Hama, Syria’s fourth largest city, is another blow for Assad days after insurgents captured much of the northern city of Aleppo, the country’s largest city.
On Thursday morning, Syrian insurgents said they entered Hama after three days of intense clashes with government forces on its outskirts, part of an ongoing offensive.
The Syrian army said in a statement later that a number of troops were killed after resisting the insurgents for days. It accused the attackers of relying on suicide attacks to break through the defenses of the city.
Hama is one of the few cities that remained under full government control during Syria’s conflict, which broke out in March 2011 following a popular uprising.
