SYRIA’S elite Tiger Forces have been forced to flee from Hama as the rampaging HTS rebels march on towards Damascus.
While the opposition continues to wrestle for control over major cities across the country, its leader has vowed to overthrow Assad’s regime.
The rebels said they had taken full control of Hama on Thursday after the military withdrew its troops from the city.
Hama is a strategic city linking Aleppo to the capital Damascus – marking another devastating loss for Assad.
The Syrian military is likely to try to retake the city with the well-known Tiger Forces. However, these troops have not been successful in stopping rebel progress up to this point.
The Tiger Forces, considered elite, have connections to the notorious Syrian air force intelligence, led by an individual sought by France and Germany for purportedly killing civilians in Syria’s civil conflict.
Reports, although not verified, suggest that the Syrian opposition has taken control of Assad’s aircraft at Hama airport while HTS expands its dominance throughout the nation.
Now the next critical battle for power is set to take place in Homs – which experts believe could suffer a siege similar to Aleppo’s.
Thousands of Homs civilians have already fled their homes as government troops desperately put up barriers in the north of the city.
If the rebels were to take over Homs, Damascus would then be cut off from the coastal region which is a stronghold of Assad’s sect – and is also where his Russian allies have a naval base and airbase.
According to HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the goal is to overthrow authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad.
Since the lightning offensive, he has spoken out about his plans to create a government based on institutions – and even a “council chose by the people.”
Jolani told CNN: “When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal.
“The seeds of the regime’s defeat have always been within it… the Iranians attempted to revive the regime, buying it time, and later the Russians also tried to prop it up.
“But the truth remains: this regime is dead.”
In late November HTS launched its surprise offensive on Syria – with the rebels progress taking lightning speed.
They took control of the country’s second-largest city Aleppo before capturing the city of Hama a mere few days later.
Since the offensive, Assad has repetitively suffered unbelievable losses, which have also affected his pals and allies Iran and Russia.
HTS were designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in 2018 and has since tried to show a more sensible image to gain power in Syria.
Jolani said that civilians didn’t fear the management of rebel-held areas as those who “fear Islamic governance” have either “seen incorrect implementations of it or do not understand it properly”.
The controversial leader added: “We are talking about a larger project – we are talking about building Syria.
“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is merely one part of this dialogue, and it may dissolve at any time.
“It is not an end in itself but a means to perform a task: confronting this regime.”
Opposition fighters stormed through Aleppo last week, ousting Russian forces from at least three military bases “without meeting great resistance”, a Syria war monitor said.
The ferocious march into the city in armoured trucks and tanks resulted in hours of bloodshed as the rebels battled with Russian-backed guards.
But the Islamist troops succeeded and seized the city – Syria’s second largest.
