Syrian rebels announced on December 6 that they had reached the city of Homs. "Our forces have captured the last village on the outskirts of Homs and are now at the city walls," the rebels said on Telegram.
Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is a former Al-Qaeda affiliate. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has demanded that forces loyal to the government of President Bashar al-Assad leave Homs.
If the rebels take Homs, they will cut off the road from the capital Damascus to the coast, a coastal area that is home to Mr Assad’s long-time Alawite supporters and where Russia has naval and air bases.
Syrian state media reported that government troops were carrying out an operation in the Homs countryside with the support of Syrian and Russian air forces, artillery, missiles and armored vehicles. Dozens of rebels were killed, a source said.
In other developments in Syria, Kurdish fighters in Syria on December 6 captured Deir el-Zor - the government's main stronghold in the vast desert in the east of the country, three sources revealed to Reuters.
Deir el-Zor is the third largest city, after Aleppo and Hama in northwestern and central Syria, to fall from Mr Assad's control in a week.
