Opposition factions took control of neighborhoods within the city of Hama just hours after the Military Operations Administration announced its fighters had stormed the city, followed by the regime’s announcement of withdrawing its forces from inside the city and repositioning them.

The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, said in a video recording that the factions’ fighters had entered the city of Hama.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense in the regime government stated on Thursday, December 5, that the military units stationed inside the city had redeployed and repositioned outside the city.

The leader in the Military Operations Administration (a coalition of opposition factions), Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani, on Thursday, December 5, before the regime forces announced their withdrawal, said that opposition fighters had taken control of several neighborhoods in the city of Hama, and progress was still ongoing.

Abdul Ghani added that regime forces are experiencing significant chaos in the city amidst the escape of senior military and security leaderships.

The factions reached the Hama Central Prison and released hundreds of prisoners from it.

The factions made advances over the past two days on several fronts within the administrative borders of Hama province, after taking control of the city of Aleppo and the entire administrative borders of Idlib province since the launch of the “Deterrence of Aggression” operation.

On the morning of November 27, the factions launched a military operation called “Deterrence of Aggression” in response to the regime’s repeated shelling of areas in northwestern Syria, stating that its goal was to expand “safe areas” in preparation for the return of displaced persons and refugees to them.

On Tuesday, December 3, the factions took control of the towns of Suran, Maardas, and Taybat al-Imam north of Hama, then the factions advanced and seized villages and towns in the northern, eastern, and western rural areas of Hama.

The factions reached the eastern and western outskirts of the city of Hama on Wednesday and announced their control over the Mujnezarat School (School of Mechanized Vehicle), which was among the strongholds of the 25th Division and the 87th Brigade.

The official Syrian news agency (SANA) reported on Wednesday that the opposition factions had been pushed back 20 kilometers from the city of Hama.

However, the Military Operations Administration stated that the regime forces are trying to boost their soldiers’ morale by spreading rumors that they have regained control of some sites in the rural areas of Hama, confirming that all the sites that the factions had taken control of remain under their control.

The Red Bands Brigades, an elite force of Tahrir al-Sham, killed more than 50 members of the regime forces on the al-Khattab axis north of Hama, according to the Military Operations Administration.

On the outskirts of Hama

The opposition factions had reached the city of Hama on Saturday and then withdrew from it after the Syrian regime gathered its forces in the city.

Following video recordings and information about the entry of opposition fighters onto the outskirts of Hama city, residents from the city told Enab Baladi that the Syrian regime had assembled forces from various formations in the city on the evening of Saturday, November 30.

Residents spoke about the lack of presence of opposition factions within the main neighborhoods of the city, in contrast to the rapid progress that occurred in Aleppo city on Friday.

They confirmed that video recordings published by activists loyal to the Syrian regime showed the gathering of its forces inside the city of Hama, amidst threats of combat.