Rebels capture key Syrian city of Hama

Rebels captured the central Syrian city of Hama on Thursday in a new blow to President Bashar al-Assad's forces days after they lost the country's commercial hub Aleppo.

The rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched their offensive little more than a week ago, just as a ceasefire took hold between Israel and Hezbollah.

Following overnight clashes, the rebels stormed Hama "from several sides" and engaged in street battles with Assad's forces, Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said. The rebels later announced "the complete liberation of the city of Hama", in a message on the rebels' Telegram channel.

The army admitted losing control of the city, strategically located between Aleppo and Assad's seat of power in Damascus. "Over the past few hours, with the intensification of confrontations between our soldiers and terrorist groups... these groups were able to breach a number of axes in the city and entered it," the army said in a statement, adding units had regrouped outside Hama.

Aron Lund, a fellow of the Century International think tank, called the loss of Hama "a massive, massive blow to the Syrian government" because the army should have had an advantage there to reverse rebel gains "and they couldn't do it".

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the flare-up in Syria reflects "the bitter fruits of a chronic collective failure of previous de-escalation arrangements".

In a video posted online, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani said his fighters had entered Hama to "cleanse the wound that has endured in Syria for 40 years", referring to a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in 1982, which led to thousands of deaths.