Syrian militants close in on Hama as Russian-backed counter-offensive begins

Bashar Al Assad orders 50 per cent rise in soldiers' pay as fighting intensifies

Syrian militants have advanced within a few kilometres of Hama, encircling Syria's fourth-largest city from three sides, as state troops, aided by Russian aircraft, launched a counter-offensive to retain control.

Russian planes bombarded the outskirts of Hama overnight to push back the militant advance. Hama is strategically located in central Syria connecting Aleppo with Damascus, and a militia victory in capturing the city would prove catastrophic for President Bashar Al Assad.

The militia group “have surrounded Hama city from three sides, and are now present at a distance of three to four kilometres from it,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, added that government troops were “left with only one exit towards Homs to the south”.

Militants advancing toward Hama have faced a stiff counter-offensive from government troops on the ground and operations by the Syrian and Russian air forces. A military source quoted by state news agency Sana earlier reported “fierce battles” against the militants in northern Hama province since morning, adding that “joint Syrian-Russian warplanes” were part of the effort.

The Observatory said government troops brought large military convoys to Hama and its outskirts in the past 24 hours and that dozens of lorries carrying tanks, weapons, ammunition and soldiers are heading towards the city. It said regime troops and pro-government fighters led by Russian and Iranian officers were able to repel an attack northwest of Hama.

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  Syrians search for relatives whom they believe were detained in secret cells beneath Sednaya prison near Damascus. EPA

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  Rescue efforts to find prisoners at Sednaya prison continue. EPA

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  Israeli soldiers in southern Syria. Reuters

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  Mohammed Bashir, head of US-listed terrorist group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham's Salvation Government, at a press conference in the rebel-held northwestern Syrian city of Idlib in November. AFP

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  Crowds gathering at Saadallah Al Jabiri Square in Aleppo. AP

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  Senior insurgent commander Abu Mohammed Al Julani addresses a crowd at Ummayad Mosque in Damascus. Reuters

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  Members of the Syrian government security forces are herded into a field by gunmen in Homs, Syria. EPA

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  A hall inside the presidential palace gutted by fire after Syrian rebels took over Damascus. EPA

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  A Syrian rebel fighter fires rounds as people celebrate in Homs after the city's liberation from the stranglehold of the Assad regime. AFP

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  People gather to celebrate the Syrian government's fall at a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. AP

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  People gather around Umayyad Square in Damascus. AFP

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  Rebel fighters cheer from the back of a pick-up truck at Umayyad Square having stormed into the centre of Damascus, Syria. AFP

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  Syrian government forces cross the border into Iraq at Al Qaim. Reuters

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  A multi-barrel rocket launcher fires at regime troops, in the northern outskirts of Syria's west-central city of Hama. AFP

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  Syrian Kurds flee their homes in the outskirts of Aleppo. AFP

The battle for Hama follows a lightening victory by Islamist troops who captured vast territory including the key city of Aleppo. The Observatory says the violence has killed 704 people, mostly combatants, but also 110 civilians.

The head of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, Abu Mohammad Al Jolani, on Wednesday visited Aleppo's citadel as seen on social media channels.

Meanwhile, Mr Al Assad ordered a 50 per cent raise in career soldiers' pay, Sana reported, as he seeks to bolster his troops for the counter-offensive.

German news agency DPA announced the killing of award-winning Syrian photographer Anas Alkharboutli in an air strike near Hama.

The UN on Wednesday said 115,000 people have been “newly displaced across Idlib and northern Aleppo” by the fighting. Turkey meanwhile warned that it may be too soon to expect large-scale returns to Aleppo from among the three million Syrian refugees currently on its soil.

“To those who say they wish to go back now we say, 'wait, it's not safe for the moment',” said Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.

Human Rights Watch on Wednesday warned that the fighting “raises concerns that civilians face a real risk of serious abuses at the hands of opposition armed groups and the Syrian government”.

Rights groups including HRW have since the start of the war documented violations of human rights on both sides, including what could amount to “crimes against humanity” by Syrian government troops.