World

Why is the opposition capture of Hama in Syria so important?

Published

1 year ago

December 6, 2024

Why is the opposition capture of Hama in Syria so important?

Opposition fighters in Syria captured the strategic city of Hama on Thursday in a matter of hours.

Fighters from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which means the Committee for the Liberation of the Levant, led the offensive as they stormed the city. Government forces quickly retreated.

Inhabitants appeared to welcome what many described as the liberation of their city from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s clutches.

One HTS fighter, who did not want to give his name, told Al Jazeera after entering Hama: “Thank God we liberated the city of Hama and now we are securing [it]. With God’s blessing, we will enter the city of Homs next.”

Analysts and observers believe antigovernment fighters could capture most of the country, but say Hama has a particular value for the Syrian opposition.

This is what we know about the strategic and symbolic significance of the city.

Why is Hama so significant in Syria?

The city witnessed one of the most brutal acts of repression in Syrian history, analysts and observers say.

In 1982, al-Assad’s father, Hafez, who was then president, ordered the killing of members of the Muslim Brotherhood who were occupying the city.

The targeted people were part of a movement trying to remove the al-Assads from power and had taken over the city after ambushing army troops.

They killed senior officers and leaders within the government and looted their homes, according to a report by the European Council for Foreign Relations, a think tank based in the United Kingdom.

The group’s operations attracted widespread support and triggered an uprising against the government in the city.

The government responded by bombing Hama for several days while Syrian troops moved in to crush the uprising.

Syrian opposition fighters standing on a mat bearing drawings of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his late father Hafez [AFP]

In the following weeks, Syrian forces laid siege to the city, going door to door to kill, torture and arrest any young men they believed to be with the opposition, according to Amnesty International.

It is estimated that between 10,000 and 40,000 people were killed in Hama – the precise figure is still unknown.

“It was the awareness of the mass arrests and executions that terrified people,” said Robin Yassin-Kassab, an expert on Syria and the co-author of, Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War.

“[The episode] made Syria a kingdom of silence,” he told Al Jazeera.

The 2011 Syrian uprising momentarily shattered that barrier of fear.

As protests swept the country, inhabitants of Hama gathered and sang “Yalla erhal ya Bashar,” which translates to “Come on and leave, Bashar!”

Protesters in Hama carried olive branches and crowds reached more than 500,000 people, activists told Al Jazeera in 2011.

What did the Syrian regime do to Hama in 2011?

All across Syria, government forces violently repressed demonstrations in 2011, including in Hama.

For more than a decade, the regime barrel-bombed cities and arrested and tortured activists and perceived opponents.

The government often relied on Alawi, as well as Shia, armed groups, both from Syria and across the region, to crack down on protesters.

The Alawi sect in Syria is an offshoot of Shia Islam to which al-Assad and his family belong.

Yassin-Kassab said many believe the barrier of fear has been shattered for a second time after rebel groups captured Aleppo and now Hama within days.

In Hama, scenes of prisoners of conscience being liberated from the central prison prompted celebrations by Syrians.

In the city, inhabitants tore down a statue of Hafez al-Assad.

“I presumed Hama is where [the government and its loyalists] would put up a serious fight … but they weren’t capable,” said Yassin-Kassab.

“After Hama [was liberated], I thought to myself: ‘The Syrian revolution is back.’”

An abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle sits on a field controlled by Syrian insurgents in the outskirts of Hama, Syria — An abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle sits on a field controlled by Syrian opposition fighters in the outskirts of Hama, on December 3, 2024 [Ghaith Alsayed/AP]

Is Hama strategically important?

Very much so.

The capture of Hama allows rebel groups to keep moving down the Aleppo-Damascus M5 highway towards Homs, which if captured, could split apart the regime’s strongholds.

Opposition fighters appear to have reached the outskirts of the city, according to reports, while thousands of people have fled.

Homs has a larger population of Alawis than Hama, but HTS has reportedly offered assurances that minorities in Syria will not be harmed.

The city is effectively a gateway to Syria’s capital, Damascus, as well as to the coastal provinces of Tartous and Latakia, which are Alawi heartlands and where Russian naval and air bases are located.

If Homs falls to the opposition, then opposition fighters are likely to push on to try to take Damascus, said Yassin-Kassab.

“I do think if Homs falls, then that will be the beginning of the end for the [Assad regime],” he told Al Jazeera.

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World

Germany charges ex-Syrian prison guard over Assad-era abuses

Published

44 minutes ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

Germany charges ex-Syrian prison guard over Assad-era abuses

Prosecutors accuse the official, named as Fahad A, of torturing dozens of prisoners in jail run by Syrian intelligence.

Published On 22 Dec 2025

German prosecutors have charged a former Syrian security official with crimes against humanity, accusing him of torturing dozens of prisoners at a Damascus jail while ex-President Bashar al-Assad was in power.

Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor General’s office announced the indictment on Monday, alleging the ex-prison guard, named only as Fahad A, took part in more than 100 interrogations between 2011 and 2012 in which prisoners were “subjected to severe physical abuse”.

Universal jurisdiction

In Germany, prosecutors have ⁠used universal jurisdiction laws to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.

Based on ‌these laws, several people suspected of war crimes during the Syrian conflict have been arrested in the last ‍few years in Germany, which is home to about one million Syrians.

In June, a court in Frankfurt handed a life sentence to a Syrian doctor convicted of carrying out acts of torture as part of al-Assad’s crackdown on dissent.

The doctor, Alaa Mousa, was accused of torturing patients at military hospitals in Damascus and Homs, where political prisoners were regularly brought for supposed treatment.

Witnesses described Mousa pouring flammable liquid on a prisoner’s wounds before setting them alight and kicking the man in the face, shattering his teeth. In another incident, the doctor was accused of injecting a detainee with a fatal substance for refusing to be beaten.

One former prisoner described the Damascus hospital where he was held as a “slaughterhouse”.

Presiding judge, Christoph Koller, said the verdict underscored the “brutality of Assad’s dictatorial, unjust regime”.

World

Patriots rookie RB Tre’Veyon Henderson sidelined against Ravens with head injury

Published

11 hours ago

December 21, 2025

Press Room

Patriots rookie RB Tre’Veyon Henderson sidelined against Ravens with head injury

BALTIMORE (AP) — New England running back Tre’Veyon Henderson left Sunday night’s game at Baltimore in the second quarter with a head injury.

Henderson was slow getting up after a carry in Baltimore territory. He was able to walk off the field, but then headed to the tunnel a short time later. He was later ruled out.

Henderson entered the game with 773 yards rushing and is a Rookie of the Year candidate after teaming up with Drake Maye to help the Patriots close in on a playoff berth. He had touchdown runs of 52 and 65 yards in last week’s loss to Buffalo.

He had just 3 yards on five carries before exiting against Baltimore.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

World

Iran executes man convicted of spying for Israeli intelligence

Published

12 hours ago

December 21, 2025

Press Room

Iran executes man convicted of spying for Israeli intelligence

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Iranian officials executed a man over the weekend who was convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence arm and its army, according to state media.

The man was Aghil Keshavarz, who was put to death on Saturday, state media reported.

Keshavarz, 27, had “close intelligence cooperation” with the Mossad — the national intelligence agency for Israel — and captured photos of Iranian military and security areas, according to state media.

IRAN’S EXECUTION RATE TOPS 1,000 THIS YEAR AS DEATH ROW INMATES LAUNCH HUNGER STRIKE

Iran executed Aghil Keshavarz, 27, after he was convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. (Getty Images)

Keshavarz was arrested in May while taking pictures of a military headquarters in the city of Urmia, located about 371 miles northwest of Iran’s capital of Tehran.

He was accused of engaging in more than 200 similar assignments for the Mossad in various Iranian cities, including Tehran.

Keshavarz was tried and sentenced to death in connection with the spying accusations. The country’s Supreme Court later upheld the sentence, according to state media.

Smoke rises from the building of Iran’s state-run television after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on June 16, 2025. (AP Photo)

Iran has executed 11 people for espionage since a 12-day air conflict in June that was kicked off by Israel, killing roughly 1,100 people in Iran, including military commanders and nuclear scientists. Iran countered with a missile barrage that killed 28 people in the Jewish State.

In October, Iran executed an unknown person convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency in the city of Qom.

IRAN HANGS A MAN CONVICTED OF SPYING FOR ISRAEL

A police officer stands guard as demonstrators wave flags and cheer during a gathering following the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, on June 24, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

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Various others have been executed in Iran in recent years before the June conflict on allegations of spying for the Mossad, including multiple earlier this year.

Iran routinely conducts closed-door trials of people accused of espionage, with the suspects often unable to access the evidence prosecutors used against them in their case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.