Syrian rebels capture second major city after military withdraws

Syrian rebels say they have taken control of the major city of Hama, after the military withdrew its troops amid fierce battles.
The leader of the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, declared “victory” in the city and vowed there would be “no revenge”.
Earlier, a rebel commander said HTS fighters and their allies had taken over a prison and released inmates, while the military said it had redeployed troops to “preserve civilian lives and prevent urban combat”.
Hama is home to one million people and is 110km (70 miles) south of Aleppo, which the rebels captured last week after launching a surprise offensive from their stronghold in the north-west.
The rebel commander told residents of Homs, which is the next city south on the highway from Aleppo to Damascus, that “your time has come”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, says that more than 720 people, including 111 civilians, have been killed across the country since the start of the rebel offensive eight days ago.
More than half a million people in Syria have been killed since a civil war erupted in 2011 after President Bashar al-Assad’s government cracked down violently on peaceful pro-democracy protests.