SYRIA TROOPS FLEE KEY CITY

Hama falls, Homs is next rebel target. Onslaught 'beginning of end' for Assad

- CHRIS HUGHES

REBEL Syrian forces hell-bent on toppling despot Bashar al-Assad's regime have stormed another city.

Fighters led by jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham attacked government forces in Hama yesterday.

The Syrian army said a number of troops were killed after resisting the insurgents for three days and claimed suicide attacks had been used to break through defences.

Hama was one of the few cities to remain under full government control during the 13 years of civil war, which has killed 500,000 people.

Assad's troops fled to prepare to defend Homs, the rebels' next city target en route to the capital Damascus.

If Homs falls nearly half of Syria's 24 million population will no longer be controlled by Assad's hated rule and it may be the beginning of the end of his Russian and Iranian-backed regime.

Rebels captured the strategic northern city of Aleppo in an explosion of violence.