Syrian rebels close in on Homs as advance on Damascus gathers pace

Syrian insurgents yesterday entered towns north of Homs, the country's third largest city, sweeping along a road that eventually leads to the capital, Damascus, in a lightning-fast advance that has shaken the Middle East.

- Ruth Michaelson

Militants spearheaded by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control of the city of Hama on Thursday before moving south, swiftly capturing two key towns on the road south of the city before arriving in Al-Dar al-Kabera, 5 miles from the centre of Homs.

The Russian embassy in Damascus instructed Russian nationals to leave Syria in a rare show of alarm. Moscow has remained a key ally of Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, including providing military support.

Video from the opposition-aligned Aleppo Today television channel showed airstrikes targeting Talbiseh on the road between Hama and Homs shortly after it was claimed by insurgents. The defence ministry in Damascus said Russian and Syrian military aircraft were responsible for airstrikes on the Hama countryside, while a strike attributed to forces from Moscow destroyed a bridge along the highway leading into Homs.

Speaking to reporters outside a mosque in Istanbul, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, offered a message of support to the insurgency. He had previously offered to "discuss shaping the future of Syria" together with Assad, he said, "but we received no response".

He added: "Idlib, Hama, Homs and after that most probably Damascus...we hope this march in Syria will continue without any issues." The foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran and Russia are expected to meet tomorrow on the sidelines of a forum in Doha to discuss the situation in Syria.