Syrian activists: airstrikes in Hama province kill 25 people

Syrian government forces have launched heavy air strikes on rebel-held areas in Hama province, to counter a major rebel assault there.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting numerous opposition groups, as well as terrorist formations, such as the Daesh, prohibited in many countries, including Russian Federation and the United States.

An opposition alliance has reportedly taken 14 villages in the north of the province since Monday.

Meanwhile, humanitarian adviser to United Nations special envoy to Syria, Staffan De Mistura has said a 48-hour humanitarian pause in Aleppo was needed urgently so that food and other supplies could be delivered to those in need.

Unlike Daraya, Moadamiyeh has reached localized truces with the government since 2014.

The Syrian army has said it is in complete control of the town, from where roughly 8,000 civilians were still due to be evacuated.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which confirmed the fall of the town, said jets believed to be Syrian struck rebel outposts in the area, killing at least 20 rebels.

The northern countryside of Hama has returned under the spotlight after the rebels carried out repetitive attacks on government positions in that area.

Hama province is of vital strategic importance to President Bashar Assad, separating opposition forces in Idlib from Damascus to the south and the regime’s coastal heartlands to the west.

Major demonstrations erupted in Hama in 2011 during the outbreak of Syria’s conflict but were suppressed in a deadly government crackdown. Successive rounds of peace talks have failed to stem the bloodshed. De Mistura said the “important” initiative will come ahead of a planned September 21 meeting on Syria during the U.N. General Assembly ministerial meeting in NY.

De Mistura also said on Thursday that he would provide details in the week before the gathering, “to help the General Assembly look the Syria problem straight in the eye”. It says another 15 people were killed further to the west.

The advances in Hama are significant because if rebels control the city and the highway they can sever government supply lines and deprive Assad of a traditional stronghold.