Thousands of residents have fled the Syrian city of Homs overnight as militants try to advance further south. This was reported by the Reuters agency. Earlier, the militants captured Aleppo in the north of Syria, Hama in the center.
The monitoring organization "Syrian Observatory of Human Rights" reported that thousands of people began to flee at night to the western coastal regions of the country, which are under the control of the government. One of the residents of coastal settlements told Reuters that thousands of people have started arriving from Homs, fearing the rapid advance of the militants. One of the sources of the Syrian army told Reuters that at night the Russian aviation bombed the Rustan bridge, which is the main road leading to Homs, so that the militants could not use it.
"The bridge was hit by at least eight airstrikes. The government forces have started to strengthen the positions around the city," said the source.
Militants led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group have promised to attack Homs, which connects the capital Damascus to the north of the country. Earlier, it was reported that Israel carried out airstrikes on the Syrian side of two checkpoints on the border between Lebanon and Syria.
