Syria latest: Assad vows to ‘break’ rebel offensive
Anti-government fighters ride military vehicles as they drive along a road in the eastern part of Aleppo province on Dec 1. Credit: AREF TAMMAWI/AFP
Bashar al-Assad has vowed to violently crush a major Syrian rebel offensive because it is the “only language that terrorism understands”.
During a phone call with Badra Gomba, the acting president of Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region, Assad vowed to “break” and “eradicate” the supporters of “terrorism”.
According to the Syrian defence ministry, Mr Gomba said that Abkhazia would stand on the side of Assad and that the Syrian president would ultimately be victorious.
It comes as Syrian government forces stabilised their positions in and around Hama, after rebel fighters breached the city’s northern outskirts on Saturday night.
Rebel troops moved on Hama after capturing the city of Aleppo on Saturday following a fast-moving offensive that began on Wednesday.
Russian and Syrian jets pounded the rebel stronghold of Idlib on Sunday as the government said it was preparing to launch a major counter-attack.
In the Kurdish-dominated northeastern region of Rojava, a general mobilisation order was declared after it said Turkish-backed fighters had launched attacks on their territory.
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