Syrian army launched counteroffensive against rebels near key city Hama, war monitor says

Syrian government forces launched a counterattack against Islamist-led rebels around the key city of Hama after suffering a string of staggering losses, a war monitor says.

Hama is strategically located in central Syria and for the army, it is key to safeguarding the capital and seat of power Damascus.

The fighting around Hama follows a lightning offensive by the Islamist-led rebels who in a matter of days seized swaths of territory from President Bashar Assad’s control.

Key in the rebels’ successes since the start of the offensive last week has been the takeover of the city of Aleppo, which in more than a decade of war had never fallen from government hands.