Thousands flee central Syrian city of Homs as rebel forces push lightning offensive further south

Thousands of people are fleeing the central Syrian city of Homs, a war monitoring group and residents say, as rebel forces seek to push their lightning offensive against government forces further south.

They have already captured the key cities of Aleppo in the north and Hama in the center, dealing successive blows to Syrian President Bashar Assad, nearly 14 years after protests against him erupted across Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, says thousands of people began fleeing last night towards western coastal regions, a stronghold of the government.

A resident of the coastal area says thousands of people have begun arriving there from Homs, fearing the rebels’ rapid advance.

Russian bombing overnight also destroyed the Rustan bridge along the key M5 highway, the main route to Homs, to prevent rebels using it, a Syrian army officer tells Reuters.

Rebels led by the Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have pledged to press on southward to Homs, a crossroads city that links the capital Damascus to the north and Assad’s heartland along the coast.

A rebel operations room urges Homs residents in an online post to rise up, saying: “Your time has come.”