Intense airstrikes overnight drove Syrian rebels back from the edge of Hama, a major city whose fall would pile pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, both sides said on Wednesday.
Rebels have staged a whirlwind advance over the past week, seizing Syria’s second city Aleppo and much of the surrounding countryside, reaching to within a few kilometres of Hama on Tuesday.
The speed of their assault has concerned Assad’s allies, with
