Thousands Flee Homs Amid Rebel Advances

As rebels attempt to push further south, thousands of residents have fled the city of Homs, Syria, overnight. This was reported by Reuters.

Rebels have seized Aleppo in the north and Hama in the center of Syria. Thousands of people have begun to escape towards western coastal areas under government control, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring organization.

A resident of the coastal area told Reuters that thousands have started arriving from Homs, fearing the rapid advance of the rebels.

Sources from the Syrian army reported that Russian aviation bombed the Rustan bridge overnight, which is a key route leading to Homs, to prevent the rebels from using it.

The rebels, led by the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham group, have vowed to attack Homs, which connects the capital Damascus with the north of the country. Reports have indicated that Israel has conducted airstrikes on two crossings at the Lebanon-Syria border.