Thousands flee Syrian city Homs as rebels advance further

They have been advancing south – and Homs is the next city on the road from Aleppo to Damascus.

Terrified members of President Assad’s Alawite minority community are leaving Homs, with video footage showing roads jammed with cars.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, is reporting that fighter jets have targeted a bridge on a road linking Homs and Hama to try to slow the rebels’ advance.

After the Syrian military lost control of Hama following days of fighting, it is not clear whether it will be able to defend Homs.

It is a strategic city linking the capital to the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast, Assad’s political stronghold and key to his grip on power.

More than half a million people have been killed since a civil war erupted in 2011 after Assad’s government cracked down violently on peaceful pro-democracy protests.

The rebel offensive which began nine days ago is the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since the civil war.

The SOHR says more than 820 people, including 111 civilians, have been killed across the country so far.