TUNIS, December 8. /TASS/. Militants from armed groups are reportedly combing through the city of Homs, the administrative center of the province of the same name in central Syria, and its suburbs, taking control over the territories, the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV channel reports.
According to the channel, the terrorists allegedly managed to release about 3,500 inmates from the city prison.
Earlier, Sham FM reported that Syrian army units had regrouped their forces near the city of Homs.
In turn, the Arab republic's Defense Ministry denied the information about militants infiltrating the city. According to the agency's statement, the situation in Homs is calm, "the armed forces are deployed around the city and are positioned on secure defensive lines reinforced with various types of weapons."
On November 27, the Jabhat al-Nusra extremist group (banned in Russia) carried out a major attack in northern Syria. The Syrian military command later said the army had to fall back from Aleppo to regroup and prepare for a counterattack.
On December 5, the command of the Syrian Armed Forces announced that militants infiltrated into several neighborhoods of Hama. According to a statement from the command, government forces in charge of defending Hama were pulled out of the city.
On December 7, the Syrian Defense Ministry announced that military units operating in the south of the country were being regrouped in accordance with the military’s strategic plan.