Armed factions entered the strategic city of Hama in central Syria on Thursday, where they are engaged in "fierce" battles with Syrian forces inside the city's neighborhoods, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory reported that Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and allied factions "entered the city of Hama from several directions, and are waging a street war against (Syrian forces) in several neighborhoods." Reuters quoted a leader of the armed groups as saying that "hundreds of prisoners were freed from Hama Central Prison." For its part, the Syrian army announced the withdrawal of its forces from the city of Hama to redeploy and reposition outside the city.

A statement issued by the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces said: "In order to preserve the lives of civilians in the city of Hama and not to involve them in battles inside the cities, the military units stationed there have redeployed and repositioned outside the city."

Thus, Hama became the second city to which the armed factions advanced within days, after Aleppo, located to the north, was completely outside the control of the Syrian forces for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict in 2011.