Heavy fighting between regime and opposition forces has forced around 100,000 people from their homes in Syria's central Hama province, AFP reported Wednesday (September 7th).
The displaced fled parts of northern rural Hama between August 28th and September 5th towards neighbouring villages and the provincial capital, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
An alliance of opposition and extremist forces launched an offensive in late August in the province, seizing several areas in a rapid advance and aiming for the airport in Hama, from which regime helicopters fly regular sorties against opposition fighters.
Hama province is of vital strategic importance to the regime, separating opposition forces in Idlib province from Damascus to the south and the regime's coastal heartlands to the west.
Regime forces have struck back against the offensive, including with a wave of air strikes on opposition-held areas, and fighting has been ongoing.
