Thousands flee as Syrian insurgents advance to the doorstep of the country's third-largest city

BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of people fled the central Syrian city of Homs, the country's third largest, as insurgents seized two towns on the outskirts Friday, positioning themselves for an assault on a potentially major prize in their march against President Bashar Assad.

The move, reported by pro-government media and an opposition war monitor, was the latest in the stunning advances by opposition fighters over the past week that have so far met little resistance from Assad's forces. A day earlier, fighters captured the central city of Hama, Syria’s fourth largest, after the army said it withdrew to avoid fighting inside the city and spare the lives of civilians.

The insurgents, led by the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have vowed to march to Homs and the capital, Damascus, Assad’s seat of power. Videos circulating online showed a highway jammed with cars full of people fleeing Homs, a city with a large population belonging to Assad's Alawite sect, seen as his core supporters.

If Assad's military loses Homs, it could be a crippling blow. The city, parts of which were controlled by insurgents until 2014, is at an important intersection between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, where Assad enjoys wide support. Homs province is Syria’s largest in size and borders Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.

The foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq and Syria — three close allies — gathered Friday in Baghdad to consult on the rapidly changing war. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein expressed “deep concern,” saying his government is closely following the situation in Syria.

Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh said the current developments may pose “a serious threat to the security of the region as a whole.”

The insurgent fighters on Friday took over the towns of Rastan and Talbiseh, putting them 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Homs, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor.

“The battle of Homs is the mother of all battles and will decide who will rule Syria,” said Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory’s chief.

Pro-government Sham FM said the insurgents entered Rastan and Talbiseh without facing any resistance. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military.

The Observatory said Syrian troops had left Homs. But the military denied that in comments reported by the state news agency SANA, saying troops were reinforcing their positions in the city and were “ready to repel” any assault.

For the past week, government troops have repeatedly fallen back in the face of the sudden opposition offensive, which flipped the tables on a long-entrenched stalemate in Syria's nearly 14-year-old civil war.

After years of largely being bottled up in a northwest corner of the country, the insurgents began their advances a week ago with the capture of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest. Along with HTS, the fighters include forces of an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army.

The abrupt turnaround has struck a blow to Syria's already decrepit economy. On Friday, the U.S. dollar was selling on Syria's parallel market for about 18,000 pounds, a 25% drop from a week ago. When Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011, a dollar was valued at 47 pounds. The drop further undermines the purchasing power of Syrians at a time when the U.N. has warned that 90% of the population is below the poverty line.

Syria's economy has been hammered for years by the war, Western sanctions, corruption and an economic meltdown in neighboring Lebanon, Syria's main gate to the outside world.

Damascus residents told The Associated Press that people are rushing to markets to buy food, fearing further escalation.

The worsening economy could be undermining the ability of Syria's military to fight, as the value of soldiers' salaries melts away while the insurgents are flush with cash.

Syria's military, which is backed by Russian forces stationed in the country, has not appeared to put up a cohesive counteroffensive against the opposition advances. SANA on Friday quoted an unnamed military official as saying the Syrian and Russian air forces were striking insurgents in Hama province, killing dozens of fighters.

Syria’s defense minister said in a televised statement late Thursday that government forces withdrew from Hama as “a temporary tactical measure" and vowed to gain back lost areas.

“We are in a good position on the ground,” Gen. Ali Mahmoud Abbas said, saying troops remained “at the gates of Hama.” He spoke before the opposition advanced further south toward Homs.

He said the insurgents, whom he described as “takfiri” or Muslim extremists, are backed by foreign countries. He did not name the countries but appeared to be referring to Turkey, which is a main backer of the opposition, and the United States.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that the opposition advances were not something Turkey desired, but he appeared to welcome that they were proceeding without clashes or harm to civilians.

Erdogan appeared to blame the developments on Assad’s refusal to enter a dialogue with Turkey.

“We had made a call to Assad. We said, ‘Come, let’s meet. Let’s determine the future of Syria together,’" he said. "Unfortunately, we could not get a positive response from Assad.”

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

Residents leave the city carrying their belongings in Hama, Syria, Friday Dec. 6, 2024.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Insurgent fighters take a selfie in the aftermath of the opposition's takeover of the city in downtown Hama, Syria, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Insurgent fighters celebrate in the aftermath of the opposition's takeover of the city in downtown Hama, Syria, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

An image of Syrian President Bashar Assad, riddled with bullets, is seen on the facade of the provincial government office in the aftermath of the opposition's takeover of Hama, Syria, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh, left, is welcomed by his Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein during his visit to Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Opposition fighters, left, stand at the entrance of the provincial government office, where an image of Syrian President Bashar Assad is riddled with bullets on the facade, in the aftermath of the opposition's takeover of Hama, Syria, on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

The body of a government soldier lies on the ground next to a damaged car in the aftermath of opposition fighters' takeover in Hama, Syria, on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Residents leave the city carrying their belongings in Hama, Syria, Friday Dec. 6, 2024.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

The body of a government soldier lies next to a armoured vehicle in a street in Hama, Syria, Friday Dec. 6, 2024.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

An opposition fighter fires his AK-47 in the air in celebration in Hama, Syria, Friday Dec. 6, 2024.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

An opposition fighter walks past the bodies of two government soldiers lying on the ground in the aftermath of the opposition's takeover in Hama, Syria, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Residents leave the city carrying their belongings in Hama, Syria, Friday Dec. 6, 2024.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Insurgent fighters celebrate in the aftermath of the opposition's takeover of the city in downtown Hama, Syria, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

An image of Syrian President Bashar Assad, riddled with bullets, is seen on the facade of the provincial government office in the aftermath of the opposition's takeover of Hama, Syria, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicles sit on a road as opposition insurgents control the outskirts of Hama, Syria, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)