A week of Russian air strikes on Syria has left residents of the rebel-held town of Talbiseh, a strategic enclave of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, braced for a wider ground assault.
Hundreds of families have fled after days of bombardment on Talbiseh and neighbouring towns and villages under rebel control. People avoid big gatherings, including public prayer in mosques, schools are closed and streets are quiet.
A long way from the Islamic State strongholds of northern and eastern Syria, Talbiseh has been targeted by Russian air strikes despite Moscow’s insistence that its military intervention is focused on the hardline Islamist militant group.
The reason, residents say, is their strategic location just north of the city of Homs. It is territory that Assad must regain to secure his power over Syria’s main population centres in the west of the country, even if that strategy means abandoning swathes of desert and farmland further east.
Leaflets dropped by Syrian planes in the last week, promising people safe passage through army checkpoints, have reinforced a sense that the army is preparing a fresh drive to crush the rebels. The leaflets say that fighters who give themselves up will be well treated and allowed to return to their families.
Further north in the provinces of Hama and Idlib, Syrian troops and allied militia forces - backed by Russian air strikes - launched offensives against rebel positions on Wednesday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group which tracks the conflict via a network of sources within the country.
Rebel fighters in Talbiseh anticipate a similar assault.
Alongside the Russian air strikes around Talbiseh, Syrian army and allied militia forces have also bombarded the area this week. On Tuesday night, they hit both Talbiseh and Wa’ar, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Regaining control of towns in the rural areas north of Homs would seal the government’s control over the city itself, a local rebel fighter said.
