The rebels have set their sights on an area where President Bashar al-Assad’s government has long maintained strength.

Syrian rebel forces arrived at the gates of the key city of Hama on Tuesday, as their fighting with the military sparked "a large wave of displacement", a war monitor

Syrian and Russian jets are stepping up strikes on opposition forces in northern Syria in retaliation for the sudden offensive that has cost the regime control of the country’s second largest city, Aleppo.

Russia said on Wednesday that it strongly backs the actions of the Syrian leadership to counter an offensive by what it said were terrorist groups receiving support, including drones and training, from outside the country.

Images shared on social media have illustrated the anger that Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad feel toward his ally Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader has been indispensable in propping up Assad's regime during the brutal Syrian civil war that started in 2011 but has been essentially frozen over the last four years.