Syrian rebels battled government forces and allied militia on Wednesday in villages north and east of Hama, a major city whose capture would pile pressure on President Bashar al-Assad. The rebels have staged their biggest advance in years over the past week,

The latest flareup in Syria's long civil war comes after forces opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad over the past few days captured large parts of the northern city of Aleppo, the country's largest, as well as towns and villages in southern parts of the northwestern Idlib province.