Islamist rebels took the Syrian city of Hama Thursday from the forces of the secularist President Bashar al-Assad. Fighting between the rebels and Assad’s Syrian Arab Army had been occurring on the outskirts of the city for the previous five days. 

The rebel forces are led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which grew out of an Al Qaeda affiliate. The leader of HTS, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, is also the former leader of the Al Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s Syrian branch. HTS is also rumored to have received aid from Ukraine in the form of kamikaze drones to use against Russian bases in Syria.

The city is strategically located, sitting on the road between Syria’s capital of Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, which fell to rebels last week.

Hama’s seizure by Islamists, following on the heels of the rebels’ seizure of Aleppo last week, has been ascribed to the distraction of two of the Assad government’s major backers, with Russia’s military resources concentrated on the conflict in Ukraine and Hezbollah weakened after its conflict with Israel. 

There are also widespread reports of desertions in Assad’s army. In response to this, Assad issued a decree raising the salaries of soldiers by 50 percent earlier this week amid the renewed conflict.