U.N. Says Fighting in Central Syria Displaced 100,000

Heavy fighting between regime troops and opposition forces has forced around 100,000 people from their homes in Syria's central Hama province, the United Nations said.

The displaced fled parts of northern rural Hama between August 28 and September 5 towards neighboring villages and the provincial capital, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

An alliance of rebel and jihadist forces launched an offensive in late August in the province, seizing several areas in a rapid advance and aiming for the airport in Hama, from which regime helicopters fly regular sorties against opposition fighters.

Hama province is of vital strategic importance to President Bashar Assad, separating opposition forces in Idlib province from Damascus to the south and the regime's coastal heartlands to the west.

Regime forces have struck back against the offensive, including with a wave of air strikes on opposition-held areas, and fighting has been ongoing.