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

A group of Syrian journalists headed toward Hama were hit by an airstrike, killing photographer Anas Alkharboutli.

Islamist rebels have been advancing through large swathes of the country's north-west in the past week, threatening the rule of Syria's long-time president, Bashar Al-Assad.

Assad’s forces are reportedly engaged in fierce battles with rebels on the outskirts of the major city of Hama. A monitoring group said on Tuesday evening that the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies were “at the gates of Hama”,