Syrian rebels released video of their convoy driving through the town of Rastan on Friday, December 6, as they were on the main highway that runs towards the city of Homs, and Damascus farther south.

Syrian news outlets reported on Friday that opposition forces had captured the town and were heading towards the town of Deir Maala, just over three miles from Syria’s third-largest city.

The news of the rebels advance towards Homs caused panic in the city, with crowds of people seen fleeing.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a large number of Alawites, a minority sect that has been considered supportive of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, fled Homs on Thursday, heading toward the coast.

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What to know about Syria's rekindled civil war

Syrian rebel forces were approaching the country's third largest city of Homs on Friday, a human rights group that monitors the war reported, raising the prospect of the country's capital city Damascus being cut off from coastal areas that are a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad.

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has relied on a network of sources on the ground to closely monitor the war since it started in 2011, said rebel forces had advanced to only about three miles from the city, and that regime soldiers had withdrawn from a number of nearby towns and villages in response to their advance.

SOHR said Assad's forces had carried out airstrikes on water infrastructure in a nearby city and on a highway, but no casualties were reported.

What is happening with the war in Syria?

Thousands of people were fleeing from the area amid the dramatic escalation in the civil war, which had simmered without major advances by either side for years, until the rebels mounted a shock offensive about two weeks ago.

The rebels took complete control of another city, Hama, and about a week after they began a sweeping raid across the north of the country. The first major prize in their offensive was seizing control of Aleppo a week ago, which was long Syria's second most populous city.

Their sudden advance has taken many watching the long-simmering conflict by surprise, and SOHR says over 820 people have been killed since it started, including more than 100 civilians.

Syrian rebels say objective "remains the overthrow" of Assad

The war in Syria began in 2011 when a pro-democracy uprising calling for the end of Assad's long reign escalated quickly into a brutal civil war. Since then, the conflict has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced some 12 million from their homes.

The war appeared to have stalled after Assad's government regained control over many cities with the help of Russia and Iran, in addition to the powerful Iranian proxy group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Some northern and eastern areas of the country have remained under the control of Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed rebel groups. The current offensive, however, has been led largely by the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS), which has tried to publicly distance itself from its jihadist roots as a regional branch of al Qaeda.

With other conflicts currently occupying Assad's backers Iran, Russia and Hezbollah, the rebel forces are believed to have seen an opportunity to renew their fight against his army.

The leader of HTS told CNN in a recent interview that the goal of the offensive is to remove Assad from power.

"When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime," Abu Mohammad al-Jawlani told CNN. "The seeds of the regime's defeat have always been within it… the Iranians attempted to revive the regime, buying it time, and later the Russians also tried to prop it up. But the truth remains: this regime is dead."

Syrian rebel offensive worsens humanitarian crisis

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the recent fighting, many of them heading to Raqqa province, which is held by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Despite a deal to allow safe passage for those fleeing Aleppo province, SDF sources told CBS News that over 120 vehicles carrying hundreds of civilians were attacked by different Syrian Islamist groups on their journey. Local authorities say the humanitarian situation for those arriving in safe areas is dire.

Some 136 schools in Raqqa and 63 schools in the city of Tabqqa have been turned into makeshift shelters for IDPs. Raqqa Stadium, which was once used as a prison by ISIS militants when they controlled the territory, has also been turned into a camp to offer displaced civilians some shelter from the cold weather.

"The situation is catastrophic," Zhwan Mullah, a member of the local crisis response team, told CBS News. "The number of IDPs is much larger than we can assist. U.N. and NGO support so far has been very insignificant."

Saeed Muhammad Hassan, 53, fled to Raqqa from near Aleppo. On his way, he was separated from his wife, Sabah. Hassan, like an increasing number of civilians who've been separated from loved ones during their evacuation from areas hit by the fighting, approached local radio stations to put out an appeal to be reunited with Sabah.

"Many people are approaching us via different channels, looking for missing family members who have gone silent on the road to safety," Sirwan Haji Birko, the head ARTA FM radio, told CBS News. "We try to help as much as we can to find missing ones, on radio and on our social media platforms."

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'Your time has come': Syrian rebels take 2nd major city of Hama as thousands flee

Syrian rebels overtook the western city of Hama, their second major victory since they swept Aleppo last week, as thousands fled the city of Homs ahead of the Islamist insurgents.

The rebel group, called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, had advanced to the countryside around 3 miles north of Homs, Syria's third largest city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor. They brought several pickup trucks equipped with heavy machine guns from Hama, which fell on Thursday, according to the monitor.

Thousands of residents packed into cars trying to leave the city before the rebel takeover jammed roadways, citizens told Reuters. Only a few groceries remained open and commercial city streets were empty except for roving pro-government militias, Wasim Marouh, a resident who decided to stay, told the outlet.

"Your time has come," the rebel group wrote in a social media post to residents of Homs.

Russian forces destroyed an important bridge to Homs with at least eight strikes overnight in a last-ditch attempt to slow the rebels, a Syrian officer told Reuters. Government soldiers reinforced positions around the city, he said.

Syrian civil war reemerges

HTS' rise marks the sudden resurgence of Syria's civil war, dormant for years after a 2020 cease-fire between Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Turkey, which backs his opposition, brought a pause to the fighting.

Now, the two nations, along with Iran, are set to meet in Doha on Saturday to discuss the volatile situation in Syria, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters.

Turkey has denied supporting the current rebel offensive. But Iran, which backs the government, plans to send missiles, drones, and military advisers to aid Assad, and is already providing him with intelligence and satellite support, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.

The rebel advance came after Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant movement, was severely weakend by Israeli forces amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Hezbollah, along with Russia and Iran, has been key to propping up Assad.

The U.S., which backed some rebel groups opposed to the government earlier in the conflict, "has no role in what's happening right now," although it is "monitoring the situation closely," Pentagon press secretary Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news briefing Thursday.

The U.S. has around 900 troops in Syria's east and northeast for a mission to secure the "enduring defeat of ISIS," the Islamic State Group, and has partnered with the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurdish fighters, for that purpose, according to Ryder.

The Syrian civil war exploded in 2011 amid Assad's violent crackdown on an Arab Spring uprising against his rule. Since then, hundreds of thousands have died in the conflict and millions have fled overseas.

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