Chinese Embassy in Syria advises Chinese citizens to return to China or leave the country ASAP

(Photo/Screenshot from the Chinese Embassy in Syria)

As the situation in Syria escalates, Chinese Embassy in Syria issued an urgent reminder, advising Chinese citizens to return to China or leave the country as soon as possible.

Currently, the battle field situation in northwestern Syria is becoming tense, and the security situation in the country is further deteriorating. The Chinese Embassy in Syria has advised Chinese citizens to return to China or leave the country as soon as possible while commercial flights are still available. Those who are able to do so may also consider leaving through relevant land border checkpoints.

Given these exceptional circumstances, Chinese citizens who insist on traveling to or staying in the affected areas may face extremely high security risks, which could also impact the effectiveness for them to receive assistance.

The Syrian army announced Thursday that it has redeployed its forces outside the western-central Syrian city of Hama after fierce battles with rebel groups, confirming that rebels have entered the city following intense attacks from multiple fronts, according to Xinhua News Agency.

"Over the past few days, our armed forces have fought fierce battles to repel and thwart the violent and successive attacks launched by terrorist organizations on the city of Hama from various directions and in large numbers, using all types of military equipment and assisted by infiltration groups," said a statement issued by the Syrian General Command of the Army and Armed Forces.

In another development, Syria's air defense systems intercepted two hostile drones over the capital city of Damascus on Thursday, the Syrian Defense Ministry said.

"Our air defense units recently repelled hostile unmanned aircraft in the skies over Damascus and shot down two drones, without any human casualties or material losses," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement did not specify who was operating the drones or what their intended targets were. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Xinhua correspondents in Damascus heard sounds of gunfire and explosions, but the situation returned to normalcy shortly afterward.