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

Syrian rebel fighters redoubled their push to seize the central city of Hama on Wednesday as government forces carried out airstrikes on the front lines and in opposition-held areas, including one that killed a veteran Syrian photographer.

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

Syrian rebels battled government forces and allied militia on Wednesday in villages north and east of Hama, a major city whose capture would pile pressure on President Bashar al-Assad.

Award-winning Syrian photographer Anas Alkharboutli, who worked for German press agency DPA, was killed Wednesday in an air strike near the Syrian city of Hama, his employer said."Our photographer Anas Alkharboutli,

Amid a now six-day-old rebel offensive in northwestern Syria against the Assad regime, the U.S. military has backed a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) offensive operation in the eastern part of that war-torn country, a U.S. official told The War Zone Tuesday morning.

The army of President Bashar al-Assad has launched a counteroffensive following the rapid advance of an Islamist insurgent alliance in Syria. In the early hours of Wednesday, Syrian military forces pushed the rebels back to about 10 kilometres from the city of Hama,

A Syrian photographer working for the German news agency dpa was killed by a fighter jet attack near the Syrian city of Hama, dpa reported on Wednesday. A freelancer who was with Anas Alkharboutli when the strike happened said a group of journalists were heading into Hama countryside when they heard a plane.