Shafaq News/ Armed factions led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have not yet entered the heart of Homs city in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Saturday.

“Syrian army forces have withdrawn from inside the city and are now positioned along its periphery,” SOHR Director, Rami Abdulrahman, said to Sky News Arabia.

"There are factions loyal to the Syrian army still inside Homs, and the army has dispatched massive reinforcements to the city's outskirts," he said.

Abdulrahman also noted that Russian air forces carried out an airstrike on the town of Al-Dar al-Kabira near Homs.

For his part, the Syrian army denied reports of its withdrawal from areas near Homs, asserting in a statement on Friday that its forces are "fully prepared and ready to fulfill their duties and repel any terrorist attack."

The army further stated late Friday that its forces were conducting operations targeting Al-Dar al-Kabira, Talbiseh, and Rastan in northern Homs countryside, supported by joint Russian-Syrian airstrikes, armored vehicles, and heavy weaponry.

Homs, located in central Syria, lies between Damascus and the Syrian coast, where Russia operates both a naval base in Tartus and an air base in Hmeimim. It serves as a critical junction between areas held by armed factions and the capital.