The insurgents had been fighting to reach Hama since Tuesday, to encircle the city from the north, east and west, where they clashed with the Syrian army ... to redraw the map of the region.

The map highlights the city of Palmyra in central Syria, as well as the ancient city of Apamea, and the city of Aleppo in the northwest. But up close, the damage from Syria’s 13-year civil war ...