Thousands flee Homs as insurgents led by HTS advance on Syria's third-largest city

Thousands of people have fled the central Syrian city of Homs as insurgents seized two towns on its outskirts as they make their way towards the capital Damascus in a bid to overthrow long-time president, Bashar al Assad.

The move, reported by pro-government media and an opposition war monitor, is the latest in a lightning advance spearheaded by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group over the past week which has seen them seize Aleppo and Hama in the face of little to no resistance by government forces.

The HTS group has vowed to take Homs and from there plan to march to Damascus, Assad's seat of power.

Videos circulating online showed a highway jammed with cars full of people fleeing Homs, Syria’s third-largest city.

Homs, parts of which were controlled by insurgents until 2014, stands at an important intersection between Damascus and Syria's coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, where Assad enjoys wide support.

Homs province is Syria's largest and borders Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.

The insurgents took over the central towns of Rastan and Talbiseh, putting them just five kilometres from Homs, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor.

"The battle of Homs is the mother of all battles and will decide who will rule Syria," said Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory's chief.

Pro-government Sham FM said the insurgents entered Rastan and Talbiseh without facing any resistance. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military.

The Observatory said Syrian troops had left Homs. But the military denied that in comments reported by the state news agency SANA, saying troops were reinforcing their positions in the city and were "ready to repel" any assault.

But pressure on the government is