Syrian state SANA news agency on Wednesday said insurgents retreated some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from government-held Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city, as government troops backed by

Assad’s favor after a Russian blitzkrieg on Aleppo helped him regain control over the country’s second biggest city.

Thousands of Syrian insurgents took over most of Aleppo on Saturday, establishing positions in the country's largest city and controlling its airport before expanding their shock offensive to a nearby province.