Syrian government forces launched a counterattack against Islamist-led rebels around the key city of Hama on Wednesday after suffering a string of staggering losses, a war monitor said.Hama is strategically located in central Syria and for the army,

Intense airstrikes overnight drove Syrian rebels back from the edge of Hama, a major city whose fall would pile pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, both sides said on Wednesday. Rebels have staged a whirlwind advance over the past week,

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels were "now at the gates of Hama city" and that fighters had shelled some neighbourhood.