The militant leader of Syria’s core armed opposition group told CNN his main goal is to “overthrow” autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad, as rebels work furiously this week to wrest another major city from the regime.

“If we talk about goals, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. “It is our right to use all available means to achieve this goal,” Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the head of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), said on Thursday.

Al-Jolani spoke to CNN following a stunning offensive by anti-government militias more than a week ago, when rebels seized control of the country’s second-largest city, Aleppo – before capturing the strategic city of Hama further south.

Then on Friday, streams of civilians were seen fleeing Homs, ahead of possible hostilities between regime forces and rebel forces storming toward the city.

Human rights warnings: Syria’s rebel fighters share a common goal of breaking Assad’s hold on power. But Jolani’s roots in al-Qaeda – with which he later cut ties – have overshadowed his ambitions.

Human rights activists also raised concerns about HTS’s recent treatment of political dissidents in Idlib, northwestern Syria. The United States declared HTS a foreign terrorist organization in 2018 and put a $10 million bounty on Jolani’s head.