Army of Conquest, dominant rebel group northwest Syria, said 30 Syrian regime troopers have been killed in the underway clashes, assuring that its fighters have repelled regime army attack in Ghab plain and in the eastern countryside of Hama province despite reports saying regime has reclaimed territory.
The alliance of Islamist group, including Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham movement, showed fierce resistance despite the barrage of air strikes carried out of Assad key ally Russia, activists say.
More than 30 tanks and 20 armored vehicles were destroyed since the offensive started last week, according to rebel commanders.
On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Assad military and its Lebanese Hezbollah militia allies had taken control of Tal Skik, a highland area in Idlib province, after fierce Russian bombing.
That brings Assad's forces closer to rebel-held positions along the main highway that links Syria's principal cities. The area is held by Fateh Army, according to Reuters.
"The coming battles are going to be ferocious, the Russians are using scorched earth policy and they are hitting the targets very accurately but this is a battle of destiny," Abu Hamed, the head of the military bureau of Jabhat Sham, a rebel group that operates mainly in Hama province, told Reuters.
The regime army made advances from the towns of Mourek and Atshan in Hama province using tanks, heavy artillery and new surface-to-surface missiles, he said.
Meanwhile, Activists said Fateh Army said 20 soldiers were killed in Atshan village after a suicide attacks.
Russia said its planes had flown 64 sorties, striking 63 targets and destroying 53 fortified positions in the previous 24 hours. As in the past, it described all targets as belonging to Islamic State, although most of the areas it said it had struck are not held by that group.
However, the advance came at a cost, with the Observatory and a Lebanese television station reporting that a senior Hezbollah commander had been killed fighting on the Syrian government side.
In recent days, Islamic State fighters have taken advantage of the Russian attacks on rival rebel groups to advance near Aleppo in the north of Syria, the Observatory and sources on the ground say. The Observatory said there was fighting on Sunday between Islamic State and other rebels in that area, although no change in positions since Saturday.
The alliance of Islamist group, including Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham movement, showed fierce resistance despite the barrage of air strikes carried out of Assad key ally Russia, activists say.
More than 30 tanks and 20 armored vehicles were destroyed since the offensive started last week, according to rebel commanders.
On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Assad military and its Lebanese Hezbollah militia allies had taken control of Tal Skik, a highland area in Idlib province, after fierce Russian bombing.
That brings Assad's forces closer to rebel-held positions along the main highway that links Syria's principal cities. The area is held by Fateh Army, according to Reuters.
"The coming battles are going to be ferocious, the Russians are using scorched earth policy and they are hitting the targets very accurately but this is a battle of destiny," Abu Hamed, the head of the military bureau of Jabhat Sham, a rebel group that operates mainly in Hama province, told Reuters.
The regime army made advances from the towns of Mourek and Atshan in Hama province using tanks, heavy artillery and new surface-to-surface missiles, he said.
Meanwhile, Activists said Fateh Army said 20 soldiers were killed in Atshan village after a suicide attacks.
Russia said its planes had flown 64 sorties, striking 63 targets and destroying 53 fortified positions in the previous 24 hours. As in the past, it described all targets as belonging to Islamic State, although most of the areas it said it had struck are not held by that group.
However, the advance came at a cost, with the Observatory and a Lebanese television station reporting that a senior Hezbollah commander had been killed fighting on the Syrian government side.
In recent days, Islamic State fighters have taken advantage of the Russian attacks on rival rebel groups to advance near Aleppo in the north of Syria, the Observatory and sources on the ground say. The Observatory said there was fighting on Sunday between Islamic State and other rebels in that area, although no change in positions since Saturday.
Zaman Al Wasl
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