Syria rebels kill 23 regime forces in northwest Syria

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Russian reconciliation center in Hmeimym air base said 23 regime forces had been killed by rebels in the past 48 hours, seeking to justify the brutal bombing on the northwest Syria despite the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Fighting since Saturday has killed more than 100 fighters from both sides as the army and its allies unleashed about 2,000 air and artillery strikes against rebels dug into Syria’s northwest, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Rebels and jihadists have killed more than 130,000 pro-regime forces since the armed conflict erupted eight years ago with the brutal repression of protests against Bashar al-Assad, according to local monitoring groups.

The heavy clashes followed the capture of al-Hobeita, a strategically important town in Idlib in the rebels’ last major enclave.

The capture of al-Hobeit represents the most significant advance the regime army has made in Idlib province since the start of its offensive three months ago, the Observatory said.

The town as the gateway to the southern countryside of Idlib, to the main Damascus-Aleppo highway and to the city of Khan Sheikhoun.

The three-month offensive has made slower progress than any by Bashar al-Assad since Russia entered the war on his side in 2015, prompting a run of military victories that have brought most of Syria back under his rule.

Rebels fighting to oust him are now concentrated in the northwestern enclave, covering most of Idlib province and parts of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces, though they also have a small presence in the southeast near the border with Jordan.

The northwest offensive has prompted warnings by the United Nations and aid agencies of a new humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people having fled the violence to seek shelter at the border with Turkey.

The regime military air strikes have targeted hospitals, schools, water points, markets, bakeries and other civilian infrastructure, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Panos Mumtzis, has said.

Since the beginning of northwest Syria offensive late April, regime airstrikes have killed more than 800 civilians and displaced more than 440,000.

Syria's war has killed more than 560,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests.

Zaman Al Wasl