Russia's airstrikes kill 5 civilians in Idlib

At least 5 civilians killed in Russian air strikes on northern Idlib province, activists said Sunday.

The attacks targeted the towns of Maaret Na’san and Kafranbel.

Syria’s northwest corner, including the Idlib region, is the last major chunk of territory still in rebel hands after more than eight years of war.

Regime forces captured on Sunday the village of Msheirfeh from rebels after clashes that left more than a dozen killed on both sides.

State news agency SANA said Syrian troops captured Msheirfeh early Sunday after clashes with rebels that left some of them killed or wounded.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the village was taken by regime forces in fighting that left six troops and nine insurgents dead.

Zaman al Wasl sources said at least 25 fighters loyal to Bashar al-Assad were killed in the clashes.

The regime army has been pressing to take a strategic territory located between Idlib and Latakia province to cut the main supply route and to weaken the unprecedented resistance by rebels.

Al-Assad, who now controls around 60 percent of the country, has vowed to reclaim the rest, including Idlib and small pockets in Latakia.

Al-Assad forces launched a blistering military campaign against Idlib in April, killing around 1,000 civilians and displacing more than 400,000 people from their homes.

A ceasefire announced by Russia has largely held since late August, although dozens of civilians have been killed in sporadic bombardment since then.

Last month, Assad said Idlib was standing in the way of an end to the civil war that has ravaged his country through most of the current decade.

Eight years of war in Syria have killed 560,000 people and driven half the pre-war population of 22 million from their homes, including more than 6 million as refugees to neighbouring countries.