Idlib: rebels kill 26 regime troops, take four villages

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian rebels on Saturday have killed 26 regime troops in a major attack in northern Idlib province, military sources said.

Four villages were also taken by rebels from regime forces and allied Shiite militias east of Idlib city, such an advance followed unprecedented bombing by Damascus and Moscow on the northwestern enclave.

The Turkish-backed National Liberation Front has ambushed the regime forces near the town of Tal Dam east of Idlib city, killing 6 troops while 20 more troops were killed near Sanjar town.

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.

According to Syria Response Coordinators Team, at least 61,229 people have been displaced in Idlib since the beginning of November.

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

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 Assad, according to local monitoring groups.

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

In their turn, Latakia rebels has also thwarted four incursion attempts by regime forces and Shiiite militias on Kabana hilltops, killing 18 troops and destroying two tanks.

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.

Zaman Al Wasl