Syrian regime forces reached the outskirts of a key rebel-held town on Sunday, part of a weeklong offensive into the country's last rebel stronghold, state media and opposition activists said.
Over the past two days, Russian-backed regime troops captured at least six villages near the strategic town of Maaret al-Numan in the northwestern province of Idlib. That brought them closer to retaking a critical north-south highway that passes through the town. It's been held by the rebels since 2012.
In their turn, rebel commanders told Zaman al-Wasl that they thwarted the attack and took back 5 villages near Maaret al-Numan, killing dozens of regime troops and allied militants.
Idlib and nearby areas of Hama, Aleppo and Latakiya provinces are dominated by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group, led by members of the country's former Al-Qaeda franchise.
According to opposition activists and paramedics, Maaret al-Numan is now almost empty as a result of the intense bombardment in recent weeks. Hadi Abdullah, an opposition activist based in Idlib, said Syrian warplanes and helicopter gunships were pounding areas near Maaret al-Numan. Opposition activists said government forces are now less than a kilometer (mile) away from the town.
Syrian state TV said regime forces captured the village of Ghadqa near Maaret al-Numan early Sunday. Among the six nearby villages captured over the past two days were Tel Manas and Maarshamarin, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and state news agency SANA.
In August, Syrian troops captured another town that the highway passes through, Khan Sheikhoun. If Syrian troops capture Maaret al-Numan, their next target is likely to be Saraqeb, which would become the last major town on the M5 highway outside government control.
Opening the highway would reduce travel time between Damascus and Aleppo by two hours, since drivers now must take a longer desert road.
Assad's forces, which are also battling HTS jihadists in western Aleppo province, are backed on both fronts by Syrian and Russian air strikes.
The fighting has left dozens of fighters dead on both sides.
Since 1 December, some 358,000 Syrians have been displaced from their homes, the vast majority of them women and children, according to the United Nations.
A ceasefire announced by Moscow earlier this month was supposed to protect Idlib from further attacks, but the truce never took hold.
Aid agencies and relief groups have warned that further violence could fuel what may potentially become the largest wave of displacement seen during Syria’s nine-year-old civil war.
Syrian regime forces now control around 70 percent of the country and Assad has repeatedly vowed to retake Idlib.
(Zaman Al Wasl, Agencies)
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