Syrian regime forces seized control of the entire length of the main Aleppo-Damascus highway Tuesday for the first time since 2012, after driving rebels from their last foothold on the road, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
The highway, the M5, runs all the way from Aleppo to Deraa in southern Syria. Regime forces, backed by Russia and Iran, had seized control of the entire highway after capturing a western suburb of Aleppo from insurgents, the Observatory said.
The M5, Syria's longest highway, connects second city Aleppo to the capital Damascus and continues south to the Jordanian border.
Assad forces pressed rapid gains in Aleppo and Idlib where they captured 600 square kilometers of territory despite the Turkish warning to retreat but on contrary more Turkish soldiers fell dead by regime shelling and swaths of territory were captured.
The Turkish Defence Ministry said Monday that its forces have hit 115 regime targets and destroyed 101 of them in retaliation for an attack that killed five Turkish soldiers in Idlib.
The ministry said Turkish forces would continue to retaliate any attacks on its troops, which have observation posts in the far northwest of Syria. Earlier, the ministry said Syrian forces had killed five Turkish soldiers, among thousands deployed there to help stem a Syrian offensive to retake the last rebel stronghold in the country after nearly nine years of civil war.
"Up to now, 115 (Syrian) regime targets were immediately fired upon, and 101 regime elements were neutralised according to initial information from various sources," the ministry said in a statement. "It was found that three tanks and two mortar positions were destroyed, while one helicopter was also hit."
About 1240 Turkish vehicles carrying tanks and attack weapons entered Syria in a week. Also about 5000 Turkish soldiers have been deployed, including 500 elite forces.
Turkish officials have told a visiting Russian delegation that attacks on Turkish observation posts in northwestern Syria must be stopped immediately and that such assaults will not remain unanswered, the Turkish presidency said on Monday.
Syrian National Army backed by Turkish artillery barrages launched major attack on Monday in western Aleppo region and Idlib, killing about 50 regime troops, rebel commander told Zaman al-Wasl.
The National Army has mobilized 10,000 fighters to join the Turkish army in a planned military operation in Idlib The source said the Syrian rebels have obtained TOW missiles, canons and ammunition.
Also, at least 30 civilians lost their lives in Russian airstrikes on Monday.
The weekslong regime offensive has created a humanitarian crisis with about 700,000 people fleeing their homes in Syria's last rebel stronghold since the beginning of December, according to the United Nations.
Nearly half a million people have been killed and millions displaced in Syria's long-running civil war, which erupted in 2011 in the form of anti-regime protests amid Arab Spring uprisings and eventually turned into an armed insurgency.
Zaman Al Wasl with Agencies
Zaman Al Wasl
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