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The goal is to encircle Khan Cheikhoun and reach the highway that runs through Idleb and connects the capital Damascus to the metropolis of Aleppo (north), both under government control. Omar haj kadour / AFP

The Syrian army continues its advance south of Idleb province where the jihadists oppose a fierce resistance. On Wednesday, they shot down a plane from the Syrian Air Force and captured the pilot.

With our correspondent in Beirut, Paul Khalifeh

The objective of the Syrian Army is to take the strategic city of Khan Sheikhoun, controlled by the jihadists of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, and to closer to the international Damascus-Aleppo highway, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

The firepower deployed illustrates the determination of government troops, heavily supported by Russian aviation, to achieve this goal: 190 air raids and 800 shells and rockets in 24 hours.

► See also: Syria: Hobeit, important gain in the battle of Idleb, under the control of the army

Thursday, the Syrian army, which has taken five localities, was only 3 kilometers northwest of Khan Cheikhoun, a city of chemical attack that had, in April 2017, 83 dead, according to the United Nations.

Jihadists and pro-Turkish rebels are engaged in counter-attacks to try to stop, or at least slow down, the advance of the Syrian army.

The fiercest fighting takes place around the hills, which gives those who control them a decisive advantage on the battlefield.

Since the beginning of the offensive on April 30, 3,100 people have been killed, including 840 civilians. 16,000 air raids and more than 60,000 artillery shells were reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.