The Syrian army has made progress near Idlib province in the north-west of the country, after taking control of two towns fought for weeks over fierce battles against extremist factions and fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and official media yesterday.
The Syrian Observatory said yesterday that «after violent battles continued since the first week of June, the army was able to control the towns of Tel-Malh and Jibin in the northern Hama countryside».
The fighting has killed 14 members of extremist factions and fighters, as well as eight members of the army, according to the same source.
The official Syrian media confirmed the "re-control" of the two towns. The official news agency SANA quoted a military source as saying that "the units involved in the cleansing of the two towns carried out qualitative operations targeting the terrorist groups of terrorists, destroyed their headquarters and their combat equipment and cut off their movement axes."
Over the past months, the two villages have been controlled by army and extremist factions several times, but since June the army has sought to regain control.
Meanwhile, the Russian news agency TASS quoted a senior Defense Ministry official as saying that the Russian air force had helped the Syrian army repel two attacks by militants in Idlib province on Thursday.
This comes at a time when Karim Khan, who leads the UN investigation into terrorist crimes, told Agence France-Presse that, as happened with Nazism, a new Nuremberg tribunal should be formed, but this time to listen to the victims of the organization and "dismantle" .