Beirut (AFP)

Syrian government forces entered Khan Sheikhoun, a northwestern town located on a strategic highway on Sunday, where intense fighting continues to oppose jihadists and rebels, according to an NGO.

For several days the pro-government forces, supported by the Russian air force, had taken several villages west of Khan Sheikhoun from the jihadists and rebels.

This city, located on the highway through the province of Idleb, connects Damascus to the metropolis of Aleppo (north), both under government control.

"The regime's forces entered Khan Sheikhoun for the first time since they lost control in 2014," said Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

Most of Idleb Province and parts of neighboring provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia still escape the control of Bashar al-Assad's regime, eight years after the beginning of the war.

The Idleb region, dominated by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, former Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) and home to some rebel groups, has been targeted since the end of April for almost daily bombardments of the regime and its Russian ally.

"The regime's forces have progressed in neighborhoods in the northwest of the city and have taken control of several buildings but violent clashes continue," said Sunday Rami Abdel Rahman.

At least 59 rebels and jihadists and 28 pro-regime forces have been killed in the clashes since Saturday night, according to the OSDH.

- "Fierce Resistance" -

Jihadist and rebel fighters have "fiercely resisted" pro-regime forces and "resorted to suicide attacks" to stunt their advance, said the director of the NGO that has an extensive network of sources in Syria.

Today, almost empty of its inhabitants, Khan Cheikhoun sheltered about 100,000 people before the beginning of the current military escalation, of which a majority of displaced people came from other regions, in particular from the neighboring province of Hama.

Since late April, at least 1,400 jihadist and rebel fighters and more than 1,200 pro-regime fighters have died in clashes in Idleb, according to the NGO.

And more than 860 civilians were killed in the bombings, according to the OSDH. More than 400,000 people have been displaced in this region of three million people, according to the UN.

The UN, through one of its spokesmen in Amman, David Swanson, told AFP on Saturday "of great concern after the recent resumption of violence in northwestern Syria," which has resulted in more than 500 confirmed deaths among civilians, and hundreds of thousands of displaced women, children and men. "

An agreement on a "demilitarized zone" in the Idleb region concluded in September 2018 by rebel sponsor Ankara and Moscow has only been partially implemented, as the jihadists refused to withdraw.

Triggered in 2011 after the bloody repression by the regime of Bashar al-Assad of pro-democracy demonstrations, the war in Syria has claimed more than 370,000 lives and thrown into the exile of millions of people.

Over the years, the Damascus regime has managed to consolidate its hold on more than 60% of the country, thanks to support from Russia and Iran.

© 2019 AFP