Syrian regime forces have taken control of the northern countryside of Hama and the city of Khan Sheikhoun in the southern countryside of Idlib, following clashes with the armed opposition since 26 April.
Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that three civilians were killed and others were injured after Syrian regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs targeting residential neighborhoods in Ma'aret al-Nouman city in the southern countryside of Idlib.
The regime forces have imposed a siege on the ninth Turkish observation post in the city of Mork in Hama countryside, while Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denied that his country had military forces besieged in northern Syria.
Turkish negation
"There are only clashes in Idlib between the Syrian opposition and the regime forces, and these clashes are close to Turkish military checkpoints in the area," Gavishoglu told a news conference with his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil in Beirut.
He added that his country had participated in talks with Russia and Iran to end the Syrian crisis with a political solution. Clashes on the ground were not mentioned. "We want a political solution for the safe return of refugees to the territories and for a political solution to the region, not clashes," he said.
A convoy of reinforcements sent by Ankara over the weekend to the southern countryside of Idlib on its way to Mork was hit by a Syrian airstrike targeting a car escorting a pro-Turkish Syrian opposition faction.
The convoy was unable to complete its path after regime forces cut the Damascus-Aleppo International Highway as it advanced in the strategic city of Khan Sheikhoun and its environs.
Recent gains by regime forces have put Turkish troops in Idlib in the crossfire and threaten Ankara's hopes of averting another wave of refugees to its borders.
System progress
For its part, said the official agency "SANA" that the Syrian forces took control of a hill grazing in Idlib countryside, thus encircling the cities and towns of the northern countryside of Hama near the ninth Turkish observation post.
"Our armed forces operating in northern Hama and southern Idlib continued to advance their field and defeat armed terrorist organizations ... after suffering heavy losses of life and equipment," the regime said in a statement.
Since the end of April, several areas in northern Hama and southern Idlib have been virtually empty, following massive displacement towards the Turkish border in the north.