After fierce battles ... the Syrian regime army controls the towns of Idlib countryside

Sources from the opposition told Al-Jazeera that the Syrian regime's army had taken control of the towns of Umm Jalal, al-Rabiah, and al-Khriba, in Idlib eastern countryside, after battles that were described as violent between the regime's army - backed by the Russian Air Force - and the opposition forces.

The sources added that the regime's attacks came after a heavy artillery and air bombing campaign that targeted those areas, and Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that a large movement of displacement is taking place in the city of Ma`rat al-Numan in Idlib countryside due to the Syrian and Russian air strikes and heavy artillery shelling that targeted the city on Thursday.

The reporter stated that activists have called for demonstrations at the Syrian-Turkish border in order to demand a halt to the military escalation or the opening of the border for the displaced to cross into Turkey.

The Organization of Response Coordinators in Syria said that the number of people killed by the military campaign of the regime forces and Russia in Idlib countryside since the beginning of this month reached 209 civilians, including seventy children, while the number of displaced exceeded 175,000.

The displaced people in the camps scattered on the Syrian-Turkish border are facing bad conditions due to the very cold.

Shaky agreement
Idlib was subject to a truce agreement at the end of last August, but it became fragile for weeks due to the registration of air strikes and clashes.

The adviser of the Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs of Syria, Najat Rushdie, condemned last Wednesday the escalation of violence, and called for "an immediate halt to the escalation", in the wake of the regime’s shelling that killed 23 civilians.

Despite the truce declared by Moscow, the bombing and field clashes have killed more than 250 civilians about five months ago, in addition to hundreds of fighters from both sides, according to the observatory.

Last October, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad affirmed - on his first visit to the province since the conflict erupted in 2011 - that the Idlib battle was the "basis" for resolving the war in Syria.

The bloody conflict in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people, caused enormous damage, and displaced more than half of the population inside and outside the country.