Yesterday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that the Syrian army continued to advance in the southeast of Idlib Governorate in the northwest of the country, and reached the threshold of the Turkish observation point in the village of "Al-Sorman", which is affiliated with the Ma`rat al-Numan district, amid the continued exodus of thousands of residents of the region.
The Observatory added that the government forces continued their attacks deep in the southeastern countryside of Idlib, achieving further progress at the expense of armed factions, with violent and heavy ground and air support, and the number of areas that government forces have controlled since the start of the military operation in Idlib last Thursday rose to 21 regions.
The Syrian forces regained control of towns and villages in Idlib after days of heavy fighting, which sparked a massive exodus of thousands of civilians, and makes the recent progress of the Syrian forces and their Russian ally close to controlling the largest population gathering in the last opposition strongholds in Syria.
Reuters quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the Syrian forces made progress on the ground during the attack, which is the largest in nearly three months. The sources pointed out that the large-scale attack, accompanied by intense air strikes on rural areas in southeast Idlib, ended months of stalemate on On the frontlines, the armed factions managed to repel the army and prevent it from achieving any major progress.
The Syrian News Agency, SANA, reported that “the army units advanced in their operations axis against the (Jabhat al-Nusra) organization in the southern Idlib countryside, and eliminated the last terrorist gatherings in the villages and farms of al-Heraki, al-Quraqi, Tahtaya, al-Burj, Tal al-Homsi and Furwan in the Ma’ar al-Nu`man eastern countryside, after less than 24 hours after clearing six villages in the same area », pointing out that the engineering personnel have combed the entrances to the villages and cleared their groves of the militants’ remnants.
The observatory said that more than 30,000 people have been displaced during the past few days, and four days of clashes have killed 71 members of the government forces and 103 armed factions, according to the observatory.