In Syria, at least 10 civilians were killed in air strikes and shelling by regime forces in Idlib province.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two children were among six people killed in the strikes on the town of Kafr Aweid. Another civilian died in shelling on the northern Hama countryside.

According to the Monitor, a woman and her two children were also killed during airstrikes that hit a motorcycle in the town of Maaret al-Numan. </s> At least five civilians were killed by Russian and Syrian government warplanes that targeted Syria's northwest as residents marked the holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

A local source told Anadolu Agency the five people died on Wednesday in air attacks targeting the town of Kansafra and three villages in Idlib.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor put the death toll at 10, saying two children were among those killed.

Another civilian died in shelling by government forces on the northern Hama countryside, also held by rebels, said the group, which relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria.

Government air attacks also hit a motorcycle in the Idlib town of Maaret al-Numan, killing a woman and her two children, said the Observatory.

Air war

Wednesday's attacks come amid an escalation in violence in the country's northwest that is held by Syria's former al-Qaeda affiliate Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham.

A September deal was supposed to avert a full-out government offensive on Idlib province and adjacent areas, home to about three million people, nearly half of whom have been displaced from other parts of Syria.

But the government and its ally Russia have since late April ramped up deadly air raids and rocket fire on the region, and fighters have clashed on its edges.

The bombardment of Idlib province and neighbouring areas has killed more than 300 people since late April, according to the Observatory.

It also displaced nearly 270,000 people in May alone, according to the United Nations.

A total of 24 health facilities and 35 schools have been hit in the latest escalation, according to the UN's humanitarian office.

Analysts predict that President Bashar al-Assad and his allies will continue to chip away at the area, but not unleash a major assault that would create chaos on Turkey's doorstep.

The conflict in Syria has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it started in 2011 with millions displaced. </s> At least five civilians were killed by Russian and Syrian government warplanes that targeted Syria's northwest as residents marked the holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

A local source told Anadolu Agency the five people died on Wednesday in air attacks targeting the town of Kansafra and three villages in Idlib.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor put the death toll at 10, saying two children were among those killed.

Another civilian died in shelling by government forces on the northern Hama countryside, also held by rebels, said the group, which relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria.

Government air attacks also hit a motorcycle in the Idlib town of Maaret al-Numan, killing a woman and her two children, said the Observatory.

Wednesday's attacks come amid an escalation in violence in the country's northwest that is held by Syria's former al-Qaeda affiliate Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham.

A September deal was supposed to avert a full-out government offensive on Idlib province and adjacent areas, home to about three million people, nearly half of whom have been displaced from other parts of Syria.

But the government and its ally Russia have since late April ramped up deadly air raids and rocket fire on the region, and fighters have clashed on its edges.

The bombardment of Idlib province and neighbouring areas has killed more than 300 people since late April, according to the Observatory.

It also displaced nearly 270,000 people in May alone, according to the United Nations.

A total of 24 health facilities and 35 schools have been hit in the latest escalation, according to the UN's humanitarian office.

Analysts predict that President Bashar al-Assad and his allies will continue to chip away at the area, but not unleash a major assault that would create chaos on Turkey's doorstep.

The conflict in Syria has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it started in 2011 with millions displaced. </s> A Syrian boy cries as he stands next to a building hit by an air strike on the village of Maaret al-Numan, in the country's northern province of Idlib, on December 4, 2016 (AFP Photo/Mohamed al-Bakour)

Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) - Suspected Russian air strikes killed at least 46 people in opposition-held parts of Syria Sunday, a monitor said, as government forces advanced in fierce clashes with rebels in east Aleppo.

Syria's government is waging an offensive to recapture all of second city Aleppo, and it has so far captured more than 60 percent of eastern districts that fell to rebels in 2012.

In Idlib province, in northwest Syria, at least 26 civilians were killed in suspected Russian strikes on the town of Kafr Nabel, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

An eyewitness told AFP warplanes hit several places in the town, including a market.

The Observatory says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to their type, location, flight patterns and the munitions involved.

The group said 18 people were also killed in suspected Russian strikes on the town of Maaret al-Numan, where an AFP photographer saw rescue workers and residents trying to pull survivors from rubble at a market.

The monitor reported two additional deaths, one in an earlier strike on Maaret al-Numan and another in Al-Naqir, also in Idlib.

It said six civilians, four of them children, had been killed in a government barrel bomb attack on the town of Al-Tamanah in the same province.

Russia, a staunch ally of President Bashar al-Assad's government, began a military intervention in support of Damascus in September 2015.

Moscow says it is targeting "terrorists" and has dismissed reports of civilian casualties in its strikes.

In east Aleppo, government forces advanced against rebels, taking three neighbourhoods and pushing into a fourth, state media and the Russian defence ministry said.

The army and allied forces are nearly three weeks into an operation to recapture all of the city, divided between regime and rebel forces since 2012.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the offensive, which has made steady gains and threatens to deal Syria's opposition its worst defeat in the five-year civil war.

State television said late Sunday the army had captured the districts of Karm al-Tahan and Myessar and advanced into the Qadi Askar neighbourhood.

The Russian defence ministry said regime forces had also taken the district of Karm al-Katurji.

Rebels are increasingly under pressure in the remaining southeastern districts they control.

State news agency SANA said the air force was dropping leaflets over rebel-held areas urging "militants to abandon their weapons and... allow civilians and the sick and wounded to leave".

Damascus says rebels are preventing civilians from leaving the east and trying to use them as human shields.

But tens of thousands of residents have fled the east as the army has advanced, with some heading south to remaining rebel territory and others going to areas under government or Kurdish control.

The east has been pounded with air strikes, barrel bombs and artillery fire.

At least 311 civilians, including 42 children, have been killed in east Aleppo since the government assault began, the Observatory says.

Rebel fire on west Aleppo in the same period has killed 69 civilians, including 28 children, it says.

On Sunday, the bombardment of rebel districts was so fierce it shook buildings in the west as well as in the east, AFP correspondents on both sides said.

The Observatory said a woman and two children were killed in the eastern neighbourhood of Fardos in government artillery fire.

The latest assault has added to the massive destruction in east Aleppo, which has seen some of the worst violence in the conflict that began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

The army has encouraged residents to return to recently recaptured neighbourhoods, but many who have ventured across to see their old homes have found nothing but rubble.

"This is all we found, this photo of my niece. It is precious to us, and we found a copy of the Koran, so we brought that too," said Um Yayha, 55.

The Russian defence ministry also said Syrian government forces took control of the town of Al-Tal outside Damascus after a local truce.

"More than 500 rebels from the Fateh al-Sham Front have left Al-Tal for Idlib over the last days with 1,500 family members," it said, referring to Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate.

Despite international outcry over the conflict, successive attempts to end it have failed.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura on Saturday urged a return to negotiations, warning of a "creeping, ongoing guerilla (war) and no reconstruction" unless peace talks resumed. </s> Syria’s north-west is the last major stronghold of the opposition to Bashar Al Assad

Syrian regime troops and their allies entered Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib, north-west Syria, advancing against rebels in the town where battles raged on Monday night.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army seized the town’s northern and eastern districts.

A source from one of the rebel factions said pro-government forces entered only part of the town and fierce battles were being fought to fend them off.

The advance threatens to encircle insurgents in their only patch of territory in nearby Hama province and could put a Turkish observation post there at risk.

Earlier in the day a Turkish military convoy was hit by air strikes in Idlib province.

Turkey's defence ministry claimed that three civilians were killed and 12 others wounded in the attack, which they said breached Ankara's agreements and co-operation with Russia, the most powerful ally of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

Turkey said Russia had been told in advance about the convoy.

Ankara said the vehicles had been travelling to a Turkish observation post in north-west Syria, but the Syrian Foreign Ministry said they had been carrying munitions to help rebels in the province.

The “aggressive” Turkish move of sending in the convoy would not affect “the determination of the Syrian Arab Army to keep hunting the remnants of terrorists", a Syrian ministry source told state news agency Sana.

Read More Turkey removes three pro-Kurdish mayors over terrorism charges

“Turkish vehicles loaded with munitions are heading towards Khan Sheikhoun to help the terrorists, which confirms once again the support provided by the Turkish regime to terrorist groups," the source said.

The convoy was hit near the frontline as it headed for Khan Sheikhoun, which the Syrian army advanced towards last week in a pincer movement.

Turkey has funnelled weapons to the rebels it backs in the north-westerly province to hold off major aerial and ground attacks by the regime and Russia, who seek to gain control of the area.

Mr Al Assad launched the assault in April, saying the rebels had broken a ceasefire.

The Observatory said the Turkish convoy was stuck on a highway after air strikes prevented it from continuing southwards. It said one fighter accompanying the convoy was killed.

Apparently a near miss. Syrian regime forces have shown no hesitancy to fire at (and kill) Turkish military units assigned to observe the ceasefire. https://t.co/SCwsFbg6ka — Tobias Schneider (@tobiaschneider) August 19, 2019

Fighting has killed at least 500 civilians and uprooted hundreds of thousands, many of them stranded near the border with Turkey, the UN says.

Turkey, which hosts about 3.6 million Syrian refugees and says it cannot accept any more, fears the onslaught in Idlib could spark a new influx.

A series of truces brokered in talks between Moscow and Ankara has failed to end the fighting.

On Friday, France called for an immediate end to the fighting, and the French Foreign Ministry condemned air strikes on refugee camps.

An aerial view of a convoy of Turkish military vehicles passing through Maaret Al Numan in Syria's northern province of Idlib, reportedly heading toward the town of Khan Sheikhun in the southern countryside of the province. AFP A truck carrying a tank. AFP A convoy of Turkish enters as inhabitants flee the battles and shelling toward safer areas. AFP The convoy passes through the town of Saraqeb in the northwestern province of Idlib. AFP The Syrian Foreign Ministry told Sana that the “aggressive” move would not affect “the determination of the Syrian Arab Army to keep hunting the remnants of terrorists”. AFP The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the convoy was carrying munitions. AFP Inhabitants of Maaret Al Numan in Syria's northern province of Idlib watch a convoy of Turkish military vehicles reportedly headed to assist rebels against regime forces. AFP Inhabitants of Maaret Al Numan in Syria's northern province of Idlib watch a convoy of Turkish military vehicles reportedly headed to assist rebels against regime forces. AFP Inhabitants of Maaret Al Numan in Syria's northern province of Idlib watch a convoy of Turkish military vehicles reportedly headed to assist rebels against regime forces. AFP Inhabitants of Maaret Al Numan in Syria's northern province of Idlib watch a convoy of Turkish military vehicles reportedly headed to assist rebels against regime forces. AFP </s> A Turkey Armed Forces convoy is seen at a highway between Maaret al-Numan and Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province, Syria, Monday, Aug. 19, 2019. The Turkish Defense Ministry says airstrikes have targeted a Turkish military convoy in Syria, killing at least three civilians and wounding 12 others in Monday's attack that occurred while the convoy was heading toward a Turkish observation post in the rebel-held stronghold of Idlib. (Murat Kibritoglu/DHA via AP)

A Turkey Armed Forces convoy is seen at a highway between Maaret al-Numan and Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province, Syria, Monday, Aug. 19, 2019. The Turkish Defense Ministry says airstrikes have targeted a Turkish military convoy in Syria, killing at least three civilians and wounding 12 others in Monday's attack that occurred while the convoy was heading toward a Turkish observation post in the rebel-held stronghold of Idlib. (Murat Kibritoglu/DHA via AP)

BEIRUT (AP) — The main insurgent group in the Syrian province of Idlib pulled out of a key rebel town as government forces advanced in the area on Tuesday amid intense bombardment and airstrikes, a militant group and opposition activists said.

As the militants withdrew, government troops moved into northern and western neighborhoods of Khan Sheikhoun, marking a significant gain for President Bashar Assad’s forces as they try to chip away at territory controlled by the opposition in Idlib. The northwestern province, dominated by an al-Qaida-linked faction, is the last major rebel-held bastion in Syria.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Syria’s main al-Qaida-linked faction, said in a statement that its fighters carried out “a re-deployment,” withdrawing to areas south of the town of Khan Sheikhoun. From there, they would continue to defend the territory, it said.

Syrian state TV said government troops have expanded their presence in the Khan Sheikhoun area, without giving further details.

“The victories that were achieved show the determination of the people and the army to strike terrorists, until all parts of Syria are liberated,” Assad said, according to comments released by his office.

The withdrawal is a blow to the opposition. Syrian government forces have been on the offensive in Idlib and northern parts of Hama province since April 30, forcing nearly half a million people to flee to safer areas further north. The fighting also killed more than 2,000 people, including hundreds of civilians.

After months of intense bombardment, the insurgents’ defenses appear to be crumbling as they are now losing ground at a much faster pace compared with the first three months of the government push.

In the long-running Syrian civil war, now in its ninth year, the northwestern region — where Turkish, Russian, U.S. and Iranian interests are at stake — has taken center stage in the conflict.

The latest government gains come as NATO allies Turkey and the U.S. are discussing setting up a buffer inside Syria — one that Ankara wants to push Syrian Kurdish fighters it considers terrorists further to the east.

There has been speculation, meanwhile, that Russia and Turkey, which back rival sides in Syria’s conflict, have reached an agreement that would allow the Syrian army to retake parts of Idlib and reopen a highway that links the capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest.

Khan Sheikhoun, which had been held by militants since 2014, sits on that highway.

After the capture of Khan Sheikhoun, Syrian troops are likely now to move north toward Maaret al-Numan, another town on the highway that has been subjected to intense airstrikes over the past days. Opposition activists also reported intense bombardment on the rebel-held town of Jisr al-Shughour on the southwestern edge of Idlib on Tuesday.

Backed by Russian air power, Syrian troops were able to enter parts of Khan Sheikhoun overnight, according to opposition activists, and are now clearing the area abandoned by militants of explosives and booby traps.

“After fierce bombardment by the criminal enemy that avoids direct confrontation with holy warriors by implementing a scorched earth policy, our fighters have redeployed south of Khan Sheihoun,” the statement said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other insurgent groups withdrew from Khan Sheikhoun as well as the towns and villages south of the town.

According to the Observatory, Khan Sheikhoun was home to about 1 million people, nearly 700,000 of them displaced by fighting in other parts of the country, before the government offensive began in April. In recent days hundreds of civilians remained in the town according to the group that tracks Syria’s war, now in its ninth year.

The Syrian Response Coordination Group, a relief group active in northwestern Syria, called on Tuesday for a “humanitarian truce” to allow civilians who are stuck in the areas of fighting to leave. The group said in a statement the Russia and Syrian governments “are practicing terrorism against civilians” in violation of international laws.

Khan Sheikhoun was a stronghold of the al-Qaida-linked militant faction, the most powerful group in rebel-held areas in Syria. The town was also the scene of a chemical attack on April 4, 2017 that killed 89 people.

At the time, the United States, Britain and France pointed a finger at the Syrian government, saying their experts had found that nerve agents were used in the attack. Days later, the U.S. fired 59 U.S. Tomahawk missiles at the Shayrat Air Base in central Syria, saying the attack on Khan Sheikhoun was launched from the base.

The Syrian government and its Russian allies denied there was a chemical attack.

Also Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned the Syrian government against “playing with fire,” a day after an airstrikes targeted a Turkish army convoy near Khan Sheikoun, killing 3 civilians.

Cavusoglu said the convoy was on its way to provide “security” to a Turkish observation post in Idlib. Syria said the convoy was carrying ammunition to rebels.

“We will do what is necessary for the security of our soldiers ... but we are working to avoid reaching that point,” he said. </s> Beirut: Artillery shelling by government forces pounded parts of the north-western Idlib province on Saturday, thwarting an infiltration attempt by militants as tension rises in the region following victories by al-Qaida-linked militants against Turkey-backed opposition fighters, Syria's state news agency reported.

The violence came as officials in neighbouring Turkey said efforts are being exerted to maintain stability in Idlib.

SANA said the shelling focused on the areas of Zarzour near the border with Turkey and Tamanaa near Maaret al-Numan that was taken this week by al-Qaida- linked militants from Turkey-backed opposition fighters. It reported casualties among the militants.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the government shelled six areas in and near Idlib province. </s> DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Airstrikes halted a Turkish military convoy carrying ammunition after it crossed into northern Syria on Monday, bound for a rebel-held stronghold, opposition activists said.

The strikes hit near the highway where the convoy was moving, the activists said.

It was not immediately clear whether it was Syrian government or Russian warplanes that struck near the convoy but the development marked a sharp escalation in tensions in the northwestern province of Idlib where Syrian troops have been on the offensive for weeks.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry slammed Turkey, saying the convoy consisted of armored vehicles loaded with ammunition and was heading to Khan Sheikhoun, a major rebel-held town in Idlib province, the country’s last rebel stronghold.

Turkey backs the rebels who have been in control of the region since 2012, while Russia backs Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, which has vowed to take back Idlib. There was no immediate official word from Turkey, which has 12 observation posts in and on the edge of Idlib province, about a convoy headed to Syria.

Turkey’s private DHA news agency said Syrian government planes targeted the route of a Turkish military convoy carrying reinforcement vehicles and personnel. It said the convoy was heading toward two Turkish observation posts in the region when it came under Syrian aircraft fire.

The report said the convoy could not proceed because the route between Maaret al Numan and Khan Sheikhoun was targeted, so it sheltered at a safe location. The agency did not report any casualties.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said airstrikes believed to be Russian struck near the highway and forced the nearly 25-vehicle Turkish convoy to stop.

Mazen al-Shami, an opposition activist based in Idlib, also said that warplanes struck areas near where the Turkish convoy was moving. The Sham Network, an activist collective, posted photos of the Turkish convoy: A mushroom of smoke, apparently from the airstrike, could be seen in the distance.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry called the convoy’s incursion a “flagrant Turkish intervention,” saying it had reached Saraqeb, a town north of Khan Sheikoun, early Monday.

Syrian government troops reached the western outskirts of Khan Sheikhoun earlier in the day. The pro-government Al-Watan online and the Observatory reported that Syrian troops have entered Khan Sheikhoun from the northwest.

The ministry said “this hostile behavior of the Turkish regime” would not affect Syrian troops’ push into Khan Sheikhoun.

Syrian troops have been on the offensive in Idlib and its surroundings since April 30. The region is home to some 3 million people, many of them displaced in other battles around the wartorn country. The latest round of fighting in the past month has displaced some 450,000 people.

Khan Sheikhoun is a stronghold of al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the most powerful group in the rebel-held areas. The town was the scene of a chemical attack on April 4, 2017 that killed 89 people. </s> Damascus on Monday condemned the deployment of a Turkish military convoy towards a key town in northwestern Syria where regime forces are waging fierce battles with jihadists and rebels.

An AFP correspondent saw a military convoy made up of around 50 armoured vehicles including personnel carriers and at least five tanks travelling through the Idlib province.

They were headed south in the direction of the town of Khan Sheikhun, which Russia-backed regime forces entered on Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Syrian and Russian air strikes aimed at hindering the convoy’s advance through Idlib province.

“Turkish vehicles loaded with munitions… are heading towards Khan Sheikhun to help the terrorists,” a foreign ministry source said, using the regime’s blanket term for rebels and jihadists.

This “confirms once again the support provided by the Turkish regime to terrorist groups,” state news agency SANA reported the source as saying.

The AFP correspondent saw them on their way to the town of Maaret al-Noman, which lies 15 kilometres north of Khan Sheikhun.

A Russian air strike hit the rebel vehicle leading the convoy just outside Maaret al-Noman, killing a Turkish-backed fighter from the Faylaq al-Sham group, the Britain-based Observatory said.

The AFP correspondent saw the convoy pause briefly outside the town.

After the convoy made it inside the town, Russian and Syrian warplanes targeted its outskirts in an apparent “attempt to prevent the convoy from advancing”, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

On Sunday, pro-regime forces backed by Russian air strikes took control of Khan Sheikhun’s northwestern outskirts.

Any seizure of Khan Sheikhun and territory further east would encircle a patch of countryside to its south, including the town of Morek that is home to a key Turkish observation post.

Naji Mustafa, a spokesman for the National Liberation Front rebel grouping, told AFP: “The Turkish reinforcements were headed to… Morek.”

Khan Sheikhun lies on the southern edge of the Idlib region, which after eight years of war is the last major stronghold of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The Idlib region was supposed to be protected from a massive regime offensive by a buffer zone deal signed between Russia and Turkey in September last year.

Some Turkish troops were deployed to patrol the planned buffer zone, but it was never fully implemented as jihadists refused to withdraw from the planned demilitarised cordon.

Since late April, the regime and Russia have upped their bombardment of the Idlib region of some three million people, killing more than 860 civilians.

For more than a week, deadly clashes have seen regime forces slowly advancing in the southern edges of the bastion.

Khan Sheikhun lies on a key highway connecting government-held Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, which the regime retook from rebels in December 2016.

Jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, controls most of Idlib province as well as parts of the neighbouring provinces of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia.
Government air attacks hit a motorcycle in the Idlib town of Maaret al-Numan, killing a woman and her two children.