Syrian regime forces seized a town on the edge of Idlib province Sunday, a war monitor said, their first ground advance in Idlib since resuming an offensive more than three months ago.
The region of northwestern Syria, which is home to an estimated three million civilians, has come under almost daily Syrian and Russian bombardment since late April, AFP reported.
The most recent fighting focused on an area straddling Idlib and Hama provinces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"Regime forces seized the town of Al-Habeet, in Idlib's southern countryside, at dawn," said head of the monitor Rami Abdel Rahman.
The capture of Al-Habeet, one of several strategic targets for pro-regime forces, came after another night of deadly fighting, the Observatory noted.
Rahman described Al-Habeet as "the first town in southern Idlib to be taken by the regime since the start of the escalation" in April.
According to AFP, the town is seen as a stepping stone towards Khan Sheikhun, one of the main towns in Idlib and the target of some of the eight-year-old conflict's deadliest air strikes.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in recent weeks and aid groups have warned that an all-out assault on Idlib could turn the current humanitarian emergency into a catastrophe of proportions previously unseen.
