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AFP
Beirut
Syrian regime forces took full control of the key northwestern town of Khan Sheikhun on Wednesday, surrounding Turkish forces at a nearby observation post, a war monitor said.
“Regime forces took full control of the town of Khan Sheikhun and are currently clearing it of mines,” said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
Pro-government fighters have now “surrounded an area stretching from the south of Khan Sheikhun into northern Hama province, cutting off all roads out” for Turkish troops in the nearby town of Morek, he said.
The Observatory said 21 anti-government fighters including 18 jihadists were killed in Wednesday’s clashes, along with 10 government or loyalist fighters.
The advance came after days of heavy fighting against rebels and jihadists who control the Idlib region, which sits on the Turkish border and is the last major stronghold of opposition to the Russia-backed government of President Bashar al-Assad.
It has been administered since January by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance, which is led by jihadists from Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
The region of some three million people was supposed to be protected by a buffer zone deal signed last September by Moscow and rebel backer Ankara, but government and Russian forces have subjected it to heavy bombardment since late April.
Around 890 civilians have been killed since then, according to the Britain-based Observatory. More than 400,000 people have been displaced by the fighting over the same period, the United Nations says. In recent weeks, regime forces have inched forward at the southern edges of the bastion.
On Tuesday, anti-Assad fighters pulled back from Khan Sheikhun and the countryside to its south, said the Observatory, which has a network of sources across Syria.
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22/08/2019
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