Government forces capture two strategic areas in north-western Syria
dpa
BEIRUT (dpa)- Syrian government forces backed by their Russian allies on Monday captured two north-western villages, which have been under rebel control for around two months, a monitor group and activists said.
Government forces managed to capture the villages of al-Jabeen and Tel Maleh in Hama province, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human of Rights said.
According to activists in the region, the two villages are important for the troops, especially Tel Maleh because it overlooks an area that the government uses to move troops and reinforcements.
"The regime lost scores of soldiers in these battles to regain the control of those two villages," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory, told dpa.
The spokesman of the Turkish-backed National Liberation Front (NLP) , Mustafa Nagi, said in a statement that rebels have targeted many government posts with rockets in the western countryside of Hama.
Last week, the government intensified its airstrikes on rebel-held areas especially in the province of Idlib, killing many people, including children, according to activists.
The offensive on north-western Syria started in April, mainly targeting Hama and Idlib, the last major opposition strongholds in the country.
The offensive has so far killed at least 837 civilians, among them 209 children, according to the Observatory's estimates.
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