Maaret al-Numan (Syria) (AFP) - Regime forces have seized dozens of towns and villages in northwest
Syria from jihadists following days of violent clashes, fuelling an exodus of civilians, a war monitor said Sunday.
The fresh advances in Idlib came as
Russian warplanes continued to pummel the province's south, killing nine civilians who were trying to escape the flashpoint area on Sunday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said.
The ground assault by loyalists of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime brings them closer to capturing one of the largest urban centres in Syria's last major opposition bastion.