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.
![Syria regime advances in Idlib, nine civilians killed](http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/fcb8147b638c78da7ecda25311eff8f9f55d148a.jpg)
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.