The Syrian army has taken control of a strategic northwestern crossroads town, its latest gain in a weeks-long offensive against the country’s last major rebel bastion.
Saturday’s advance on Saraqeb came shortly after Turkey sent additional troops into the region and threatened to respond if its military observation posts in Idlib, set up under a 2018 truce, come under attack.
“Army units now exercise full control over the town of Saraqeb,” state television reported, showing footage of the town’s streets, deserted after weeks of bombardment.
Saraqeb is considered a strategic prize for the government as it seeks to regain control of the M4 and M5 highways that meet in the town.
The M5, Syria’s longest highway, connects second city Aleppo to the capital Damascus and continues south to the Jordanian border.
With Saraqeb recaptured, little more than half of Idlib province remains in rebel hands, along with slivers of neighbouring Aleppo and Latakia provinces.
Since December, government forces have pressed a blistering assault against the Idlib region with Russian support, retaking town after town despite warnings from Turkey, which is allied with the rebels, to stop.
The violence has killed more than 300 civilians and has displaced approximately 600,000 people since, according to the United Nations.
Witnesses at the border said convoys of Turkish military vehicles had been crossing into Idlib since Friday, delivering supplies and turning back to return with more.
The conflict has disrupted the fragile cooperation between Moscow and Ankara.
Turkey says the advances by Russia-backed Syrian troops and their allies threaten a fresh humanitarian disaster, driving another wave of potential refugees to its southern border, and has threatened to act if they do not pull back.
Turkey already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees.
By. Sara Colin
