Turkish-backed rebels take control of key town in north-west Syria

Turkish-backed rebels on Monday took control of a strategic town south-east of Idlib in north-west Syria following heavy battles with Syrian government forces, a monitoring group said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels, under heavy cover from Turkish artillery, managed to take full control of al-Naireb town, which is close to the M4 highway, after eight hours of heavy fighting.

It added that 11 soldiers from the Syrian government and their allied militias, as well as 26 rebels, were killed in the al-Naireb battles.

The war monitor said on Monday that, in the past 24 hours, Syrian government forces had continued their advances in south Idlib and had managed to take 10 new villages that were under the control of rebels.

In late April, the Syrian government and allied Russians launched a large-scale campaign to seize rebel-held areas in western Aleppo and Idlib.

Although Russia and Turkey brokered a ceasefire in the area in January, the Syrian army and allied forces have continued their advances into Idlib.

Syrian government and allied forces have recently made advances in the last rebel stronghold.    (dpa)