Middle East
Syrian government recaptures villages on strategic plain
Syrian government forces recaptured four northwestern villages Tuesday in a counter-attack on insurgents threatening strongholds of President Bashar al-Assad, an activist group said.
Government planes launched dozens of airstrikes overnight into the morning on parts of the Sahl al-Ghab plain seized by rebels in an advance this month, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Clashes between insurgents and state forces backed by allied militias raged Tuesday, the activist group and officials added.
“The army is advancing in the area,” a Syrian military source told Reuters Tuesday.