Syrian troops march into rebel-held province of Idlib
BEIRUT - Syrian government forces entered Saturday small parts of the northwestern rebel-held province of Idlib in one of their deepest incursions into the area where President Bashar Assad's government has almost no presence.
The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media said Syrian troops captured Saturday the village of Tal al-Khanazeer on the southeastern edge of Idlib.
The opposition's Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tal al-Khanazeer was captured after intense fighting and airstrikes.
The Levant Liberation Committee that controls large parts of Idlib issued a religious edict Friday calling for general mobilization to "deter the savage attack of the criminal" government. The edict is an indication of the crushing government offensive toward Idlib, a region that is part of a de-escalation zone agreed on by Turkey, Iran and Russia earlier this year.
