Syrian troops advance as Russian airstrikes intensify
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Oct. 9, 2015: A bomb is released from Russian Su-34 strike fighter in Syria. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Activists say Russian jets have intensified their airstrikes in a central Syrian province as government and allied troops push out insurgents from the area.
The advance Monday is the latest in a government bid to regain control of areas in the rural parts of Hama, and the Sahl al-Ghab plain. The plain links Hama to the northwestern rebel-controlled Idlib province and Latakia, a government stronghold.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 30 airstrikes were reported in Kfar Nabudeh, while government troops and Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters entered from the south.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}During the last six days of ground operations, government troops have moved in on two villages in eastern Hama, Atshan and Tal Sukayk, and a third in the plain area. Activists say rebels seized one village south of Idlib.