Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Middle East

Syrian troops expand offensive despite calls for calm

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • d2473178-
    Image 1 of 2

    FILE -- In this Friday, May 3, 2019 file photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows smoke rising after Syrian government and Russian airstrikes hit the town of al-Habeet, southern Idlib, Syria. After eight months of relative calm, Idlib is once again a theater for bloody military operations as Syrian government troops, backed by Russia, push their way into the rebel-held enclave in a widening offensive. The violence of the past week threatens to completely unravel a crumbling cease-fire agreement reached between Turkey and Russia last September. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP, File)

  • 32878a82-
    Image 2 of 2

    This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense group known as the White Helmets, shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense workers carrying a victim after a deadly airstrike hit a market killing several people in the village of Ras el-Ain, in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria, Tuesday, May 7, 2019. Opposition activists say government forces have intensified their bombardment of rebel-held towns and villages in northwestern Syria. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

BEIRUT – Syria activists and media say government forces are expanding their ground offensive in northwestern Syria, pushing into the last rebel stronghold despite calls for honoring a cease-fire put in place in September.

The pro-government Military Media Center says Saturday that troops battled insurgent led by an al-Qaida-linked militant group out of Midan Ghazal village, which falls inside Idlib province. The government offensive has so far focused on areas at the southern edge of the rebel stronghold, in the Ghab plains and Hama province.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed troops gained new ground, but said all were in Hama. It said government forces control nine villages.

Fighting in the area, which began on April 30, has been the worst breach of a September cease-fire. Members of the U.N. Security Council urged on Friday a return to calm.