Syrian army retakes key northwest town

Syria government forces recaptured a strategic highway town in the northwest from jihadist and allied rebels yesterday, in the latest blow to the country’s last major opposition bastion.

Maaret al-Numan, a former anti-government protest hotspot turned ghost town after weeks of bombardment, lies on a key highway connecting the capital to second city Aleppo. The M5 highway has long been in the sights of the government, as it seeks to revive a moribund economy ravaged by almost nine years of war.

In 2011, Maaret al-Numan was one of the first towns in the northwestern province of Idlib to rise up against the Damascus government. The following year, it was captured by rebels fighting against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule. It is the latest town to fall in a Russian-backed offensive on the Idlib region this year.

The region of some three million people is dominated by jihadists from Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, but allied rebels are also present.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday accused Moscow of “not honouring these agreements”.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the government’s advance into the south of Idlib in recent weeks, seeking safety closer to the Turkish border further north.