The military statement called on civilians to stay away from militant positions and asked them to come to government-held areas if they can.
Syrian air defense forces shoot down terrorists' explosives-laden drone in Hama
Syrian army troops clear over 40 towns, villages of Takfiri terrorists in Idlib
BEIRUT - A missile struck a school building in northwestern Syria on Tuesday morning, killing eight civilians, opposition activists said, as government forces captured a key village held by al-Qaida insurgents in the war-torn country's last rebel stronghold.
Syrian government troops also surrounded a Turkish observation post in the area, the activists said. They said the village of Jarjanaz was captured from al-Qaida late Monday.
Syrian forces launched a wide ground offensive last week into the northwestern province of Idlib, which is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants. The offensive follows weeks of bombardment that has displaced tens of thousands of people.
The United Nations estimates that some 60,000 people have fled from the area, heading south, after the bombings intensified earlier this month. Thousands more have fled further north toward the Turkish border in recent days, where the U.N. has warned of the growing risk of a humanitarian catastrophe. Idlib province is home to some 3 million civilians.
More than 40 villages and hamlets have come under government control in southern parts of Idlib since Thursday, according to activists and Syrian Brig. Gen. Ali Mayhoub. The military statement called on civilians to stay away from militant positions and asked them to come to government-held areas if they can.
The activists blamed Russia — Syrian President Bashar Assad's main ally in the war — for Tuesday's missile attack, which hit the Jobas village school. Among the eight killed were five children and a woman, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syrian citizen journalist Hussein Khattab reported the same death toll. The school building was used by people displaced by violence in other parts of the country, the Observatory and Khattab said.
Syrian troops have been pushing toward the rebel-held town of Maaret al-Numan, which sits on a highway linking the capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest. Assad's forces appear determined to eventually reopen the strategic highway, which has been closed by the rebels since 2012.
The Observatory said the troops are now about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from Maaret al-Numan, adding that government forces advancing from the east have surrounded the Turkish observation post near the village of Surman.
Turkey is a strong backer of Syrian rebels and has 12 observation posts in northwestern Syria as part of an agreement brokered last year with Russia. The post near Surman is the second that has been encircled by Syrian troops this year.
Syrian air defense forces shoot down terrorists' explosives-laden drone in Hama
Syrian government forces have captured and dismantled an unmanned aerial vehicle rigged with explosives in the country’s west-central province of Hama.Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that air defense units managed to intercept and shoot down the drone as it was flying in the skies over the city of al-Suqaylabiyah on Tuesday morning.
The report added that the aircraft had been launched by foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants operating in the area, and was armed with six missiles.
The projectiles were recovered by Syrian government forces and later defused.
The development came only a few hours after Syrian army units shot down a drone operated by militant groups as it was about to launch an attack against government posts inside Hama Military Airport, which is located west of the provincial capital city of Hama and more than 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of the capital Damascus.
A number of other unmanned aerial vehicles also sought to attack the coastal city of Jableh in Syria’s western province of Latakia, but were brought down by government forces.
On Sunday, Syrian air defense units captured and dismantled a drone as it was flying over Salamiyah area in the eastern countryside of Hama province.
Meanwhile, Syria’s General Command of the Army and Armed Forces said in a statement on Tuesday that government forces are pressing ahead with their counter-terrorism offensives in the southern and southeastern sectors of the country's northern province of Idlib and making territorial gains as Takfiri terrorists are suffering losses.
The statement, published by SANA, read that government troops have succeeded in clearing more than 320 square kilometers of land in the area from remnants of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, plus other terror groups and retook control of more than forty towns and villages.
The statement enumerated some of the liberated towns and villages as Umm Tina, Taldem, Abu Sharqi, al-Rabiah, al-Khraiba, Bernan, al-Burj, al-Balouta, Umm al-Jabal and Tal Abu Hamid.
It stressed that Syrian armed forces are fairly determined to cleanse the entire Idlib province of terrorism, calling on ordinary civilians to leave the areas where militants are wreaking havoc and move towards government-controlled areas.
The statement concluded by emphasizing that anti-terror operations will continue nationwide until all Syrian territories occupied by terrorists are purged of their presence, and the national Syrian flag is hoisted across the country.
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