Syrian troops seize territory from rebels in northwest

The insurgents in the opposition-held area known as Jabal al-Akrad were collapsing after the key town of Salma fell to government loyalists late Tuesday.

According to the ministry, the Syrian fighter jets met up in the skies with Russian warplanes, taking off from Khmeimim air base, and “provided support and cover for Russian attack aircraft throughout the whole flight to the area where the airstrikes were carried out and back”.

Earlier, Hussam Nasser, the commander of the militia’s training center in Syria’s Latakia, said that hundreds of volunteers in the province were joining the people’s militia every day to help defend the lands liberated from terrorists.

Almost all of Salma’s few thousand residents, many of whom were the families of fighters manning the opposition’s front lines, fled to camps for internally displaced Syrians lining the Turkish border.

In this photo released on Tuesday, Jan 12, 2016, by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian government troops and allied militiamen walk inside the key town of Salma in Latakia province, Syria.

And since September 30, Syrian troops have been backed by an intense air campaign by Russian Federation, a staunch ally of Assad.

A girl runs past damaged buildings in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan town in Idlib province, Syria, December 21, 2015.

Another 14 civilians, including three children, were killed in Russian raids on Manbij, a town in Aleppo province held by the Islamic State jihadist group, the monitor said.

Speaking after meeting with Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Assad said he “appreciated the positions of Iran, which supported Syria in the face of terrorism”.

Then the army announced at around midday that “Salma’s Southern countryside is now under the full control of the Syrian government forces”.

Russian bombers began using cover from fighter jets during their missions in Syria after the downing a Su-24 by the Turkey on November 24.

The conflict in Syria erupted in March 2011 with anti-regime protests, which spiralled into a full-fledged war that has left more than 260,000 people dead and forced millions from their homes.