The Syrian government has said it has regained control of the strategically important city of Maaret al-Numan in the northwest of the country. „Our armed forces have managed to eradicate terrorism in many villages and towns in the past few days,“ said an army spokesman today. This includes the city of Maaret al-Numan, which was previously ruled by jihadist fighters and rebels.
Maaret al-Numan is located at an important traffic junction of the M5 motorway, which connects the capital Damascus with the second largest Syrian city Aleppo. In 2011, the city was one of the first in the Idlib province to rise up against the government in Damascus. A year later, it fell into the hands of the opponents of the Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.
With the support of the Russian Air Force, Assad’s troops have been attacking the south of the Idlib province since December. According to the UN, more than 358,000 people have been displaced in Idlib since mid-December. The province and parts of Aleppo are controlled by the jihadist militia Hajat Tahrir al-Sham and other Islamist militias. Assad is determined to regain control of the region. Government troops now control around 70 percent of Syria.
