Syrian troops and allied militia backed by Russian air strikes attacked rebels in the Ghab Plain in western Syria on Thursday, and the army chief said a major offensive was underway to recapture territory from insurgents.
The rebel advance into the Ghab region nearly two months ago had threatened the coastal region vital to President Bashar al-Assad's control of western Syria and catalyzed Russia's intervention on his side last week.
Ground forces targeted insurgent-held areas in the Ghab Plain with heavy barrages of surface-to-surface missiles as Russian jets bombed from above, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a rebel fighting there said.
Syrian armed forces "have launched wide-ranging attacks to deal with the terrorist groups, and to liberate the areas which had suffered from the terrorist rule and crimes," Lt. Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayoub was quoted as saying by state media.
Ayoub did not specify the areas being targeted. He said new fighting groups, including one called the Fourth Assault Corps, had been set up to wage the campaign and the army now held the military initiative.
The Observatory's head Rami Abdulrahman said an assault launched by the army and its foreign allies on Wednesday in nearby areas of Hama province had so far failed to make significant gains, however.
"At least 13 regime forces were killed... The clashes also killed 11 (rebel) fighters," he said in a statement, adding that the numbers were expected to rise as more casualties were confirmed.
Reuters
