Observers: Syria rebels repel government forces in northwest

Published June 06, 2019

CORRECTS DATE TO MONDAY JUNE 3 -- This photo posted and provided by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Civil Defense workers searching for victims under the rubble after an airstrike by Syrian government forces hit the village of Ehsim, in Jabal al-Zawiya, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the town of Maarat al-Numan in Idlib, Syria, Monday, June 3, 2019. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said on Monday that Syrian troops had reached Qassaibyeh, a village deep within the last rebel stronghold in the northwest province of Idlib, after intense clashes with militants. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

Syrian armed opposition and a war monitoring group say insurgents have launched an offensive against government forces on the edge of their stronghold in northwestern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebel offensive Thursday afternoon began with a volley of rockets and missiles lobbed at government forces in villages recently captured from the opposition. The Observatory said the rebels burned tires to obstruct warplanes' vision.

A rebel umbrella group, National Front for Liberation, said the offensive is aimed to repel government forces.

Government forces began a ground offensive in late April against areas under rebel control since 2015, after a Russia-Turkey backed cease-fire in place for months failed to reduce the influence of extremists in the stronghold or open a highway that links government-controlled cities.

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