BEIRUT – Syrian insurgents captured four new towns early Tuesday, bringing them closer to the central city of Hama, opposition activists said, while government forces retook some territory they lost last week.
The new push came as Turkey's president — whose country is a main backer of insurgent groups — says that Syria's government must engage “in a genuine political process” to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
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The capture of the towns is the latest in the push by insurgents led by the salafi jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as well as Turkey-backed opposition fighters. Insurgents now are about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Hama, the country’s fourth-largest city.
The latest push is part of a wide offensive by forces opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad that over the past days has captured large parts of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, as well as towns and villages in southern parts of the northwestern Idlib province.
The insurgents’ military operations administration said gunmen killed 50 government forces as they captured 14 central villages and towns including Halfaya, Taybat al-Imam, Maardis and Soran. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, confirmed that the four towns were taken.
"We are going in the direction of Hama the city and after that, God willing, to Homs, and then to Damascus and the rest of Syria will be liberated again with God’s will,” said HTS member Abu Abdo al Hamawi.
State news agency SANA said Syrian troops are fighting fierce battles in the central Hama province adding that government forces are reinforcing their posts in the area. State media reported intense airstrikes by Syrian and Russian air forces in the area.
Both the Observatory and pro-government media outlets reported that Syrian government forces on Tuesday captured the village of Khanaser, days after losing it. Khanaser sits on one of the roads that lead to Aleppo.
An aid group warned that some areas in northern Syria are witnessing food shortages.
“The recent escalation in Syria threatens to drag the country back into the darkest days of this near 14-year conflict," Angelita Caredda, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director said in a statement. “Civilian casualties are rising because of shelling and airstrikes, and thousands of families have been displaced.”
“We call on all parties to adhere to international law in their conduct of hostilities,” Caredda said.
The long war between Assad and his foreign backers and the array of armed opposition forces seeking his overthrow has killed an estimated half-million people over the past 13 years.
To the east, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement that they captured seven villages from pro-government fighters. Syrian state media, however, denied that the villages were captured by the U.S.-backed SDF saying that the attack was repelled.
The villages are close to a base housing U.S. troops in the area that is close to Iraq.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, in a telephone call on Tuesday that maintaining peace in Syria and the safety of civilians in Syria was Turkey’s priorities and that Ankara values Syria’s unity, stability and territorial integrity, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.
Erdogan also said Turkey was taking steps to prevent Kurdish militant groups in Syria from exploiting the situation. It was a reference to the Syrian Kurdish militia group that makes up the main component of the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.
Turkey views the group as a terrorist organization and considers its presence along its southern border as a security threat.
Also Tuesday, Hakan Fidan, the foreign minister of Turkey, which is a main backer of groups opposed to Assad, said the recent rapid advance by insurgents in Syria shows that the Syrian president must reconcile with his own people and hold talks with the opposition.
Assad and officials in his government say all armed groups in opposition-held parts of Syria are terrorists and have rejected any political solution with them.
Turkey has been seeking to normalize ties with Syria to address security threats from groups affiliated with Kurdish militants along its southern border and to help ensure the safe return of more than 3 million Syrian refugees. Assad has insisted that Turkey's withdrawal of its military forces from northern Syria be a condition for any normalization between the two countries.
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Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria contributed to this report.