January 16, 2020 - 11:00 AMT
Syrian army scores first advance of the year in country's northwest

The Syrian army launched a new attack in the country's northwest on Wednesday, January 15 night, as their forces stormed a number of sites in the southeastern countryside of the Idlib Governorate, Al-Masdar News reports.

The Syrian army began the assault by storming the town of Abu Jarif, which is under the control of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and the Turkish-backed militants.

A fierce battle would ensue at Abu Jarif, as Syrian army troops managed to score an advance around this town, the report says.

At the same tome, the Syrian troops made a new push at the Al-Barsah axis, where they were said to have captured some ground from the militants after an intense firefight.

Some early reports from this front claim that the Syrian army has captured several areas, including Al-Barsah; however, nothing has been confirmed and it won’t likely be known until morning.

The latest attack by the Syrian army comes just days after the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced a ceasefire along the de-escalation zone in the Idlib Governorate.