Syrian government forces and allied fighters seized the town of Ataman near the southern city of Deraa on Friday, Feb 5, Hezbollah's Al Manar television and a Syrian monitoring group said, building on gains made last week in the province.

The recapture from rebels of Ataman, around 3 km (2 miles) north of Deraa, came a day after dozens of air strikes believed to be carried out by Russian warplanes targeted the area, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, according to Reuters.

The Syrian army and its allies, which include Lebanese group Hezbollah, have in recent days made significant advances against insurgents in the northern province of Aleppo.