Government forces battling rebels in northwestern Syria took full control on Tuesday of a key highway, over which they lost control in 2012, linking the country’s four largest cities.
The latest gain marked another step in the Government’s advance against Syria’s last rebel-held pocket, where intense fighting has displaced 700,000 civilians since December. The remaining rebel fighters and some three million civilians are being pushed ever closer to the Turkish border by the regime’s inexorable northward push.
The M5 motorway which links the capital Damascus to the second city of Aleppo through the cities of Homs and Hama has been key Government target for years.