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UPDATE 2015 GMT: Rebels have taken the al-Klarin checkpoint near the M4 highway on Sunday. The advance puts further pressure on the regime’s essential link between Aleppo, southern Idlib, and Latakia Province.

UPDATE 1715 GMT: Claims are circulating of fighting inside the regime’s Qarmeed camp, south of Idlib, following a vehicle bomb at the entrance to the complex.

The al-Madajin checkpoint reportedly was the latest taken by rebels in the assault on the camp, which began as Idlib city was taken by the opposition on March 28.

Qarmeed, also known as the Brick Factory, is one of two heavily-fortified military camps still held by the regime south of Idlib.

UPDATE 1700 GMT: Syrian airstrikes have reportedly killed 34 people in the town of Darkoush, north of Jisr al-Shughour.

The Idlib News Network is among those posting news of the casualties. Among the dead were civilians sheltering in a school.

On the fourth day of their offensive in Idlib and Hama Provinces in northwest Syria, rebels completed the surprisingly-quick capture of the key town of Jisr Shughour, near the Turkish border on the main highway between Aleppo, southern Idlib, and Latakia.

Rebels had breached the northern entrance of Jisr al-Shughour on Friday. Defying pro-Assad claims that they had been repelled with heavy losses, they swiftly moved to the center of the town on Saturday, with videos testifying to their victory and celebrations.

See Syria Special: Idlib-Hama Offensive — Rebels Capture Key Town of Jisr al-Shughour

One of the oldest rebels stomps on an image of Bashar al-Assad:

Fighters in the center of Jisr al-Shughour, with a journalist from Homs reunited with his long-time friend, one of the rebels:

A 9-1/2 minute tour of Jisr al-Shughour by the foreign faction Jund al-Sham, as a fighter gives commentary in English, with the group’s Chechen leader Muslim Shishani appearing in the latter part of the video:

Reports indicated that some Syrian forces, notably from the Army’s 87th Brigade, were holding out in or near the National Hospital. Local sources said that the more significant challenge is some remaining regime checkpoints to the north, east, and south of the town.

Before their defeat, some Syrian forces reportedly executed scores of detainees. A former prisoner said on video that he witnessed the killing of at least two dozen prisoners and was shot in the chest and hand. The Local Coordination Committees said most of the 67 victims it had identified in Idlib Province on Saturday had been held by regime troops. A claimed image of the executed has been posted.

Sources had expected that the capture of Jisr al-Shughour would take days or even weeks, following the rapid rebel advance in the first three days of the offensive. However, the Syrian army and pro-Assad militia were not as concentrated in the town as expected, instead dispersing to try and hold checkpoints outside the town and along the vital M4 highway from southern Idlib Province to Latakia in western Syria on the Mediterranean coast.

Expected airstrikes by the Syrian air force — both for retaliation and to destroy infrastructure and services — did not occur on Saturday, possibly because of high winds. However, civilians still tried to evacuate the city in large numbers.

As significant as the victory in Jisr al-Shughour is, it is only part of a rebel offensive which could turn the course of the four-year Syrian conflict. The offensive, planned since last November or December, includes a cross-section of blocs and factions such as the largest bloc in Syria, the Islamic Front; Ansar al-Sham; the foreign fighters of Jund al-Nusra; the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra; and the Free Syrian Army.

To the south of Jisr al-Shughour, rebels captured a series of regime positions in the al-Ghab Plain across Idlib and Hama on Saturday, including the strategic village of al-Qahira on the eastern side. Tanks, armored BMPs, a launching pad for anti-tank guided missiles, and other military vehicles were taken in the advance.

Waving the Syrian Revolution flag, fighters proclaim victory in Sirmaniyah (see map):

Rebels in al-Ziyarah village (see map):

Rebels will continue to try and move through the plain, opening up northern Hama Province. Perhaps more significantly, they may seek to complete the cutting of the Idlib-Hama “corridor”, including the M4 highway that is regime’s essential link to its areas in Latakia Province in the west.

Rebels briefly cut the highway on Friday, taking two hills alongside it; however, regime forces later drove them off one of the hills, reportedly after 44 airstrikes and multiple Grad rocket strikes.

If the highway is cut, rebels will not only isolate the Assad strongholds in the west. They will also block reinforcement to another notable battlefront south of Idlib city, where regime camps have been under attack since the opposition capture of the provincial capital on March 28.

Syrian forces, including elite units, are still holding out in the heavily-fortified Mastoumeh and Qarmeed camps. Throughout the past week, the latter — also known as “The Brick Factory” — has been under sustained assault by Jabhat al-Nusra.

Views of the regime’s Mastoumeh camp:

Rebels may also consider an assault on the town of Ariha, further south of the camps almost completing control of Idlib Province and further breaking links between the Syrian military in the north and west of the country.

Video: Rebels Detonate Double Tunnel Bomb Under Regime Buildings in Aleppo

Rebels claim the detonation of a double tunnel bomb in the Jdeydeh district of the divided city Aleppo (see map):

Rebels Attack Regiment 137 Base South of Damascus

Rebels have launched a ground assault on the regime’s Regiment 137 base between Khan al-Sheeh and Zakia in West Ghouta, south of Damascus (see map).

Activists report several hours of intense fighting.

2 Swedes, Abducted in 2013, Released by Jabhat al-Nusra

Two Swedes, abducted in 2013, were released by Jabhat al-Nusra on Friday.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry issued a statement on its website confirming the release of the two men. Their identities were not disclosed, but a Swedish news agency said that one of them belonged to a Pentecostal church.

Negotiations for the release had taken more than two months and had been conducted by the Palestinian security service, in cooperation with the Jordanian and Swedish security services, according to the Palestinian Ambassador to Sweden.

Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom thanked all those involved in working for the release, including President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and the Jordanian authorities.

Joint Kurdish-Free Syrian Army Campaign Claims More Victories Over Islamic State in North

A joint offensive between the Kurdish militia YPG and units of the Free Syrian Army is claiming more success against the Islamic State in northeast Aleppo Province.

A 3-minute video (Warning: Graphic Images) claims the YPG-FSA force repelled about 60 Islamic State fighters crossing the Euphrates River in boats to strike near Manbij.

The campaign adds to the growing problems for the Islamic State in northern and eastern Syria: the group has lost territory to Kurds and rebels south of the Kurdish center of Kobane in recent weeks, and it is under pressure from both Kurds and regime forces in Deir Ez Zor Province.