After months of attacks, culminating in days of the most intense bombing of its campaign, Syria’s military has taken the key town of Morek in Hama Province in central Syria.
Reliable sources confirm reports circulating on Thursday that regime forces moved into most of Morek following up to 90 airstrikes, including barrel bombs and “elephant” rockets.
Insurgents finally withdrew under the onslaught, hoping to shell regime positions and to prepare a counter-attack.
Morek lies on the main highway from Hama to Idlib Province in northwest Syria. Insurgents had been able to use it to challenge regime area, notably during an offensive in Hama Province this summer.
The situation is now reversed, with the prospect of a Syrian military advance on the insurgents in Idlib Province, beginning with the town of Khan Sheikhoun, which lies at the southern point of an insurgent-held axis running to Ma’arat al-Numan.