Claimed image of a suicide vehicle bomb detonated against pro-Assad forces near al-Tamanah, Idlib Province, northwest Syria, August 29, 2019

UPDATE, 1515 GMT:

Protests have taken place in the opposition areas of Idlib Province, protesting the Russian-regime attacks and Turkey’s refusal to allow the displaced across the border.

Demonstrators rocked buses and rushed towards the closed Bab al-Hawa border crossing.

Turkey, which holds 3.6 million Syrian refugees, closed the border in 2016 to further entry. Ankara has been accused in recent weeks of deporting some Syrians, on the grounds that they do not hold proper identity cards.

Turkish security forces reportedly fired tear gas to check demonstrators moving toward the border today.

Meanwhile, away from the border, residents rallied in the opposition cities and towns still free from the advancing Russian-regime offensive.

A local source told EA, “Protests were held even in the cities which are under air strikes. Fortunately regime/Russia didn’t bomb a square filled with protestors so far.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia and the Assad regime have made a fresh attempt to seize more territory in Idlib Province in northwest Syria, the last major opposition-held area in the country.

Last week, the four-month offensive seized almost all of neighboring northern Hama Province and advanced in southern Idlib, including the capture of the “ghost town” of Khan Sheikhoun on the M5 highway between Aleppo and Homs.

On Thursday, the offensive attacked east of Khan Sheikhoun and the M5, capturing the village of Khuwayn.

However, as the pro-Assad forces advanced on the town of al-Tamanah, they faced resistance, including a suicide vehicle bomb in nearby farms. Fighting continued overnight, according to both pro-opposition and pro-Assad outlets.

Opposition sources told Reuters that hundreds of troops from the regime’s elite Republican Guards were brought to the frontlines. They also claimed that fighters from Iran-supported militias are now involved.

“There are daily reinforcements coming from the Iranian militias, elite Republican Guards units and Fourth Armored Division,” said Col. Mustafa Bakour, a commander in the Jaish al-Izza rebel faction. “The Russians have now moved to depending on the Iranians and elite army formations in this campaign.”

After initial gains in May, the Russia-regime assault on the greater Idlib area had stalled. However, at the start of August, intense Russian airstrikes and ground advisors finally enable regime forces to break through anti-Assad lines.

About 3 million Syrians — 20% of the remaining population of the country — live in greater Idlib. More than 400,000 have been displaced by Russian-regime bombardment, along with more than 900 killed and thousands wounded.

On Wednesday, at least 15 civilians were killed in “insane” Russian-regime strikes throughout the day. Activists filmed a Russian-made Su-24 jet, flown by a regime pilot, who killed at least 13 people — six of them children — in Ma’arat al-Nu’man with a volley of 12 bombs.

Syria Daily, August 29: Another Mass Killing in “Insane” Russia-Regime Bombing of Idlib in Northwest