Shafaq News/ The Syrian army has reclaimed control of several villages in the Hama countryside and is advancing toward Al-Safira in Aleppo province, pro-government media reported.

Syrian state news agency SANA announced that government forces had recaptured key villages along the Maharda-Suqaylabiyah road in central Hama, including Karnaz, Tal Melh, Al-Jalmeh, Al-Jabin, Hayalin, and Sheikh Hadid. Officials described the operation as “a major blow” to militant groups entrenched in the region.

According to the Syrian Ministry of Defense, joint Syrian-Russian airstrikes over the past 24 hours targeted rebel strongholds in Hama and Idlib, resulting in dozens of militant casualties and the destruction of equipment and vehicles.

The northern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib have been engulfed in intensified fighting since last Wednesday, with observers describing it as the most violent escalation in years. The attacks, spearheaded by militant factions including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), have extended into Hama province.

Opposition factions claimed gains in Hama’s Al-Ghab Plain and strategic sites in Aleppo, including Al-Nayrab Military Airport and the Infantry School. However, the Syrian government dismissed these assertions as “false propaganda,” asserting that its forces had launched counter-offensives to encircle opposition fighters in the north.

The government further stated that its operations, bolstered by Russian support, had eliminated over 400 fighters, including foreign militants, in recent hours.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that government forces also repelled rebel advances near Qalaat Al-Madiq and other northern Hama locations. The clashes have been accompanied by intense airstrikes, with over 45 raids carried out by Syrian and Russian aircraft in the past day targeting rebel positions.

The Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria reported that approximately 100 militants were killed in coordinated airstrikes backing the Syrian army.