World Bulletin / News Desk

Syrian opposition groups have advanced in the northwestern province of Hama after fierce clashes with regime forces, sources said.

The sources reported that opposition fighters took control of the villages of Kherba al-Naqos and Talat al-Dababat in Sahl al-Ghab.

This is the first time opposition fighters have advanced against regime forces since Russia began airstrikes against opponents of the Bashar al-Assad regime in September.

According to the same sources, opposition fighters seized control of three villages in Latakia’s northern countryside.

Regime warplanes carried out six raids on the town of Toledo in Aleppo’s northern countryside, killing four people, including two women, local sources told Anadolu Agency.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which broke out as part of the Arab Spring uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.