Jihadists and allied rebels claimed more ground against Syrian government forces in central Hama province on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
The Britain-based group said the jihadists and allied fighters have taken 15 towns and villages from government troops since they began the surprise offensive on Tuesday.
It reported heavy fighting in the north and northeast of the province throughout the day, with government air strikes targeting areas captured in recent days.
Despite the bombing campaign, rebel groups seized four new towns in the afternoon in “a new advance” in Hama, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
The province is of strategic importance to President Bashar al-Assad’s government, separating opposition forces in Idlib from Damascus to the south and the regime’s coastal heartlands to the west.
The offensive is being spearheaded by the Tahrir al-Sham alliance, which is dominated by the jihadist Fateh al-Sham Front, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
Overnight and into the morning, three villages fell from government control, with the advancing forces nearing the town of Maan.
Government forces seized Maan in 2014, after Islamist fighters killed at least 25 members of the Alawite sect to which Assad belongs.
Rebels and jihadists have also captured several government checkpoints and part of the road between provincial capital Hama and the town of Mhardeh, the Observatory said.
The monitor said the opposition forces were around four kilometres (2.5 miles) from government-held Hama city.
An AFP correspondent saw rebel fighters at a checkpoint formerly held by government forces on the edge of Rahbet Khattab, a village taken Thursday by opposition fighters.
The village and another nearby town appeared largely empty of residents, but small groups of people could be seen fleeing the violence, most of them travelling in cars.
Aid group Save the Children said Wednesday at least 10,000 people had fled their homes in the Hama area in the preceding 24 hours.
The violence comes as UN-brokered peace talks resumed in Switzerland between government officials and opposition representatives.
More than 320,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced by Syria’s conflict since it broke out in March 2011.
Assad’s forces scored a major victory in December when they recaptured second city Aleppo, but violence in the northern metropolis has continued.
Opposition fighters are still present on the western edges of the city and continue to lob rockets into Aleppo’s western districts.
On Thursday, five children were killed and another four were wounded in rebel rocket fire on Hamdaniyeh, a western district of the city, said state news agency SANA.
And the toll in a US-led air strike on a bakery further east rose to at least 18 civilians, the Observatory said on Thursday.
The monitor had earlier reported that the strike on the jihadist-held town of Tabqa, which took place Wednesday afternoon, had killed eight people.
Tabqa, a key town held by the Islamic State group, is the latest target of US-backed fighters battling the jihadists.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.