Jihadists kill 21 regime forces in Syria's northwest: Monitor

Jihadists in northwestern Syria on Thursday launched an attack on government forces killing at least 21 fighters, a war monitor said, following a series of regime advances in the area.

The deadly assault in a northern strip of Hama province, comes amid an escalation in violence in parts of the country's northwest held by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Damascus and its ally Russia have since late April ramped up deadly air strikes and rocket fire on the region, and fighters have clashed on its edges.

Thursday's attack by HTS militants and allied jihadist groups on the village of Jibeen, follow a series of regime advances in the region in recent weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said.

"The insurgents are launching a counterattack," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"They are making strategic advances," he said, adding that they have seized several hilltops.

He said at least 14 jihadists were killed in ensuing ...