Smoke billows above the rebel-controlled village of Salihiyah near the regime-controlled town of Saraqeb, in the eastern part of the Idlib province in northwestern Syria, on Feb 26, 2020. (OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

AMMAN - Syrian rebels backed by the Turkish military have recaptured the strategic town of Saraqeb, the first significant reverse for the Syrian army in a Russian-backed offensive that had made swift gains, the rebels said on Thursday.

Three weeks ago, the armed opposition lost the northwestern town at the junction of two main highways, following advances by the Syrian army in its bid to retake the last large rebel-held region in Syria after nine years of war.

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Nearly a million Syrians have been displaced by the latest fighting.

Turkish and Russian officials were expected to hold a second day of talks in Ankara on Thursday on the conflict

“The city of Saraqeb has been liberated completely from Assad’s gangs,” Naji Mustafa, a spokesman for a Turkey-backed coalition of rebel factions, the National Liberation Front, said in a statement, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

With Russian backing, government forces aided by Iranian militias have gained ground in northwest Syria since December.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported on Thursday that Russian-backed government forces had seized full control of southern Idlib province after fresh advances against the rebels.

Government forces have seized about 60 towns and villages in the southern Idlib area and the adjoining province of Hama in the last three days, the Observatory said.

Turkish-backed Syrian fighters gather in the back of an armoured personnel carrier at a position on outskits of the villages of Afis and Salihiyah situated near the regime-controlled town Saraqib, in the eastern part of the Idlib province in northwestern Syria, on Feb 26, 2020. (BAKR ALKASEM / AFP)

The opposition advance on Saraqeb comes ahead of an end-February deadline set by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for Assad’s forces to pull back from territory that Turkey says is part of a buffer zone agreed with Russia.

Erdogan has said Turkey would otherwise drive them back.

Turkish and Russian officials were expected to hold a second day of talks in Ankara on Thursday on the conflict.

Ankara has sent thousands of troops and truckloads of equipment into Syria’s northwest corner bordering Turkey to back the rebels and set up new outposts that rebels say was in preparation for a Turkish operation to push back Assad’s forces.

Ibrahim al-Idlibi, an opposition figure in touch with the rebel factions, said the seizure of the town eases pressure on rebels who in recent days lost a string of significant territory in southern Idlib province and Jabal al Zawiya highlands.

“The rebels this morning completed their control of Saraqeb after having advanced from several fronts. This eases the pressure after the Syrian army’s recent gains,” Idlibi said.

Saraqeb is at the juncture of two main roads linking the capital of Damascus and its second largest city of Aleppo and another highway west to the Mediterranean.

Taking back the M5 highway, which goes south to Damascus, from the insurgents had marked a big gain for Assad’s forces as they restored state control over the route between Syria’s two biggest cities for the first time in years of conflict.

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Opening major highways in rebel hands to revive a shattered war economy has been a key goal of the Russian-led campaign.

“The opposition have now cut the highways and brought the regime to square one,” said Syrian opposition defector general Ahmad Rahhal.