On 16 February 2020, Syrian government forces seized a dozen villages and small towns in the country’s northwest against the last major anti-government forces and opposition bastion.
They captured 13 villages and small towns north and northwest of the city of Aleppo, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.
On the same day, pro-government sources said that the Syrian Arab Army and its allies are now conducting combing operation in the newly liberated areas. According to the sources, the army imposed control over several key towns like Anadan, Haritan, Kafr Hamra, Yaqiz al-Adas and Kafr Bassin.
According to some sources, Russian warplanes had mounted heavy airstrikes in the Aleppo province, bombing towns including Anadan, which was later seized by Syrian regime forces supported by Iran-backed militias.
Statistics provided by several media indicates that more than 400,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict broke out nearly nine years ago. More than half of the country’s population has been displaced in the war.