In December, the Syrian army alongside Iran-backed militias and heavy Russian air power launched a major offensive to take territory in Idlib province. The вЂњde-escalationвЂќ in violence they were supposed to monitor has collapsed. The Turkish army said on Monday its forces had set up a military post southwest of the Syrian city of Aleppo, the deepest position they have established so far inside northwest Syria under their deal with Russia and Iran. They also expanded their operation two weeks ago into the nearby Afrin region to fight against Kurdish militias who hold that territory. Turkish forces are in northwest Syria, entering Idlib under a вЂњde-escalationвЂќ agreement reached with AssadвЂ™s backers Russia and Iran. International concern has been growing over the fate of eastern Ghouta, where residents say they have been running out of food and medicine. State media said rebel fighters shelling the government-held capital killed a woman.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said warplanes attacking eastern Ghouta near Damascus had struck the towns of Zamalka, Arbaeen, Hazza and Beitu Soua, killing at least 29 people. In the northwest, the government and its militia allies have been trying to advance in mostly rural Idlib, the last province still largely under rebel control. President Bashar al-AssadвЂ™s government has vowed to retake all of Syria from rebels who have lost large swaths of the territory they have held in a war now entering its eighth year.ДЄ years-long siege on the last major rebel-held area near the capital Damascus, the suburb of eastern Ghouta, has tightened in recent months. FILE PHOTO: A man is seen near the remains of a rocket in Douma, Eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria January 22, 2018.

Stronghold rescue and relief