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The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says rebels have gained control of Maaret al-Numan, a town which controls a crucial communication line between Aleppo and Damascus.
According to its director, Maaret al-Numan, “the Syrian army has abandoned all checkpoints outside Maaret al-Numan, with the sole exception of the one controlling access to the town.”
Another mortar shell from Syria struck Turkish territory on Saturday, prompting a fourth straight day of retaliatory artillery fire, and reviving fears that the crisis in Syria could spiral into a regional conflict.
The latest shelling comes a day after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Syria not to test Turkey’s “limits and determination” and insisted that his country “was not bluffing” with its warnings.
Syrian rebels have shot down a military helicopter east of the capital Damascus, according to British based observers.
The new attack comes hours after rebels seized an air defence base nearby.
Syrian warplanes bombed a rebel neighbourhood of Homs on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that it was the first time that fighter jets had been used against the central city.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that the bombardment of the Khaldiyeh district was the heaviest to hit Syria’s third-largest city in five months.
Sources in the Syrian capital of Damascus said that Turkish artillery fire hit various Syrian military targets in Idlib city.
Sources in Damascus argued that several Syrian military targets were hit by Turkish artillery fire.