Of the more than 700 killed, 110 people were civilians who fell victim to the raging fighting, according to a compilation by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which monitors the conflict situation in Syria from Britain, with the help of a network of sources on the ground.
At least 360 soldiers on the rebel side and at least 230 soldiers in the government forces have been killed, according to these reports.
In the last week’s sudden escalation in northwestern Syria, Islamist groups led by the extremist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have taken control of the major city of Aleppo and continued to advance south.
About 115,000 people in Idlib and northern Aleppo have been forced to flee as a result of recent fighting, the UN said on Wednesday.
Stop outside of town
However, the regime forces, which are under Bashar al-Assad’s government in Damascus, have launched a counter-offensive and hit back somewhat harder than before. On Wednesday it is reported that they have regained control of two villages.
The president has ordered a 50 percent increase in the salaries of professional soldiers, according to a decree issued on Wednesday and published by SOHR. Reservists or veterans are not covered by the pay increase.
Regime forces are said to be holding the rebel militias at bay about a mile from the city of Hama, according to SOHR. Syrian military aircraft are assisting with extensive airstrikes.
Photographer killed
In the fighting there, award-winning Syrian photographer Anas Alkharboutli has been killed in an airstrike, his employer, the German news agency DPA, announced.
“Our photographer Anas Alkharboutli, who has documented the civil war in Syria with a unique visual language, has been killed in an air raid near the Syrian city of Hama,” said a statement from DPA, according to AFP.