Clashes kill 70 combatants in northwest Syria: monitor

Clashes between regime loyalists and insurgents in northwest Syria killed 70 combatants on Saturday, as government forces continued to nibble away at territory held by its opponents, a war monitor said. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist group led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, has since January controlled most of Idlib province as well as parts of neighbouring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia provinces. Fighting in northern Hama, southern Idlib and rural Latakia on Saturday claimed the lives of 32 pro-government forces as well as 38 jihadists and allied rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.