Syrian Insurgents Capture Four Towns   12/03 06:01

   Syrian insurgents captured four new towns early Tuesday, bringing them 
closer to the central city of Hama, opposition activists said, while government 
forces retook some territory they lost last week.

   BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian insurgents captured four new towns early Tuesday, 
bringing them closer to the central city of Hama, opposition activists said, 
while government forces retook some territory they lost last week.

   The capture of the towns is the latest in the push by insurgents led by the 
salafi jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as well as Turkey-backed opposition 
fighters. Insurgents now are about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Hama, the 
country's fourth largest city.

   The latest push is part of a wide offensive by forces opposed to Syrian 
President Bashar Assad that over the past days has captured large parts of the 
northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest, as well as towns and villages in 
southern parts of the northwestern Idlib province.

   The insurgents' military operations administration said gunmen killed 50 
government forces as they captured the central towns of Halfaya, Taybat 
al-Imam, Maardis and Soran. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human 
Rights, an opposition war monitor, confirmed that the towns were taken.

   The pro-government Dama Post media outlet reported intense clashes in an 
around the towns, adding that Syrian troops are firing artillery shells at 
insurgents in the area. State media reported intense airstrikes by Syrian and 
Russian air forces in the area.

   Both the Observatory and pro-government media outlets reported that Syrian 
government forces on Tuesday captured the village of Khanaser, days after 
losing it. Khanaser sits on one of the roads that lead to Aleppo.

   The long war between Assad and his foreign backers and the array of armed 
opposition forces seeking his overthrow has killed an estimated half-million 
people over the past 13 years.

   To the east, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement 
that they captured seven villages from pro-government fighters. Syrian state 
media, however, denied that the villages were captured by the U.S.-backed SDF 
saying that the attack was repelled.

   The villages are close to a base housing U.S. troops in the area that is 
close to Iraq.

   Also Tuesday, Hakan Fidan, the foreign minister of Turkey, which is a main 
backer of groups opposed to Assad, said the recent rapid advance by insurgents 
in Syria shows that the Syrian president must reconcile with his own people and 
hold talks with the opposition.

   Assad and officials in his government say all armed groups in 
opposition-held parts of Syria are terrorists and has rejected any political 
solution with them.

   Turkey has been seeking to normalize ties with Syria to address security 
threats from groups affiliated with Kurdish militants along its southern border 
and to help ensure the safe return of more than 3 million Syrian refugees. 
Assad has insisted that Turkey's withdrawal of its military forces from 
northern Syria be a condition for any normalization between the two countries.