DAMASCUS, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday hailed the recent military victories achieved in the country's northwestern province of Idlib, accusing Turkey of supporting the rebels in that region, according to the state news agency SANA.
Assad made the remarks during his meeting with a delegation of the Unified Russia party headed by Russian State Duma member Dmitry Sablin.
During the meeting in Damascus, the Syrian president stressed that the victories achieved in the war on terror reflect the determination of the Syrian army to continue striking terror groups until the liberation of all of Syria.
He said that the recent battles in Idlib exposed the "unlimited support" of Turkey to the terrorist groups.
Earlier in the day, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said that the rebels withdrew from the strategic town of Khan Shaykhun in the southern countryside of Idlib as well as key towns in the adjacent northern countryside of Hama province.
The UK-based watchdog group said the rebels withdrew after fearing to be besieged by the Syrian army, which has been advancing in that area.
Meanwhile, pro-government activists said the Syrian warplanes started sweeping the areas where the rebels have withdrawn from ahead of the entry of the Syrian troops.
The Syrian army has been engaged in battles with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in Khan Shaykhun since last week.
The army has recently advanced on the town in a bid to capture it and secure the part of the main Damascus-Aleppo highway near Idlib.
Idlib and the northern countryside of Hama are included in the de-escalation zones' deal that was reached between Russia and Turkey last September.
The deal, however, has largely failed despite several attempts to revive it.
The latest attempt to fix the deal came earlier this month when Turkey and Russia mediated a fresh cease-fire in Idlib, which failed quickly with the resumption of the military showdown.
