Fierce battles raged on Saturday between Syrian government forces, backed by Russian airstrikes, and opposition factions in northwestern Syria where the two sides are fighting to control positions on the Hama-Idlib axis. “On the eve of the Adha Eid, Syrian and Russia forces launched more than 1,100 airstrikes and ground assaults on coastal mountains and the countryside of Hama and Idlib, in line with fierce clashes on several axes in the southern part of the Idlib countryside,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It added that after launching a counter-attack, opposition factions were capable to control Tal Sakik, before regime forces recaptured it again, backed by a Russian air and ground cover. Assad’s forces have struggled to make important advancements in more than three months of military operations in the northwest, the last major foothold of opposition groups in Syria. On Saturday, the Observatory documented additional human losses from the fighting in the governorate of Idlib. “More than 135 were killed from the Syrian regime forces and opposition factions as the fiercest escalation raged in the buffer zone after a truce collapsed last Monday,” it said. Separately, Turkey’s presidential aide Ibrahim Kalin and US National Security Advisor John Bolton discussed over the phone the agreed safe zone in northern Syria. According to the Turkish Presidency, the two sides agreed that setting up a safe zone in northern Syria should be implemented soon, considering Ankara’s security concern and that the terror corridor in the safe zone area would be turned into a peace corridor for the displaced Syrians longing to return to their homes. On Saturday, the Turkish army sent new military reinforcements to the Turkish province of Sanliurfa, facing east Euphrates areas on the Syrian side. Despite reaching an agreement this week with the US to establish a joint operations center to coordinate and manage the setting up of a safe zone in northern Syria, Ankara is still deploying its forces in the area. Observers believe that Turkey is exerting pressure on the US side to speed up the implementation of the agreement.