ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that it would retaliate “in the strongest way, without hesitation” against any attack on its observation posts in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

Syrian government forces entered a town south of Idlib city on Tuesday, in a significant advance for Assad as he seeks to recapture rebel-held territory in the country’s northwest, a war monitor and pro-government media said.