Syria’s civil defence officers sift through the rubble of a building following an airstrike in Idlib province yesterday

Assad regime forces have encircled a Turkish military observation post, setting up a tense standoff as they continue to press into rebel-held territory in the northwest of Syria.

Syrian state media said that government troops seized the villages of Latamneh, Latmeen, Kfar Zeita and Lahaya yesterday, along with the village of Morek, where Turkey maintains its military post, closing a rebel pocket of control in the south of Idlib province.

President Erdogan told President Putin, whose troops support the regime, that the Syrian army attacks violated a ceasefire in Idlib, damaged efforts for a solution in Syria, and “pose a serious threat to our country’s national security”, his office said.

The army’s recent gains also include parts of the northern Hama countryside that had been