Thousands of militants attack Syria's Idlib: state TV

Thousands of extremist militants were attacking Syria's northwestern city of Idlib and its outskirts, Syria's national TV reported Friday evening.

Thousands of "terrorists" are streaming from Turkey into Syria, and attacking Idlib and its outskirts, said the TV, adding that the Syria army is "valiantly" confronting the wide-scale offensive.

The TV report spelled no further details.

Meanwhile, the state-run SANA news agency said the Syrian forces killed tens of rebels around Idlib during "successful" military operations there.

An array of extremist groups unleashed a massive offensive on Idlib city in the hope of stripping the government forces of their positions in the city, bordering Turkey. However, the jihadists managed to advance in the outskirts of Idlib before the Syrian troops launched a counter-offensive on Thursday, sources told Xinhua.

The intensity of clashes in Idlib raged on Friday as a result of the government forces' counter offensive, according to the oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Sources told Xinhua that rebels in large numbers attacked Idlib from its northern and northeastern rim. They added that the Friday attack by the rebels was the biggest since the battle there was unleashed five days ago.

The jihadist groups in Idlib, mainly the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, are eying Idlib because of its strategic location near Turkey.

They also aimed to establish their own version of and Islamic Caliphate, akin to what their rival extremist group, the Islamic State (IS) militants, did when it captured the entire city of al-Raqqa in northern Syria and declared it their de facto capital. Endit