Suicide bombers attack Syrian regime forces post, several dead - media

Suicide bombers disguised as farmers struck a regime forces' position in western Syria on Tuesday in an attack that killed three people and all the militants, Syrian state media said.

The attack north of Hama city adds to pressures on Russian-Turkish agreements that have contained the war in northwestern Syria, the last major foothold of the uprising against regime leader Bashar al Assad.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which monitors the eight-year-long war, said 10 people were killed and the attack was carried out by a militant group in a "demilitarised" zone set up under the Turkish-Russian agreement.

Syrian media said the militants were dressed as local farmers when they hit the position near Taybat al Imam around 3 am (midnight GMT). A tank supporting them was destroyed.

"The clash between the guards at the position and the terrorists resulted in three martyrs and the killing of all members of the terrorist group," Syrian media cited a military source as saying.

Russia and Turkey struck an agreement last September that staved off a major regime offensive into Idlib and adjacent areas of Hama and Aleppo provinces through the creation of the demilitarised zone.

But militant groups that hold sway in the Idlib region have further tightened their grip in recent months, and Russia remains keen to help Assad take back the territory.

Joint patrols

President Vladimir Putin, Assad's most powerful ally, discussed Syria with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow on Monday and they agreed to conduct joint patrols in the area, where Turkey has also deployed forces in opposition-held areas.

Last week, Damascus said its ally Russia had started to feel that its patience was running out over the northwest. However, Moscow had told Damascus that Turkey was still determined to implement the agreement reached in September.

Idlib and adjoining areas of Hama and Aleppo provinces are partly under the control of militant groups, including terror group Tahrir al Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front.

Regime shelling in Idlib, Hama

Several civilians have reportedly been killed by regime forces in western Hama and southeast Idlib.

Regime forces escalated shelling in at least 12 towns and villages in the area, according to SOHR.

The UN says Idlib and the adjacent areas are sheltering some three million people, half of whom have been uprooted from other parts of Syria by the war.

Turkish forces control a separate chunk of territory north of Aleppo where Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighters are based.