Syria clashes kill 55 fighters: monitor

Clashes between pro-government forces and militant-led groups that control Syria’s northwest killed at least 55 combatants yesterday, a war monitor said.The fighting flared on the edge of Hama province when militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a dawn attack on regime positions, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.At least 14 pro-government forces died and 41 militants and rebel fighters were killed in clashes, the Britain-based monitor said. “Regime forces foiled the attack” before the fighting came to an end, Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman said.State news agency SANA also said the offensive had been thwarted. Hama’s northern countryside lies on the edge of a militant-controlled region including most of Idlib province.The front line had been relatively calm since clashes on Saturday killed more than 35 combatants, including militants and regime forces, Abdul Rahman said.