Syria regime forces killed in clashes across Idlib, Daraa, Aleppo

At least two Syrian regime soldiers were killed Thursday after attacks by gunmen in the southern province of Daraa, according to Syrian military sources. 

Two soldiers fighting for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's regime died when the town of Al-Fatatra was attacked by gunmen, military personnel told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on condition of anonymity.

Regime forces also suffered casualties during an attempted raid in the southern countryside of Idlib.

Clashes also broke out between the opposition National Liberation Front' and Assad’s forces in rural Aleppo province, an area devastated by February’s earthquake. Regime attacks were backed by air raids and mortar rounds, according to sources,

Attempts by the regime and the various opposition forces that operate in Syria to make significant territorial gains have become increasingly rare in the country's stagnated civil war, but this week has seen a flare-up of confrontations. 
 
This Tuesday, regime forces acknowledged the deaths of three soldiers and the injury of three others during a failed attempt to regain the town of Fleifel in Idlib province. 

Grassroots monitoring organisation The Violation Documentation Office recorded 26 operations and assassination attempts in March, resulting in 21 deaths in rebel-held areas. 

In the first month after February’s devastating earthquake, the Syrian regime bombed Idlib - including key aid delivery routes - at least 84 times, even as search and rescue operations were still ongoing. 

Hopes of more lasting truce agreements in the northwest of Syria remain elusive, even as Ankara and Damascus met to jumpstart reconciliation in Moscow this week.

Turkey mans a number of military observation posts in northwest Syria and supports the Syrian National Army (SNA), a loose patchwork of Syrian rebel militias that govern parts of northern Syria.

The Assad regime has said that Turkish forces must withdraw completely from Syria before peace negotiations can commence.