BEIRUT: Syrian state-run media and a war monitor say government forces are pressing ahead with their military offensive in Idlib province, seizing a cluster of villages on the southeastern edges of the province.

The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media reported on Thursday that troops captured three small villages in the area. Their next target appears to be the rebel-held town of Maaret al-Numan, which lies near the Damascus-Aleppo highway.

Idlib is the Syrian opposition's final stronghold. The opposition Syrian Civil Defense group of first responders said airstrikes on Maaret al-Numan on Wednesday killed 12 people and wounded 34.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, also reported 12 deaths.

The UN says over 550 civilians have been killed since the offensive on Idlib began in late April.