France calls for an end to hostilities in Syria's Idlib

France repeated on Thursday its demands for an end to hostilities in the Syrian province of Idlib and added that attacks by the Syrian regime and its allies represented a violation of international, humanitarian law.

Syrian government forces battled rebels and weathered Turkish artillery barrages on Thursday as they tried to seize Saraqeb town in northwestern Idlib province in a new push to recapture the last rebel stronghold, said witnesses and a war monitor.