BBC Persian reports on the developments in recent days in Syria: The forces opposed to Bashar al-Assad have been able to take control of areas previously held by the Syrian army and the government of Bashar al-Assad for the first time in nine years.

The Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies say they have been able to capture a number of towns and villages in Aleppo and Idlib province since Wednesday.
The Syrian army says its forces have faced a massive attack by "terrorists" and have been able to inflict heavy losses on them.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says more than 180 members of both sides have been killed in the clashes. The group added that at least 19 civilians were also killed in Russian and Syrian airstrikes against rebel-held areas.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Department of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced that Brigadier General Kiomars Pourhashemi, one of the commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed in an attack by opponents of Bashar al-Assad on the Syrian city of Aleppo last night.