Syrian forces launch ground assault backed by Russian warplanes

 Syrian government forces, backed by Russian warplanes, launched a multi-pronged assault Wednesday on rebel positions north of the central city of Hama, a monitoring group said.

The Syrian troops pushed north towards rebel-held towns and villages, including Khan Sheikhoun and Latamina - both of which have been hit in Russian airstrikes that started a week ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The fighting was the fiercest seen in the area for months and was accompanied by intense Russian air raids, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Observatory director Rami Abdel-Rahman said that the government action was "a first test for the ground attack accompanied by Russian planes."

The offensive appeared aimed at securing Hama's military airport as well as approaches to government-held segments of the country's main north-south highway, Abdel-Rahman added.

Analysts say Russian airstrikes over the past week have repeatedly hit areas around government airbases which could be used to extend the reach of the Russian forces.

A military adviser to the opposition Free Syrian Army rebel alliance said that he believed the operations marked the beginning of a major ground offensive.

"Nobody tests the ground using such intensity of fire and tanks," Osama Abu Zeid told dpa.

"We believe the actual ground attack has started accompanied by precise strikes from the Russian planes since the early hours of the morning," Abu Zeid said, adding that Iranian forces were "commanding the ground attack."

Abdel-Rahman said rebels had brought up reinforcements and destroyed at least seven government armoured cars and other vehicles in the morning's fighting.

Sources from a coalition led by Hezbollah told dpa earlier this week that the Lebanese Shiite movement and other allies of al-Assad were massing troops in preparation for a ground attack north of Hama and in a rebel-held pocket between Hama and Homs, further south.

Russia has said its air campaign is aimed at the Islamic State extremist group, but its strikes on other rebels have drawn an angry reaction from Gulf and Western countries that back the Syrian opposition.