In Syria, Islamic State groups and allied rebels seized a key town from the government forces in a new offensive in the central province of Hama. The surprise offensive was announced yesterday by the Tahrir al-Sham alliance, which is dominated by the IS Fateh al-Sham Front, once linked to Al-Qaeda. A monitor and fighting factions said Hama province is of strategic importance to President Bashar al-Assad, separating opposition forces in Idlib from Damascus to the south and the regime's coastal heartlands to the west. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tahrir al-Sham detonated two car bombs as they stormed the town of Suran and other villages.