According to SANA, Syrian forces clashed with militants after they attempted to sneak into Hama and attack several military posts in the direction of Tal al-Jabin and Tal Melh in the northwestern countryside of the province.
Now the terrorists have no access to southern outskirts of Idlib, the report added.
Hundreds of foreign mercenaries were killed and injured in the areas of Morek, Kafar Zita, al-Arbaein, and Hasraya in the process of the counterattack.
The areas where the clashes broke out are located in a planned buffer zone, which surrounds Idlib and also parts of the adjacent provinces of Aleppo and Hama.
Under a deal reached following a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in September, all militants should have withdrawn from the demilitarization zone by October 15.
However, al-Qaeda-linked Takfiri terrorists said they refuse to either leave the buffer zone or hand over their weapons.