Syrian government forces bombed a strategic rebel town in the country’s north for the third straight day, pounding it with airstrikes that killed at least five people, activists said.

President Bashar Assad’s troops in recent weeks have seized the momentum in the civil war, now in its third year. Regime forces have been on the offensive against rebels on several fronts, including in the northern Idlib province along the border with Turkey.

In Idlib, government forces this week besieged the town of Saraqeb, hitting it with rockets, tank fire and air raids, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Yesterday, the Observatory said military aircraft dropped at least 15 makeshift bombs, known as barrel bombs, on the town. The bombs are made of hundreds of pounds of explosives stuffed into barrels.

Meanwhile, airstrikes by fighter jets killed at least five people, including three children, said the Observatory, which relies on reports from a network of activists on the ground.

The number of casualties was likely to rise because many of the people have been buried in the rubble of buildings that collapsed in the shelling, the group said.

The number of casualties was likely to rise because people have been buried in the rubble of buildings

Assad’s troops are in firm control of the provincial capital, also called Idlib, while dozens of rebel brigades control the surrounding countryside. Clashes between the warring sides have been fierce as Assad’s troops try to push opposition fighters further away from the city.