REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DAMASCUS -- Syrian aircrafts dropped thousands of threatening leaflets in the northern city of Jisr al-Shughour Sunday, urging the armed militants to lay down their weapons, according to the state news agency SANA.

The leaflets also urged the residents of that key city near the Turkish borders to stay away from the positions of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and allied militants, in what appeared to be a threat of further escalation by the Syrian army in its recent push to recapture the city, which fell to the extremist groups late last month.

The Syrian air force and the ground troops escalated their attacks against Jisr al-Shughour Sunday, closing in on the extremist groups entrenched inside.

SANA said all routes leading to the city have become exposed to the fire of the Syrian army.

Citing a military source, SANA said the defenses of the militants are collapsing in that city amid a "state of confusion" among the militants.

Jisr al-Shughour is located in the western countryside of Idlib, to the far northwest of the Syrian-Turkish borders. It's also adjacent to the al-Akrad mountain in the countryside of the coastal city of Latakia, hometown of President Bashar al-Assad.

The city bears a strategic importance as it lies on the international road connecting Latakia with the northern city of Aleppo, which makes it a link and compulsory conduit between the coastal cities and the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, not to mention its proximity to the Turkish borders.

The predominantly-Sunni city was one of first areas to spiral out of the government control when the crisis began in 2011, following the killing of 140 Syrian soldiers back then. The Syrian forces later recaptured the town, before losing it again in April 2015.

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