[KNOCK! KNOCK!] "Who's there?" "Syrian Army"

(The latest report I've seen is that the SAA is about 2 kilometers from Khan Sheikoun.) 

August 16, the Defense Post:
Khan Sheikhoun a ghost town as Syrian regime [Army] advances

 As the Syrian government inches closer to retaking rebel-held [Al Qaeda-controlled] Khan Sheikhoun, the once-vibrant town in southern Idlib province is now largely abandoned.

Ahead of an expected regime [Syrian Army] assault on their hometown, residents have emptied out of Khan Sheikhoun and fled to the relative safety of areas further north. On Sunday night, the Syria Civil Defense [Al Qaeda/British-supported] workers known as the White Helmets helped evacuate the remaining families.

“[Our human shields] The children were so afraid,” Hamid Qutini, a search-and-rescue volunteer, said. “We gave them cookies and tried to assure them that we would take them far away from the sounds of the explosions.”

[...]

With the nearby Turkish border closed to refugees, many of the displaced are now living in olive groves and sheltering beneath trees. Others are packed into overcrowded displacement camps.

[...]

Since late April, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have fought to wrest control of Idlib province which, along with parts of northern Hama, is the country’s last opposition stronghold after eight years of civil war.

The latest round of fighting near Khan Sheikhoun comes after the collapse of a brief ceasefire brokered by Syria’s main allies, Russia and Iran, and neighboring Turkey, which backs the opposition.

 More than three million people are packed into the northwestern enclave. Nearly half are displaced from fighting elsewhere in the country.

Since late April, Russian and Syrian aerial attacks have pummeled Idlib, which is dominated by the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group. The violence has killed at least 450 civilians [whether they were "civilians" is questionable] and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, according to the United Nations. 

[...]

Khan Sheikhoun is of strategic importance. The town sits on what was once a vital commercial highway connecting the large northern city of Aleppo to the capital of Damascus.

[...]

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