A powerful explosion rocked the countryside near Idlib city in Syria on Thursday, killing at least four people and wounding five others, according to a war monitoring group.

An explosion struck the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on Thursday, resulting in multiple deaths.

Rebel forces in Syria have gained control of the "majority" of Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group.

Syria’s government forces reportedly launched a missile strike targeting positions held by militant groups in the southern Idlib governorate.