Syrian government and allied forces pressed their most dramatic advance in months on Friday, sending insurgents scrambling and tens of thousands of civilians fleeing toward the border with Turkey. The gradual advance has accelerated in recent days on new momentum from heavy Russian bombardments in the crucial northern province of Aleppo. The government’s gains have given a morale boost to loyalists and prompted opponents of President Bashar al-Assad , including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, to anxiously calculate their next moves. The government’s gains in Aleppo Province, building on earlier ones in Dara’a in the south and Latakia in the north, also scuttled United Nations-mediated peace talks this week in Geneva. Neither side saw much to discuss there: The government […]