Syrian government forces recaptured Wednesday a strategic northwestern highway town from jihadist and allied rebels in the latest blow to the country's last major opposition bastion.

The town Maaret al-Numan lies on the key M5 highway connecting the capital Damascus to Aleppo, long in the sights of the government as it seeks to revive a moribund economy ravaged by almost nine years of war.

Syrian government forces have recaptured around 27 towns and villages from their rivals in southern Idlib since January 24.

The civil war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced more than half the country's population since 2011. Several UN-backed rounds of peace talks have failed to cease fire in the region and a parallel track led by government backer Russia and rebel ally Turkey has gained precedence in recent years.

On Wednesday, UN envoy Geir Pedersen visited the foreign ministry in Damascus, where he met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. A long-awaited committee to draw up a post-war constitution for Syria met in October in Geneva, but Pedersen has acknowledged it made little progress.

"Unless the current hostilities stop, we will see an even greater humanitarian catastrophe," UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs Mark Lowcock told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

Wafa Shabrouney, a correspondent of RT Arabic, has been injured in an explosion caused by a shell left behind by militant fighters. She received emergency medical treatment in Khan Shaykhun, then was taken to a hospital in Hama. 

The journalist suffered multiple shell fragment lacerated wounds to her face, particularly near the left eye, and jaws. Her left lung was severely damaged from the explosion. A senior physician at Hama National Hospital said that Shabrouney's condition is stable now.