Syrian regime troops took control of the central town of Karnaz on Thursday after 16 days of clashes with rebels, a watchdog said, also reporting three children among six killed in bombing of Damascus.
“(Rebel) fighters withdrew from Karnaz, which they seized in December last year, after heavy fighting and regular forces regained control,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
“Government troops seized nearby Mughir two days ago. This village is the gateway to Alawite villages in the west of Hama province,” he said, referring to the minority religious community of President Bashar al-Assad.
Located about halfway along a highway linking Damascus to Aleppo in the north, Hama province is home to a mixed population of Alawites as well as Sunni Muslims and Christians.
The regime is determined to keep control of it and surrounding areas to hold at bay the rebels, who control large swathes of the countryside.
In Damascus, six civilians including three under the age of 18 were killed by mortars in the northeastern district of Qaboon, as rebel bastions throughout the capital were rocked by fighting and bombing for a second straight day, the observatory said.
The regime launched a fierce offensive on rebel belts on the outskirts of Damascus, which killed 64 people on its first day.