Regime forces regain key town in NW Syria

HATAY (AA) – Syrian regime forces have captured the town of Ain Issa in northwestern Syria following clashes with opposition groups, according to local sources.

“Regime forces have reclaimed the town following a ground offensive and heavy bombardment,” one of the sources told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

The source said that regime forces have been shelling several opposition-held villages in the Turkmen Mountain region in Latakia province since Tuesday.

Meanwhile, one person was reportedly killed and six others were injured in clashes between regime forces and opposition fighters, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

Last month, regime forces resumed their bombardment of the Turkmen Mountain and Cebel Ekrad regions in Latakia, ending a short lull that prevailed in the two areas following an agreement between the United States and Russia.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, however, put the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000 people.