The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday that two checkpoints near the central city of Hama were “liberated” from President Bashar Assad’s forces.
The Britain-based monitoring group said that Al Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front and the Islamic Front, alongside other Islamist brigades, took control of two checkpoints at the entrances to the villages of Tal Melh and Al Jamla. The villages are located in the northern province of Hama.
Violent clashes erupted there Sunday night, killing almost a dozen of regime forces and disabling two tanks along other heavy weaponry.
An activist from the Islamic Font’s Al Iman Brigade confirmed the Observatory’s report, saying that the villages of Tal Melh and Al Jamla are now controlled by the opposition.
“The two towns of Tal Melh and Al Jamla have been liberated by jihadists,” he said, adding that the Islamists had succeeded in seizing two tanks, two trucks, and ammunition.
He said more than 20 pro-regime fighters were killed, and that clashes were still ongoing at Al-Jadida checkpoint near Shairaz village.
Activists also said that Kafr Zeita and Morek towns came under airstrikes and bomb barrels Monday, wounding a number of civilians.
