The Syrian rebel coalition led by al-Nusra Front seized the last government-held city in the Idlib province after storming the area Thursday, AFP reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the coalition, Army of Conquest, took control of Ariha, a city bordering Turkey, after heavy clashes with the government that included Hezbollah forced the regime to pull out of its last stronghold left in Idlib.
The monitor said the coalition earlier on Thursday was seen entering the outer district of Ariha bordering Turkey, the regime's only stronghold left in Idlib.
"There was heavy shelling and rocket fire, then they stormed the city," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. "They have entered the city and are engaged in fierce clashes on its peripheries."
Ariha was home to 40,000 residents before the conflict began four years ago, according to AFP.
The rebel coalition has seen a series of successes in the Idlib province in the past few months, seizing the provincial capital late March and Jisr al-Shughur in April.
