Syria army retakes strategic town in Aleppo Province

[dipsydoodle]

The government forces gained control of Khanasser, a strategic town linking central Syria to Aleppo, on Thursday.

Foreign-backed militants had seized the town and some nearby villages in August, cutting off the army’s supply route to Aleppo.

According to reports, at least 25 militants were killed during clashes on Wednesday.

Syria’s al-Watan newspaper said the takeover is a development that "opens the way to allow aid to reach the city (of Aleppo) in the coming hours.”

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/10/03/327367/syria-retakes-strategic-town-near-aleppo/

This breaking news which only Press and RT have at present.

[pampango]

1. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirms this.

Syria army retakes northern town: Activists

BEIRUT: Syria's army took back control of a strategic town in the northern province of Aleppo on Thursday after a weeks-long battle pitting troops against rebels, a monitoring group said.

Rebels meanwhile made fresh gains in southern Syria, while activists accused an Al-Qaeda front group of destroying a symbolic statue in the northern city of Raqa, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Meanwhile, Aleppo-based citizen journalist Abu Omar told AFP that "the fighting is hit and run. The takeover of Khanasser does not mean the battle is over". Large swathes of Aleppo have been out of army control for months, but the army has pushed hard to reopen a route into the provincial capital, Syria's one-time commercial capital.

In Daraa in southern Syria, meanwhile, rebels took control of Bakar village, said the Observatory. "It is important because it shows the opposition is making continuous progress in the south," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Oct-03/233442-syria-army-retakes-northern-town-activists.ashx#axzz2gfYUDR6g