Syrian troops recapture key border town near Turkey

, June 15: The

forces on Sunday recaptured a northern border town near

after eliminating large numbers of "terrorists," media reported.

The government forces have restored security and stability to Kasab, a strategic town in the northern coastal province of Latakia on the borders with Turkey, SANA news agency reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturdat that the Al Qaeda linked Nusra Front and other terrorist groups pulled back as the Syrian troops, backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah group, advanced toward Kasab after recapturing areas adjacent to the town.

The rebels stormed the border town last March. The Syrian government then accused Turkey of allowing the jihadis into the war-torn country.

The battles in the countryside of Latakia are strategically important as the area is the ancestral home place of President Bashar al-Assad's family and a stronghold of his Alawite minority sect, an offshoot of shia Islam.

IANS