On Monday afternoon, the Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade of the Republican Guard – in close coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) of Latakia City, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), and the Syrian Resistance – imposed full control over the village of Ruweisat Al-Qubayb in the Latakia Governorate’s northern countryside after a series of intense firefights with Islamist rebels from Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

According to a military source inside northern Latakia, the Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade and their allies seized the village of Ruweisat Al-Qubayb after killing a confirmed 19 enemy combatants from Jabhat Al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army’s “1st Coastal Brigade”, while also destroying two armored vehicles that were mounted with a 23mm anti-aircraft machine gun.

In addition to the capture, the Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade and their allies cleared the entire village of Qassab; this site was the scene of the bloodiest clashes taking place in the Latakia Governorate this past weekend.

With Qassab, Burj Al-Qassab, and Ruweisat Al-Qubayb under their control, the Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade and their allies will now shift their attention to Salma front, where they have mobilized the men needed to advance their positions around this mountaintop town in the Kurdish Mountains (Jabal Al-Akrad) of northern Latakia.