The battle for northern Latakia has turned into a marathon retreat for the Islamist rebels of Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA), as they continue to concede large parts of the province to the Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade of the Republican Guard and their allies.

On Saturday morning, the Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF), Liwaa Suqour Al-Sahra (Desert Hawks Brigade), the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), and Muqawama Souri (Syrian Resistance) – imposed full control over 5 villages and 1 broadcast tower in northern Latakia after a violent battle with Jabhat Al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army’s “1st Coastal Brigade”.

According to a military source in the Latakia Governorate, the Syrian Armed Forces captured the villages of Fawqani, Jabal Al-Tarou, Al-‘Arid Al-Hamra, Kurt Al-Tahtani, and Katf Al-Khani; this was followed by the capture of Burj Beit Ablaq (broadcast tower) near the imperative town of Kinsibbia in Jabal Al-Akrad (Kurdish Mountains).

With these recent gains made in the Latakia Governorate’s northeastern countryside, the Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade and their allies are now in position to strike the town of Kinsibba, which sits on the third highest point in the Kurdish Mountains.