The Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade of the Republican Guard – backed by Liwaa Suqour Al-Sahra (Desert Hawks Brigade), the National Defense Forces (NDF), the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), and the Syrian Marines – imposed full control over 2 villages in northeastern Latakia on Sunday after being involved in a fierce battle with the Islamist rebels of Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

According to the battlefield correspondent Eyad Al-Hussein, the Syrian Armed Forces captured the villages of Brouma and Mezzin after nearly 48 straight hours of non-stop fighting between the pro-government forces and the Islamist rebels.

With Brouma and Mezzin under ther control, the Syrian Armed Forces are inching closer to the Turkish border with the Kurdish Mountains (Jabal Al-Akrad) in northeastern Latakia; this border-crossing will likely be sealed after the government forces seize the strategic village of Kinsibba.