Moments ago inside the Latakia Governorate’s northern countryside, the Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade of the Republican Guard – in 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 villages of Qassab and Burj Al-Qassab after a violent battle with Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) and the Free Syrian Army’s “1st Coastal Brigade” this morning.

According to a battlefield journalist embedded with the Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade, the Syrian Armed Forces captured these two villages along the Turkish border with the Latakia Governorate after they advanced from their positions in Jabal Al-Turkmen (Turkmen Mountains).

The village of Qassab is often confused with the predominately Armenian town of Kassab; however, they are both spelt differently in Arabic and located in different parts of northern Latatkia.