The Syrian army and allied forces captured the town of Al Hader in the northern province of Aleppo on Thursday, state television said quoting a military source, in their latest advance into a strategic rebel-held area.
The rebels fled the town south of Aleppo city after pro-government forces took full control, it said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Al Hader was the main bastion of rebels in the province's rural south, where a major government assault backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Russian air strikes began last month.
Rami Abdulrahman, the head of the Observatory that tracks violence across the country, said the town's capture would help the Syrian army press towards two besieged Shi'ite towns of Kefraya and al-Foua, further to the west in Idlib province.
Kefraya and al-Foua are part of a regional ceasefire deal that came into effect in late September and has largely held despite isolated violations.
The six-month deal includes the safe withdrawal of rebels from government-besieged Zabadani near the border with Lebanon, and the evacuation of civilians from the two Idlib villages.
Reuters
