SYRIAN forces recaptured a major base in the southern Daraa province from the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front yesterday.

 

The government announced that troops had liberated the Brigade 82 base in the north of Sheikh al-Maskeen along with parts of the town.

 

A military source told the Syrian Sana news agency that soldiers had inflicted heavy losses in men and materiel on the Nusra Front and two other rebel organisations occupying the town.

 

The advance cuts the Route 5 road between Daraa city to the south and the capital Damascus to the north, both still partially occupied by anti-government forces.

 

Sana also reported that the army had liberated towns and villages in central Homs and northern Latakia provinces.

 

In Homs, troops wrested control of the town of Mahin and surrounding hills from Islamic State (Isis), threatening its outpost of al-Quryatayn on the road to the ruined city of Palmyra, which Isis has destroyed.

 

Even with the support of Russia’s air force mission in Latakia on the Mediterranean coast, progress for the Syrian army has been slow and costly.

 

nIraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi triumphantly toured Ramadi yesterday, a day after the army declared it had taken control of the Anbar provincial capital from Isis.

 

Mr Abadi kicked off the visit by meeting security and provincial officials for the latest updates.

 

Across the city, military engineers were clearing bombs from the streets and nearby buildings, even as sporadic clashes continued in outlying parts of the city.