THE Syrian Army retook a large swathe of northern Hama province yesterday, building on strategic gains in the area.

Troops captured the town of Halfaya and surrounding villages in Hama from Hayat Tahrir as-Sham (Hetesh) — the latest al-Qaida-led alliance with Western-backed factions — which seized them last summer.

The latest gains put motorway links between the capital Damascus and Aleppo back under the control of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Fierce fighting continued yesterday around the village of Zallaquiyat — with Lebanon’s Al Masdar News later reporting its capture by the army.

The advance left the pocket of territory captured by militants in their August 2016 offensive to capture Hama city at risk of imminent collapse.

It was also a direct challenge to the US, which bombed a Syrian air base south of Hama three weeks ago in response to the chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun.

But it lifted the threat to Christians and Alawite Muslims in the area of persecution at the hands of sectarian insurgents.

Meanwhile the military advanced into the Heteshoccupied Damascus suburb of Qaboun.

On Saturday the Israeli air force fired missiles at army positions in Quneitra province, killing three Syrian reservists fighting Hetesh militants there.

That followed a similar air raid by jets flying over the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights region on Friday.