According to Al-Alam correspondent in Syria, French terrorist ringleader Abu Qaqa al-Fransi was among the victims of the army attack against the a-Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) on Thursday.

The Syrian armed forced also inflicted heavy losses on the militants during the operation in the towns of Khanaser and As Safira in Aleppo Governorate.

The Syrian troops made progress near the flashpoint city of Aleppo in the north of the crisis-hit country on Tuesday.

Since mid-2012, the government forces have been fighting with the foreign-backed militants to take control of Aleppo, Syria's largest city and the country’s former commercial hub.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

The United Nations said on Monday that more than four million more Syrians will be forced out of their homes in 2014 by the escalating conflict in the country.

BA/BA