Government units backed by popular forces on Sunday continued military operations in several areas around the country, recapturing new zones and thwarting terrorist attacks.

In Latakia, army units, in cooperation with popular defense groups, established control over Points 287, 397 and 409 and killed terrorist elements in the al-Sawda village.

A military source told state-run SANA news agency that the army units also foiled an attack by terrorist groups on military posts in the direction of al-Qalaa Mountain and Ain al-Baida area in the province.

Elsewhere, scores of ISIS terrorists were killed or injured as a result of army airstrikes on their positions in the northeastern Raqqa province.

On Saturday, Syrian forces retook control of Jubeil mount that overviews Qaryateen village in the suburbs of Homs, SANA reported.

"The importance of the achievement: this is a step in the road of liberation of our precious Tadmor (Palmyra), so we will finish Qaryateen by God's will tomorrow morning and head towards Tadmor, according to the leadership's orders," an unnamed Syrian field officer was quoted as saying.

Syrian jets carried out sorties targeting hideouts of terrorists in the southern part of Raqqa city.

Terrorists from al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra were killed and their positions were destroyed during strikes that were carried out by the Air Force against their gatherings and hotbeds in al-Inkawi village on the outskirts of al-Ghab Plain 79 kilometers northwest of Hama city.

A new round of peace talks has got under way between the Damascus government and the foreign-backed opposition, aimed at resolving the five-year deadly crisis in Syria.

The Geneva-hosted negotiations are underway as a ceasefire has stood in Syria since February 27.

According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people and displaced nearly half of Syria’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

S/SH 11