"The Syrian artillery opened fire at the fortified strongholds of the militant groups near the town of Kinsabba in the Northern part of Latakia province, which several militants killed or wounded and destroyed their military grid," the sources said.

"The Syrian air fleet, meantime, carried out several combat flights over the militant group’s concentration centers in Latakia chain-mountains and targeted them heavily, which not only inflicted major losses on the terrorists but also slowed down their movements across the battlefields," they further added.

On Monday, the Syrian Army’s General Command said in a statement that the army forces in cooperation with popular defense groups managed to liberate over 18 towns and villages in the Northern countryside of Latakia province.

Syria's Army General Command in its statement mentioned the most notable of the emancipated  towns and villages are al-Ghnaimiye, al-Qalai’e, Beit Sukkar, al-Ouainat, Khan al-Joz, Beit Riha, Bradon, al-Souda, al-Khadra, Reef Mekhtaro, al-Jamousiye, al-Saraya, al-Rayyana, al-Shakria, and a number of vantage points and hills covering an area of over 120 square kilometers, adding that the liberation was achieved after eliminating large numbers of terrorists while others fled towards the Turkish borders as their ranks suffered a complete breakdown.

The statement was published after the army units and pro-government forces established control over Rabi’a area on Sunday morning, an achievement by which the pro-government forces restricted terrorists’ movement and cut off their supply lines.

The statement pointed out that the significance of this achievement lies in the fact that if follows up on the achievements made by the Armed Forces in Latakia’s Northern countryside during the past few days, particularly since Rabi’a area was one of the biggest gathering points and a nexus for transportation for terrorists in the area, therefore establishing control over it cut off terrorists’ supply lines and restricted their movement.

Syrian Army General Command said that establishing control over Rabi’a area serves as a springboard for eliminating the remaining terrorist groups in Latakia’s countryside, concluding by asserting commitment to continue fighting terrorism and calling on all those who were involved in bearing arms against the state to abandon their weapons and resolve their legal status before it’s too late.

Before liberation of the region, the Syrian army had besieged the Rabi’a, the second stronghold of the militants in the Latakia countryside from the West, South and North. The militant groups, while withdrawing from the region, left behind dozens of dead or wounded members and pulled back the rest of their forces from more territories in the Northern parts of Latakia province under the heavy attacks of the Syrian Army and its popular allies.

The militant groups suffered a heavy death toll in the attacks and fled the battlefield to evade more casualties, FNA reported.

S/SH