VIDEO: Syrian Army Razes Nusra Militants, Retakes Major Town in Latakia

Syrian government forces have pushed out Takfiri militants from a major city in the country’s western Latakia province, says a UK-based monitoring group.

According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, government troops, backed by the Russian air force, regained control of Kinsabba on Saturday following around two weeks of clashes.

Local reports have confirmed that the town and its surrounding hills are fully in control of government forces.

Militants with the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front took control of the city at the beginning of the month.

Earlier, the observatory announced that at least 18 members of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group have been killed in Russian airstrikes in central Syria, including near the ancient city of Palmyra. It added that a number of European nationals were among the killed militants.

Russia has been bombing the ISIS and Nusra Front terrorist groups in Syria at the official request of President Bashar al-Assad since September 30, 2015.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures that it receives from various sources.

A ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia went into effect in Syria on February 27, but it does not apply to the ISIS and al-Nusra Front terrorist groups in the Arab country.