Syrian army recaptures central town

The Syrian army on Thursday recaptured a central town after days of intense clashes with rebels and downed a spying balloon in the north, the state-run SANA news agency said.

"The Syrian troops have wrested back control over the town of Abel in the countryside of the province of Homs after tracking down the remnants of terrorists," SANA said.

The town is close to the central al-Qussair area which has emerged as a battlefield for violent clashes between rebels and the Syrian army.

Activists confirmed the incident as the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that regular soldiers and pro- government fighters have taken over Abel, south of Homs city and northeast of the Dab'a military airport which the rebels have stormed on Thursday.

Meanwhile, SANA said that the Syrian forces on Thursday dropped a balloon equipped with U.S. cameras at Maaret al-Numan town in the outskirt of the northwestern city of Idlib.

The agency spelled no further details but published a photo on its website, purporting to show what it said was the balloon.

It said the army's operations in Idlib continued on Thursday and many casualties have been reported among "terrorists" in several areas in the province's countryside, adding that the army hit gatherings of armed men in the towns of al-Janoudiya, Qatroun, Ein al-Shagher, al-Alya, al-Taybat, Maer Tamsaryeen, Bansh, and Saraqeb.

In a separate operation, the army advanced in Bab Houd neighborhood in the central province of Homs after clashes with armed rebels, SANA said, adding that the troops also battled armed militias in Ein al-Dananeer and al-Dar al-Kabirra in the outskirts of Homs.

In the northern province of Aleppo, the army inflicted heavy losses on armed groups, SANA said, adding that the army raided several dens and demolished a number of vehicles used by the armed men.

In the outskirts of the capital Damascus, SANA said the army destroyed a car while "terrorists" were packing it with explosives inside a hideout in al-Sbeineh town and killed all of the bombers.

It said the army carried out a series of intensive military operations that included the western and southern farms of Darayya, killing many armed men.

The army also eliminated terrorists in the Damascus suburbs of Zakkiya and al-Darkhabiya and destroyed several cars, according to SANA.

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