Syria army regains al-Nabek town near Damascus

The Syrian troops on Monday fully recaptured a strategic town north of the capital Damascus, the state-run SANA news agency reported. Al-Nabek, a town in the rugged al-Qalamoun region north of Damascus, was the latest town in that strategic mountainous region reseized by the Syrian army after the troops dislodged rebels from the adjacent towns of Qara and Deir Attieh. SANA cited a military source as saying that the army is still hunting down remnants of the rebels in the surrounding orchards of Al-Nabek, which is located on the international road that links the capital Damascus with central province Homs and other northern and coastal Syrian cities. The clashes in the town have prompted the Syrian troops to close the Damascus-Homs road, resulting in a fuel crisis. SANA spelled no further details whether the road was reopened, but other reports said the army is still securing the road in order to reopen it soon. Separately, three people were killed Monday when a roadside bomb went off in the central province of Hama, said SANA.