DAMASCUS, July 7 (Xinhua-RHC) -- The Syrian army has killed more than 50 rebels in the countryside of the coastal city of Latakia in northern Syria, the official Syrian TV said Tuesday.
The military targeted the rebels' positions in the towns of Dwerashan, Darra and Rbaia in the northern countryside of Latakia, said the TV.
Battles in the northern countryside of Latakia have been incessant since the rebels in the northwestern province of Idlib captured areas adjacent to the coastal city, the hometown of President Bashar al-Assad and the heartland of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
