(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 33 troops from coastal Latakia province killed in northwestern Syria since first of May as regime forces launch major offensive on the last rebel stronghold in the war-torn country, pro-regime media activists said.
The death toll included 9 officers.
Fierce clashes between regime forces and jihadists have left 83 combatants dead in northwestern Syria in the past 24 hours, AFP reported on Friday.
The clashes on the edge of the jihadist-controlled Idlib region have killed 44 regime loyalists and 39 jihadists and Islamist fighters since Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
It administers a region that spans most of Idlib province as well as adjacent slivers of the neighbouring Latakia, Aleppo and Hama provinces.
Late Thursday, the jihadists and allied rebels launched a counterattack against regime forces in the northwest of Hama province, according to AFP.
The fighting is raging near Christian and Alawite areas under regime control, he said.
The Alawites-dominated areas are still the main manpower supply for Bashar al-Assad's regime.
More than 135,000 pro-regime forces have been killed in seven years of brutal war, according to local monitoring groups.
The war, which started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-regime demonstrations, has killed more than 560,000 people and displaced millions.
Zaman Al Wasl
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