Syrian troops and allied forces pushed the terrorist gunmen back on Wednesday from a hilltop overlooking a strategic highway in the northern countryside of Latakia province

Syrian troops and allied forces pushed the terrorist gunmen back on Wednesday from a hilltop overlooking a strategic highway in the northern countryside of Latakia province, state media said.

Citing a military source, state news agency SANA said army units and pro-government militia "took full control of the strategic al-Nuba mountain after killing a number of terrorists positioned in the area and forcing the rest to flee".

The army units, the source said, carried out special military operations suitable for the mountainous and wooded area and the numerous caves spreading there.

The units combed the mountain and removed the explosive devices and mines planted by the terrorists, the source added.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the UK-based opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, told AFP that the hill overlooks the main terrorist supply line between Latakia and second city Aleppo.

The government intensified its offensive to retake al-Nuba mountain in recent weeks and Russian warplanes had carried out raids in the area in support of the army.

Abdel Rahman said the army would continue to "tighten the noose" around takfiri positions, including in the village of Salma, which has been in the terrorists' hands since 2012 and has been the target of heavy Russian bombardment.

Groups including Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra takfiri front have taken up positions in the area around the village, according to the Observatory.

In Idleb, army units destroyed a huge arms and ammunition depot for terrorists in Abu Makki area, east of Maaret al-Nouman in Idleb countryside, killing all the terrorists inside and around the store.

In Daraa, an army unit destroyed in accurate operations a hideout for terrorists in al-Abbassiyeh neighborhood and killed 8 terrorists in Daraa al-Mahatta and Daraa al-Balad in Daraa city.

According to field sources, another army unit also destroyed with a guided-rocket a vehicle for terrorists at Nasib border crossing in the southern countryside of Daraa province.