The Syrian Army tightens the noose on militants holed up in a key area of the central city of Homs.

The Syrian Army tightens the noose on militants holed up in a key area of the central city of Homs, the opposing Syrian Observatory for Human rights said Thursday.

"The Syrian army has taken control of large parts of the Wadi al-Sayeh district" in the centre of Homs, the group said in a statement.

The neighborhood is half way between the Khaldiyeh district and the Old City, two gunmen-held areas that have been under siege by the army for nearly a year.

"Taking Wadi al-Sayeh would enable the army to isolate those two districts" by severing links between them, said the Britain-based Observatory.

In other context, fierce clashes between troops and rebels erupted on Thursday for the first time in the coastal region of Banias in northwest Syria, the watchdog added.

“The army and pro-regime forces have been besieging the village of Bayda at the southern entrance to the town of Banias," it said in the statement.

"The village is the scene of fierce fighting between the army and rebel battalions -- the first of its kind in the Banias area," it added.

The Observatory noted that “southern neighborhoods of Banias witness sustained gunfire coming from the army was heard, and the security services are out in the streets to terrify residents.”

Syria was hit by a violent unrest since mid-March 2011, where the Syrian government accuses foreign actors of orchestrating the conflict, by supporting the militant opposition groups with arms and money.