Syrian forces have reclaimed on Thursday a major town in the Damascus capital after five months of heavy fighting with rebel factions, a UK-based opposition group said.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) Director Rami Abdul Rahman said that Syrian troops had managed to gain control of Mleiha but added that there is still resistance in surrounding areas.

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For months, rebel groups and government forces - sometimes with aid from the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah - have been fiercely fighting to gain control of the town mainly for its strategic location.

Syria's air defense force chief, General Hussein Isaac, was reportedly killed there in May.

Mleiha is located 10 kilometers (6 miles) southeast of the capital near the highway leading to the Damascus airport. More importantly, it allows access to Eastern Ghouta where a major rebel stronghold is based, Abdul Rahman said.

He added that the retaking of Mleiha would allow government troops to defend the capital against rocket fire.

While the Syrian government has offered no confirmation of the news, news agency AFP cited a source that said the Syrian army is carrying out military operations in Mleiha and is "realizing qualitative successes."

The military has killed a large number of insurgents and is persisting until it pushes the others into the countryside, north of Mleiha, the source added.

The retaking of Mleiha is another huge setback for rebel groups, who have already lost a number of strongholds to government troops while others have been forced to submit to truces, according to the Associated Press.

Syrian forces have been able to restore peace and security in the area after it eliminated all traces of resistance there, state-run media reported.

Government troops carried out on Thursday morning a military operation near Mleiha which had effectively taken the opposition by surprise, thereby allowing them to gain access into the town and to "destroy large numbers of Nursa Front terrorists," Syrian TV said.

TagsDamascus, Mleiha, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, al-Nursa Front