37 militants killed during ongoing battles in Syria's Daraa

At least 37 armed Islamist militants were killed over the past 24 hours during intense battles with the Syrian government forces in the southern province of Daraa, a monitoring group reported Tuesday.

The battles were raging in the northeastern countryside of Daraa, following a swift offensive the government troops waged on Monday to strip the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front of key villages and supply routes in that province near the Jordanian borders.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamist militants managed on Tuesday to regain control of the towns they lost a day earlier to the government troops in addition to opening a supply route they use to smuggle weapons and fighters from neighboring Jordan.

The UK-based watchdog group said the battles on Tuesday led to the killing of 22 government troops.

However, the state news agency SANA maintained that the Syrian troops continued Tuesday their attacks against the Nusra Front militants in areas in northeastern Daraa.

It said the ongoing offensive is based on the "important achievement" the army units made on Monday when they cut the main supply route between the rebels and Jordan through the al-Lajat area.

The military operation in Daraa enables the Syrian government to prevent the rebels in Daraa from smuggling weapons to the eastern countryside of the capital Damascus.

The Syrian army and allied forces started an offensive in the northern countryside of Daraa and the southern countryside of Damascus in February to weaken the Nusra Front in that part of the country.

In the northern province of Aleppo, two people were killed, including a child, and six others wounded when a mortar shell struck the Bab al-Faraj area, said the observatory.

It said clashes continued between an array of jihadist groups and the Syrian troops in the Salahuddien neighborhood southwest of Aleppo, during which seven government forces were killed.

The observatory, which relies on a network of activists on ground, said five people, including children, were killed Tuesday when Syrian helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the rebel-held Maarat al-Numan area in the countryside of the northwestern province of Idlib.

The Syrian air force also carried out four airstrikes against the town of Korin in Idlib countryside, as the ground troops shelled the city of Binnish near Idlib, according to the observatory.

The government forces lost Idlib city to the Nusra Fighters late last month, maintaining some positions in the countryside of that key city near Turkey.

Local reports said the government troops were bracing to unleash a counter offensive to retake Idlib, the second provincial capital to fall out of the government control since the Islamic State (IS) militants captured the northern city of al-Raqqa two years ago. Endit