DAMASCUS, May 18- The Syrian army on Saturday advanced in fighting rebels in a number of areas in southern and northern Syria as the rebels managed to storm a series of central towns, reports said.
A Syrian military source was quoted by the state-run SANA news agency as saying that the Syrian army attacked a group affiliated with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in the Damascus suburb of Adra and its surroundings on Saturday, killing and injuring scores of terrorists.In the countryside of Damascus, the state agency said the army demolished several rebel's positions namely in the areas of Hajar al-Aswad, Sbeineh, Douma, Harasta, al-Rihan, al-Mleiha, al- Zabadani, Adra, al-Nabek and Yabroud.
In the southern province of Daraa, the army raided rebels' hideouts in the province's suburbs mainly in Sahm al-Golan, al- Shajarra, Nafe'a, Harash, Jbatta al-Khashab, Khan al-Sheih farms and killed many of them, according to SANA.
The army has also inflicted heavy blows to rebels in the central city of Homs and its countryside, said SANA, adding that the army's operations were focused on al-Houleh, al-Rastan, Deir Foul, Jouret al-Shiyah and al-Waer.
In the northern city of Aleppo, the army killed many armed rebels in the surroundings of the city's central prison, Mannegh airport and al-Layramoun area.
To the northwest, the army has retaken Tal Salmo town in the countryside of the northwestern city of Idlib and killed scores of armed men, said SANA.
On the opposition side, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebel fighters from several factions, including jihadists, took full control Friday night over several villages in the eastern part of Hama province.
It said the inhabitants of the towns of al-Tleysiya, al-Zughba, al-She'ta and Balil were from the Alawite minority, the sect of the ruling administration in Syria, adding that most of them fled their homes for fear of sectarian reprisal.
The Observatory said the Syrian troops retreated from the towns after intense clashes with the rebels, adding that the air force bombarded the village of al-Sha'er, east of Hama, after a security motorcade was attacked in that area.
The rebels also fired multiple rockets at the army's 52nd Brigade in the eastern part of Daraa province, the Observatory said, reporting losses without getting into specifics.
