Syrian rebels push government forces out of Hama villages -rebels, monitors

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian insurgents pushed government forces and their allies out of two villages in Hama province yesterday, regaining some areas recently lost, rebel officials and a monitoring group reported.

The Syrian government side had taken over the villages, Maan and al-Kabariya, on Sunday as part of a wider series of recent gains against the insurgents in the northern Hama countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The Observatory and a spokesman for the Jaish al-Nasr group, Mohammed Rasheed, said the two villages had been seized back by rebels.

Insurgents further northwest in Latakia province meanwhile launched an attack against government forces with heavy shelling, the Observatory said.