Syrian government forces captured Saturday two villages near the border with Lebanon after clashes with opposition fighters, cutting a major supply route for weapons and fighters into Syria, state TV said, according to The 
Associated Press.
The report said the villages of Flita and Ras Maara fell into the hands of government forces early in the day. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed troops were inside the two villages and advancing, although it had no immediate word on whether they fell to government forces.
The Observatory said government forces are backed by members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, which openly started taking part in Syria’s war last year against opposition forces.
The villages were the latest targets of a government offensive in the rugged Qalamoun border region after troops captured the town of Yabroud earlier this month. Tens of thousands of Syrians fled into Lebanon since the Qalamoun offensive began in November.
Flita, which is about 5 miles (7 kilometers) from the border with Lebanon, had been a major crossing point for rebels coming from across the border into Syria to fight President Bashar Assad’s forces. Syria’s mostly Sunni rebels draw supply, recruits and support from Sunni communities in Lebanon.
Qalamoun holds strategic value for the government since it is crossed by the main north-south highway that links the capital to government strongholds along the Mediterranean coast.
The TV said the villages fell after government forces “wiped out the last remnants of armed terrorist groups and destroyed its weapons and tools they used in their crimes.” The Syrian government refers to rebels as “terrorists.”
An activist based near Damascus who goes by the name of Abu Yazan al-Shami who is in touch with colleagues near Yabroud confirmed that government forces have captured parts of the two villages but are still facing resistance from rebels inside.
“Fierce and difficult battles are taking place. It is a rugged area and both the regime and the rebels have gathered lots of fighters for this battle,” said al-Shami via Skype. He added that the main battle expected to follow Flita and Ras Maara will be the rebel-held town of Rankous in order for the government “to completely cut supplies from Lebanon into Qalamoun.”