TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian army and the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement continued their advances in Lattakia, and are now in full control over 85 percent of the coastal province.

The terrorist groups have sustained heavy losses in Lattakia province over the past 6 months and the militants are only in control of 15 percent of the province.

The Syrian army and resistance forces are now trying to consolidate their military positions in strategic Nawareh, Saraf, al-Dorreh, al-Sarmanieh, al-Zeytounia and al-Younesiya regions.

In a relevant development on Sunday, the Syrian Army troops and their popular allies continued to press on the militant groups deployed in the Northeastern parts of Lattakia and the Southern parts of Idlib provinces.

"The Terrorist groups in Northeastern Lattakia have retreated from village-to-village as the Syrian government forces continued their wide-scale advance to the Turkish and Idlib province borders," battlefield sources said.

"The Syrian army, the National Defense Forces (NDF), the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), the Syrian Marines, and the 48th Special Forces Regiment have stormed the militant groups' defense line at two different fronts that ultimately lead to Jisr al-Shughour," the sources added.

"The army continued to pound l-Nusra Front�s lines of defense at the strategic mountaintop town of Kabani in Jabal al-Akrad, while the 48th Special Forces Regiment and their allies attacked the terrorist group along the Aleppo-Lattakia Highway (M-4 Highway)," they said.

"The Syrian army advancing along several hilltops surrounding Kabani; this town is situated to the Southwest of Jisr al-Shughour and to the West of al-Sirmaniyah. Al-Sirmaniyah is one of the villages needed by the Syrian Armed Forces to advance on Jisr Al-Shughour�s Southern side," the sources went on to say.

"Meanwhile, along the Aleppo-Lattakia Highway, the 48th Special Forces Regiment and their allies continued their assault on �Ein al-Baydha in Idlib province, destroying several enemy mechanisms while pushing further North. Unlike the 103rd Brigade�s advance from the South, the 48th Special Forces Regiment is pushing towards Jisr al-Shughour�s Western side; this is the gateway to the city because of the high ground that it possesses," the sources said.

The Syrian Armed Forces can pressure Jisr Al-Shughour from the south, but they can only retake the city with the western flank.

On Saturday, the Syrian army troops and allies captured a number of sites along the Aleppo-Lattakia Highway (M-4 Highway), paving the way for their soldiers to reach the final hilltops overlooking the strategic city of Jisr al-Shughour in the Southern part of Idlib province.

The Syrian Armed Forces can see the city of Jisr al-Shughour from their positions atop of Jabal al-Akrad in Northeastern Lattakia; this is the closest the government forces have been to Jisr al-Shughour since their withdrawal from Idlib province last Spring.

In addition to this advance by the Special Forces along the Aleppo-Lattakia Highway, the Syrian Arab Army�s 103rd Brigade � alongside the National Defense Forces and Syrian Social Nationalist Party � inched closer to the imperative town of Kabani after prevailing over the enemy�s first line of defense.

The Syrian Armed Forces are expected to enter Kabani in the coming days as they work to weaken the enemy defenses en route to seizing this mountaintop town in Jabal al-Akrad.

By Fars News Agency