At least 12 Syrian soldiers and pro-regime militiamen were killed in battles against Al-Nusra Front and other Islamist opposition groups in Zabdean town, eastern Ghouta, on the rural outskirts of Damascus on Saturday.
Reports received by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) indicate that the regular troops controlled parts of the town.
In a related development SOHR said it documented 910 deaths as a result of the airstrikes of the international coalition forces against areas controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Al-Nusra Front in 60 days since September 23 until last night.
The figure includes 52 civilian deaths - among who were eight children and five women, 785 ISIL fighters and 72 members of Al-Nusra, SOHR said, noting that the strikes targeted locations in east, north and northeast Syria, notably Deir Azzor, Hasakah, Raqqah, Aleppo and Idlib.
The Kurdish People's Protection Units (commonly known as the YPG) and ISIL engaged in deadly battles on the southern outskirts of Ain Al-Arab (Kobane) city, north Syria, last night; at least five ISIL militants were killed in the fighting.