BEIRUT: Syrian forces backed by tanks stormed the central town of Qalaat al-Madiq and nearby villages on Wednesday after a siege lasting more than two weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based monitoring group said the troops entered the town, in Hama province, just after dawn following a 17-day barrage of shelling and heavy gunfire to root out rebels.
It added however that the army was not in control of the town.
"Heavy clashes between regime forces and armed rebels are preventing the army from advancing," the Observatory said. "Heavy gunfire and explosions can be heard in nearby villages."
Abu Ghazi, a local activist reached by Skype, told AFP in Beirut that members of the rebel Free Syrian Army had withdrawn from the area because of the regular army's superior firepower.
"The rebels were engaged in hit-and-run operations and were trying to protect the local population and delay the storming of the town," he said.
Qalaat al-Madiq is home to a historic castle that was shelled during the fighting, as seen in videos posted on YouTube.
The army's offensive follows a series of attempts by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to claim control of a number of rebel strongholds, as it tries to crush an unprecedented revolt.
Fierce clashes were also reported on Wednesday in the southern province of Daraa, cradle of the year-long revolt that has left more than 9,000 people dead according to the United Nations.
"Intense clashes erupted at dawn between regime forces and armed rebels in the town of Bosra al-Harir after an officer warned local residents to surrender the rebels or face an assault," the Observatory said.
In central Homs province, three soldiers were killed and 16 others were wounded in fierce clashes with rebels in the town of Rastan, it added.
"Heavy clashes took place at the entrance of the town which the army tried to storm at dawn," the Observatory said.
Activists said regime forces also fired mortars on Bustan al-Diwan, a neighbourhood in the city of Homs, which has come to symbolise the uprising against the regime.
"Some of the mortars hit a historic church," said Karam Abu Rabii, a local activist also reached by Skype.