The Syrian army retook a strategic town from the ISIS group Thursday, paving the way for the reopening of its sole supply route to main northern city Aleppo.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops still needed to clear the extremists from hills overlooking the key highway before it could be fully secured.
The road through the town of Khanasser is the sole link between government-held areas in and around Aleppo and those in the rest of the country.
State news agency SANA hailed its recapture just two days after its fall to the extremists.