Via AFP:

Syrian government troops on Wednesday beat back Islamist rebels and advanced into Maalula, a historic Christian town near Damascus, state news agency SANA reported.

“Units from our heroic army have made major advances, chasing down terrorists from Al-Nusra Front in the town of Maalula,” said an official cited by SANA.

The army “has made it across the town’s main square and has reached the Mar Takla convent,” said the source, adding that “dozens of terrorists have been wiped out.”

The regime has used the word “terrorist” to its opponents ever since the start of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule in March 2011.

The official also said eight rebels had been killed and 20 others wounded in fighting north of Maalula.

A security source earlier told AFP that “the army has not yet retaken Maalula” and that fighting between rebels against troops was “raging on.”