The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces backed by Russian airstrikes were battling the Takfiri terrorists to prevent them from entering the desert town of al-Sukhna in Homs.
The UK-based monitoring group also claimed that at least 27 Syrian forces had been killed during the clashes, according to PressTV.
The offensive came as the European Union said it is considering more sanctions on Syria as the war-wracked Arab country is combating the spread of the coronavirus.
In a statement on Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell welcomed a report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which blamed Syria for alleged toxic attacks in western Hama region in late March 2017, saying that the 27-member bloc is ready to consider further sanctions on Damascus.
On Thursday, Syria dismissed the OPCW reports as "misleading" and based on fabricated information provided by Takfiri terrorists and the so-called civil defense group, White Helmets.
Russia has also censured the OPCW report as “untrustworthy”, saying the watchdog violated the basic principle of its work by conducting a remote investigation without visiting the sites.
MNA/PR