Syrian forces battle rebels near Turkey border crossing

Smoke rises after what activists said were barrel bombs dropped by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the northern entrance to the city of Aleppo March 23, 2014. REUTERS/Rami Zayat

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian troops backed by war planes battled on Monday to dislodge Islamist rebels from a border crossing and northern town in the coastal province of Latakia, heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority.

Fighters from the Islamic Front and al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front seized the Armenian Christian town of Kasab on Sunday after taking the nearby border crossing in an offensive which follows a string of recent rebel defeats further south.