Alongside other radical Islamist groups, al-Nusra Front seized parts of the village of Maan, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding at least 11 rebel fighters and 20 regime troops were killed.
Rebels last week launched an all-out assault on army positions across Hama, home to a patchwork of religious communities, says the Observatory.
While anti-regime sentiment in the province is strong, regime forces had so far suppressed any major signs of insurgency in Hama, which links strategic provinces such as Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
, Idlib in the northwest, and Homs in central Syria.
The picturesque provincial capital saw some of the largest protests against
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
at the start of Syria's uprising more than 21 months ago, but the city was overrun by security and military forces in summer 2011.
Al-Nusra Front is listed by the United States as a "terrorist" organization.