Most fighters from Al-Nusra and the other rebel groups pulled out, "leaving behind only a small number" of men, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Troops loyal to
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
's regime sent tanks to nearby villages, signalling an imminent army advance on the border town.
The rebels pulled back as regime forces backed by pro-regime fighters, among them members of Hizbullah
...
Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as
The Resistanceand purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
, advanced on the nearby village of Nabaein, the Observatory said.
Activists confirmed the account, adding the rebel fighters and the Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate, withdrew to rebel strongholds in the Jabal al-Akrad area.
Kasab, an Armenian town, is strategically important because it is located near the only border crossing with Turkey in sensitive Latakia province, the heartland of the Alawite sect from which Assad hails.
When the crossing fell from government hands in March, it was the last functioning border post with Turkey to slip from army control.