Syrian forces seized full control of a key rebel-held area in the western city of Homs Monday after two months of fierce fighting, state media reported.
The military had "completely restored security and stability to the Khalidiyeh neighbourhood," the state-run news agency, SANA, reported.
State television said large numbers of "terrorists," a term used by the government to refer to rebels, were killed while trying to flee, dpa reported.
It said the fall of Khalidiyeh "is a prelude" for taking back Homs province after it fell in the hands of "foreign militants."
Homs, dubbed the flashpoint of the Syrian Revolution in 2011, is Syria's third-largest city and links Damascus with the coast.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the pro-opposition, Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog, said fierce fighting continued in the southern parts of Khalidiyeh.
The rebel Free Syrian Army also said it killed 13 Syrian soldiers in an ambush at the southern part of Khalidiyeh.
The government reports on Khalidiyeh came two months after government troops with the help of Hezbollah fighters took control of al-Kussair, another key rebel-held town in the same province, which borders Lebanon.
According to UN estimates, the 28-month-old Syrian war has killed more than 100,000 people.
Hundreds of thousands have also been displaced, many to neighbouring countries. In Jordan, officials said Monday that Syrians now account for about one-fifth of the country's population.
The Public Security Department said it had registered 1.3 million Syrians living in Jordan, a country of 5.5 million people.
If Jordan's Syrian refugee influx remain at levels that have seen more than 70,000 flee into the country each month this year, officials expected Syrians to account for more than 40 per cent of the kingdom's population by early 2014.
UN officials marked the first anniversary of the opening of the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, calling on the international community to step up relief efforts to assist 1.8 million people who have been driven into neighbouring countries since the onset of the conflict.
The UN refugee agency warned that despite ongoing support, basic aid such as food, health care, sanitation and education in the camp and elsewhere remained "severely underfunded."
"This is a solemn milestone, but we hope it serves as a reminder to the international community that this crisis is growing and ongoing and over a million lives are depending on basic assistance," agency representative Andrew Harper said.
The United Nations is set to appeal for billions of dollars in additional aid next month to meet the needs of a regional refugee community expected to surpass 3 million by the end of the year.