(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Reports say the armed rebels fighting the Syrian government fled the city after four days of clashes with the Syrian troops.

"Since last night there has been no more fighting," Noureddin al-Abdo, an Idlib citizen told AFP on Wednesday.

The army launched its operation on the rebels in the Idlib province near the Turkish border on Saturday in a bid to root out the "armed gangs."

Officials say at least 50 armed terrorists have been killed so far.

The operation in Idlib came two weeks after Syrian troops regained the control of the Baba Amr neighborhood in the western city of Homs following a month-long fighting with the armed rebels.

Heavy clashes have also been reported in the city of Daraa.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March and many people, including security forces, have lost their lives in the violence.

The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters. But Damascus blames ''outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups'' for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.

/106