Syrian troops captured a village and a strategic hill from insurgents in the country’s northwest on Monday amid the heaviest fighting to hit the region in eight months, according to government media.

The village of al-Bani and the nearby Othman hill in the northern countryside of Hama province were taken, the government’s Syrian Central Military Media said. 

This was the deepest push by forces allied with Damascus so far this year into Syria’s last major rebel stronghold. The latest activities began April 30, and rebels fear the government may launch a wider offensive to retake the area, AP reported.

Syrian troops intensified their shelling of insurgents in northern parts of Hama province and the southern parts of Idlib, state news agency SANA said.