Syrian army seizes Damascus suburb from rebels, as 61 women detainees...

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Syrian authorities have released a total of 61 women detainees, an activist group said Thursday, the latest in a three-way prisoner exchange that was one of the more ambitious negotiated deals in the country's civil war in which rival factions remain largely opposed to any bartered peace.

Meanwhile, electricity returned to parts of Damascus, hours after a power cut plunged the capital and other parts of the country into darkness.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday the government of President Bashar Assad had freed the women over the past two days. There was no immediate comment from Syrian officials, nor details on who the women are or their current location.

The Observatory said the release was part of a complicated hostage swap last week brokered by Qatar and the Palestinian Authority that saw Syrian rebels free nine Lebanese Shiite Muslims, while Lebanese gunmen simultaneously released two Turkish pilots.

Lebanese officials have said a third part of the deal called for the Syrian government to free a number of women detainees to meet the rebels' demands.

The involvement of Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Qatar and the Palestinian Authority in the deal showed the extent to which the Syrian crisis, now in its third year, has washed across the wider region.

Syria's crisis began in March 2011 with largely peaceful protests against Assad, and slowly turned into an insurgency and then a full-blown civil war. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict, while another 2 million have sought refuge from the violence abroad.

On another note, Syrian forces seized a suburb of Damascus on Thursday from rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in a push that has shored up government control of the capital's outskirts, state television reported.

Assad's forces have been gaining ground around Damascus since last month, storming several rebel-held suburbs and choking off supplies to others in the east and south.

Although neither side appears to have the strength to gain a decisive edge over the other in the 2-1/2-year-old conflict, the government's offensive has bolstered its position ahead of expected international peace talks.

Syrian state television said the army had "extended full control" over Hatetat al-Turkman, southeast of Damascus near the airport road, cutting off an arms and ammunition supply route to rebels occupying a crescent of suburbs around the capital.

The armed forces seized the area in a 48-hour assault from five directions, the report said, showing live footage of Syrian soldiers deployed in the area.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah had assisted in the assault. Hezbollah is backed by Assad's ally Iran and has sent fighters into Syria to support government forces.

The Observatory, which verifies reports through a network of sources around Syria, said about 17 rebels were killed in the fighting, including several from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). About 25 government fighters were killed, it said.

AP/REUTERS

Syrian army seizes Damascus suburb from rebels, as 61 women detainees freed