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DAMASCUS, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian government forces now control over 72.8 percent of the Syrian territory as opposed to 19 percent three years ago, a war monitor said Thursday.

Ahead of the first round of Astana talks on Syria held in early 2017, the army was in control over 19.4 percent of the Syrian territory, and now the number is over 72.8 percent, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the pro-rebel watchdog, said the Syrian rebels who control the northwestern province of Idlib and the western countryside of the northern province of Aleppo are actually in control of 2.6 percent of the Syrian territory.

The rest of the territory is in eastern Syria and controlled by the Kurdish-led militants.

The Syrian army is also fighting to capture more areas in Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo in a bid to secure the official road linking the capital Damascus in the south with Aleppo in the north.

Syrian officials recently said the Syrian forces would continue to fight until liberating all areas from the rebels, most of whom are referred to by the government as terrorists through their links with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.