The Syrian government is on the offensive.

New video from Syrian state TV shows government forces battling Islamist rebels in the historic Christian town of Sadad.

Insurgents stormed the town a day earlier, putting residents on edge.

Sources on both sides say the rebels also broke into Sadad's hospital to seize medical supplies.

Sadad sits strategically between the northern city of Homs and the capital of Damascus in the south.

So far fighting in the country's two-and-a-half-year conflict has left more than 100,000 people dead and millions displaced.