Syrian troops captured a famed Crusader castle near the border with Lebanon today, running the two-starred government flag high above the stone ramparts of the 12th century fortress after days of intense clashes with rebel fighters.

Syrian authorities have sent text messages nationwide with a message for rebels fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime: “Game Over.”

Government troops fought back rebels near the airport of battle-scarred Aleppo, Syria’s state media said today, in the first official acknowledgement that combat had neared a strategic gateway to the country’s largest city.