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Jaysh Al-Islam almost besieged at key East Ghouta town
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is rapidly advancing in the East Ghouta region of rural Damascus, capturing several farms from the Salafist tough guys of Jaish al-Islam ...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...near the strategic town of Hazrama. Following the recent capture of Hawsh Zarqiyah, the Syrian Arab Army has advanced west of Hazrama, seizing several farms near the town of Hawsh Salahiyah after a fierce battle with Jaish al-Islam and Faylaq al-Rahman. As a result of this advance near Hawsh Salahiyah, the Syrian Arab Army's 105th Brigade of the Elite Republican Guard has surrounded Hazrama from three sides, leaving only the southern flank open for the Isamist rebels to retreat. According to a military source in the East Ghouta, the Salafist tough guys have begun moving their main forces from Nashabiyah and Hazrama to Hawsh al-Salhiyah and Autaya, leaving only a few units to delay the Syrian Arab Army's advance at these towns. The source added that its only a matter of time before the Syrian Arab Army enters Nashabiyah and captures Hazrama. Posted by: Fred 2017-01-19 |
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