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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Battling rebels, ISIL moves closer to central Damascus |
| 2015-09-01 |
| [Hurriyet Daily News] Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) faceless myrmidons battled Syrian rebel forces in a Damascus neighborhood Aug. 31, bringing the jihadists closer than ever to the center of the capital, a monitoring group said. ISIL faceless myrmidons fought street battles against Salafist tough guys in Asali, part of the capital's southern Qadam district, after seizing two streets there over the weekend, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "This is the closest ISIL has ever been to the heart of Damascus," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. He said the jihadists had advanced from the adjacent Al-Hajar Al-Aswad neighborhood, where they have been based since July 2014. A Syrian military official confirmed the festivities and said he was "very happy that they are fighting." "But we are ready to react if they try to advance into government-held territory," the official told AFP. According to the Observatory, opposition-held Qadam has been relatively quiet since a truce between rebel groups and regime forces there a year ago. It said fighting in the district on Aug. 30 left 15 fighters dead, but it could not specify how many were from ISIL and how many were Salafist tough guys. Abdel Rahman said the "fierce street battles" had forced civilians to flee the area. Since its expulsion from the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus last year, ISIL has used Al-Hajar Al-Aswad as a base for attacks on the capital. From there, it tried to seize the Yarmuk Paleostinian refugee camp in April, but was pushed back. That same month, ISIL kidnapped two opposition fighters from Qadam and beheaded them in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad. |
| Posted by:Fred |