...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...’s (Army of Islam) defenses at Sawwan Hill.
The 105th Brigade and their allies managed to break-through Jaish Al-Islam’s first-line of defense at the southern perimeter of Sawwan Hill, leaving them in control of half this site near Tal Kurdi.
According to a local field report released by the Syrian Armed Forces, the 105th Brigade is currently attacking Sawwan Hill’s northern perimeter amid fierce resistance from Jaish Al-Islam and their allies.
If the Syrian Armed Forces capture Sawwan Hill tonight, they will have imposed fire control over Tal Kurdi, which is considered the gateway to the Jaish Al-Islam stronghold of Douma.