...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...(Army of Islam).
According to a field report from a local correspondent, the Syrian Arab Army's 105th Brigade of the Republican Guard, alongside the Paleostine Liberation Army (PLA) and National Defense Forces (NDF), managed to capture more buildings inside of al-Mayda'ani, resulting in another retreat for the Salafist tough guys.
The local correspondent added that Jaish al-Islam is attempting to rally their forces for another counter-assault; however, their first-line of defense has already been compromised as a result of the Syrian Arab Army's powerful attack.
Jaish al-Islam cannot afford to lose another town to the Syrian Armed Forces after conceding the strategic hilltop village of Tal Kurdi near their stronghold of Douma.