...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) refused to send reinforcements to bail out their comrades under attack in Hawsh al-Zriqiyah on Friday night, resulting in the Syrian Arab Army's (SAA) subsequent capture of this village just 24 hours after they launched the assault.
Led by the 105th Brigade of the Elite Republican Guard, the Syrian Arab Army attempted to divert Jaish al-Islam's forces from the strategic town of Hazrama to the small village of Hawsh al-Zriqiyah; however, the aforementioned Islamist group did not take the bait.
The Syrian Arab Army's capture of Hawsh al-Zriqiyah on Friday paved the way for their forces flank the strategic hilltop of Tal Ferzat in the East Ghouta region.
If Tal Ferzat falls to the Syrian Arab Army in the coming hours, then Jaish al-Islam will be forced to retreat from al-Nashabiyah because they will be in range of Syrian Army artillery.
As of now, the Syrian Arab Army is storming Tal Ferzat from two different sides, while their allies from the Paleostine Liberation Army (PLA) attempt to advance towards al-Nashabiyah.