...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...and Faylaq al-Rahman launched their fourth assault at the East Ghouta town of Hazrama on Monday after losing much of the area to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) yesterday.
Jaish al-Islam and Faylaq al-Rahman finally achieved a break-through at the Hazrama front-lines, forcing the Syrian Arab Army to retreat from much of the territory they captured on Sunday.
The Syrian Arab Army's 105th Brigade of the Elite Republican Guard were forced to withdraw from their captured points after Jaish al-Islam flooded the village with a barrage of missiles and artillery shells, inflicting 4 casualties on the government units.
However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
despite the Syrian Arab Army's withdrawal on Monday, Jaish al-Islam was unable to recover much of the town due to the Syrian Arab Army's constant barrage of missiles on Hazrama's northern district.
According to an al-Masdar field correspondent in Damascus, Hazrama is now no-man's land, as both the Syrian Arab Army and Islamist
Meanwhile,
...back at the palazzo, Don Smilzo looked for an avenue of escape. The only window opened a hundred feet above the moat. The nearest of the hired assassins held a bloody axe.
The window was looking better all the time....
at the strategic Air Defense Battalion base, the Syrian Arab Army repelled the fourth Jaish al-Islam attack on this military installation in the East Ghouta today, killing between 13-15
In the coming days, the battle for the East Ghouta should intensify as the Syrian Arab Army makes a final push to capture Hazrama from the Salafist tough guys.