...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...are currently involved in a violent battle for the strategic town of Douma in the northern part of the East Ghouta region.
Led by their Tiger Forces and Elite Republican Guard, the Syrian Arab Army has advanced further into the Douma Orchards, seizing several points that were under the control of Jaish al-Islam for years.
The Syrian Army is now attempting to seize all of the ground under the control of Jaish al-Islam in the Douma Orchards.
While their ground forces advance, the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) is heavily bombarding Douma in an effort to force Jaish al-Islam back to the negotiations table.
A military source in Damascus told al-Masdar tonight that Jaish al-Islam has sent reinforcements to this front and will likely launch a big counter-assault soon.