The Syrian general authority for Radio and Television reported that the army had expanded Monday its military operations to the eastern townships of Ghouta and Duma in Damascus city. The Syrian army engaged in battle with Jaysh Al Islam militants and IS fighters in Duma, killing seven of them and capturing four in the latest eruption of clashes on the eastern fronts of the capital where fierce combat is being waged. The Syrian army has also intensified its bombings of Jaysh Al Islam militants in the plains of the Hama province, causing heavy losses in their ranks and destroying one of their missile launching pad in the provinces of Daraa and Idlib. The militant group admittedly lost many of its members and a commander during these attacks. A military source, who asked to remain anonymous, told Sana Syrian News Agency that the Syrian armed forces had also destroyed a convoy of armored vehicles belonging to the same group on the Zawiya mountain road by concentrated heavy artillery strikes, leaving several dead and wounded. Jaysh Al-Islam was formerly known as Liwa Al-Islam or the Brigade of Islam. It is a merger of many rebel groups involved in the Syrian Civil War. It operates mainly in the Damascus neighborhoods of Duma and Eastern Ghouta. The group is part of the Islamic Front and the largest rebel faction located in Damascus.
