Army of Islam (Jaish al-Islam) announced that it had killed more than 10 fighters and wounded others as they attempted to slip into the outskirts of the town of Hazerma in the eastern Ghouta of the Damascus countryside on Monday. Meanwhile, the outskirts of the towns of Al-Nashabiya and Al-Bilaliyah witnessed fighting between opposition fighters and regime forces and its allied militias, coinciding with bombardment from rockets and heavy artillery.
The pro-regime forces carried out a heavy attack to storm the districts of Al-Qabun and Jobar in the capital’s east while targeting the districts with heavy machine guns, artillery and mortars.
The media activist Alaa al-Din Kurdi told ARA News that “during an infiltration attempt, carried out by members of the regime forces and allied militias on the outskirts of the town of Hazerma from the direction of Al-Midan town, a number of mines that opposition fighters had previously planted were detonated.”
The attempted advance was followed by heavy bombing with FIL rockets striking the Hazerma fronts as forces tried to storm it, alongside heavy fighting between armed opposition fighters and pro-regime forces on a number of fronts, including Al-Nashabiya and the outskirts of Al-Bilaliyah and Al-Qasimiya, he said.
In addition, “a number of people were wounded as a result of artillery and rocket fire targeting Hazerma, as well as Al-Nashabiya and the cities of Harasta and Douma in the eastern Ghouta.”
Regime forces supported by fighters from Iranian, Iraqi and Lebanese militias are attempting to sieze control of the Damascus eastern Ghouta, a main agricultural supplier for the capital.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
