A commander with the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) in East Ghouta, Abdul Majid Al-Otaibi, was killed on Wednesday in mysterious circumstances in the region of Hosh al-Ashaari.
Otaibi was shot dead by gunmen in a car.
ISIS in Ghouta accused the Army of Islam of involvement in the killing and threatened to bomb several areas in Eastern Ghouta in response.
Otaibi is a mysterious leader involved in the ISIS branch operating in Eastern Ghouta. He arrived in Ghouta in mid-2013 and joined the Nusra Front. Just months after joining the Front, he began to establish a new headquarters for ISIS in coordination with the organization's leaders in the north of Syria. Otaibi defected from Nusra, like other immigrants, and waited for instructions to establish a branch of ISIS in Eastern Ghouta.
Otaibi joined Shaker al-Shami and Abu Abdul Rahman at-Tally and other organization leaders in pledging allegiance to Baghdadi and invited all Nusra fighters to switch allegiance to their leader Golani.
Otaibi always wears his explosive belt, and always carries his weapon. He used to accuse the Arab and Islamic governments of being atheists, and even refused to be called 'Saudi', instead saying he is from the country of "Al-Haramain", referring to the two holy cities in Islam: Mecca and Madina al-Munawwarah.
The assassination took place amid a tense atmosphere between ISIS and some military factions, led by the Islamic Front, especially after ISIS executed the Shariah judge who defected to them.
The Army of Islam accused ISIS of being behind the assassination, and of being behind the car bombing in a market in Duma, as well as dnapping fighters from the Army of Islam and killing one of them at the checkpoint of Ashaari in Eastern Ghouta.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
Activists expected an escalation in the dispute between ISIS and the other armed factions, and the escalation may include battles against ISIS to end its power before the arrival of reinforcements from the North, especially that ISIS is still the smallest armed groups in Eastern Ghouta.
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