A number of events recently have served to ignite long-simmering anger against The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), whose violations against the Syrian revolution have reached intolerable degree.
Informed sources have told Zaman al-Wasl that ISIS has withdrawn from their only position in Ghouta, Damascus, to disappear entirely from the fronts against the regime and its Shiites mercenaries in this vital region surrounding Damascus.
The apparent withdrawal coincides with the regime’s brutal intervention in Ghouta from the Mleha front, a campaign that has now entered its 83rd day. It also comes amid many questions about ISIS’s absence in confronting the so-called “Rafidha” and “Nusayri”, which the state had previously threatened to eliminate.
ISIS’s withdrawal goes hand-in-hand with a possible confrontation with the Army of Islam, since the latter's relations with the state have worsened following two car bombing incidents in Duma, and the assassination of the state’s dissident judge, Anas Quider. On all occasions, the Army of Islam has explicitly accused ISIS of being the mastermind.
However, the incident at Souq Al Hal deepened the crisis further; the Army of Islam issued a statement saying that two ISIS fighters entered the souq in Duma wearing explosive belts and started distributing leaflets. When people gathered around them in an attempt to stop them, one of th men threatened to blow up his explosive belt, and consequently, the two were beaten and handed over to the to the nearest checkpoint for the Army of Islam.
"The two fighters were arrested and are under investigation, and their case has been submitted to the judiciary. As usual, ISIS malicious reaction was to betray and arrest the soldiers at an entire checkpoint, killing some of them in total indifference to the fact that shedding Muslims’ blood is forbidden," the statement said.
The statement called on people not to be lenient toward the group, belonging to Baghdadi, not to accommodate or provide them with any help, because it’s considered a crime that will open the door of ISIS oppression and aggression against them.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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