Activists said that helicopters belonging to the Assad regime dropped over 60 barrel bombs on the district of Daraya in Rural Damascus on Thursday, while clashes between regime forces and FSA fighters continued along several fronts of the rebel-held district.
Meanwhile, in western Qalamoun, Rural Damascus, rebel and FSA groups fended off a surprise attack on the area by ISIS militants. Activists said that ISIS militants were forced to retreat to their initial positions in the Biyar Alqasab area. Rebel and FSA fighters also expelled ISIS militants from the villages of Althallaja, Hashishiyat and Wadi Alrummana in western Qalmoun, with reports of casualties among ISIS militants.
A rebel source told Smart News Network that clashes with ISIS militants began after rebel and FSA fighters detected a movement by ISIS militants in the Jarrod area in western Qalmoun. The source added that ISIS was preparing an attack against rebel and FSA groups in the area, and that the preventive attack on ISIS positions in Jarroud area was a result of an ISIS “policy of repeated backstabbing” which sees ISIS militants attempting to take advantage of clashes between rebel fighters and regime forces in the area.
Divisions within the extremist group have recently begun to surface, with reports of high-level defections in western Qalamoun including a number of senior commanders.
The rebel groups that took part in the attack on ISIS positions in the Jarroud area included Saraiya Ahl Alsham, Western Qalmoun Conglomerate, a number of FSA groups and Fatah Alsham Front. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
