“This is absolutely a power struggle”, Abdel Rahman said.
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The Syrian army on Thursday captured a key town in the eastern countryside of the capital Damascus following battles against rebels groups, a monitor group reported. He was slain near Damascus airport, close to eastern Ghouta.
Pro-opposition Orient News television reported that government forces had “taken complete control” of the southern part of Eastern Ghouta.
One of the most significant regime advances this year displaced hundreds of families, the UK-based Observatory said. The group suffered a blow in December when its leader, Zahran Alloush, was killed in an air strike.
A powerful Islamist rebel group, Jaish al-Islam, reportedly pulled 800 of its fighters from the area in recent days, leaving remaining rebels scrambling to fill the void. But Jaish al-Islam has recently been challenged by Faylaq al-Rahman and Jaish al-Fustat, both led by Al-Nusra Front, Syria’s al Qaida affiliate.
A spokesperson from rebel group Ahrar al-Sham – who have denied any involvement in the fighting against Jaish al-Islam – described the rebel clashes as “unfortunate” in April.
The Lebanese Shiite militant Hezbollah group, which like Iran is a staunch supporter of Assad, has lost over 1,000 fighters in Syria, including many of its top leaders.
Separately, southwest of Damascus, the Syrian army and its allies pressed attacks to try to shore up control of a main highway running from the capital to southwestern Syria, including Quneitra province and the Golan Heights, the Observatory said.
Hezbollah has blamed rebels for artillery shelling that killed its top military commander Mustafa Badreddine last week.
The government has launched air strikes against the town of Khan al-Shih, attempting to secure control of the highway, though they have claimed that rebels attacked the area first.
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United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict that has gripped Syria since March 2011.
