According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, fighting has once again picked up in the area around the Syrian capital of Damascus, with at least 50 people killed today in fighting in the Eastern Ghouta region.
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The government capture of the town has diminished the rebel’s access to Damascus’ Eastern Ghouta suburb.
They were then able to “advance rapidly in the south of Eastern Ghouta after rebel fighters retreated after losing Deir al-Assafir, fearing they would be besieged”, Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Hundreds of families fled the area which rebels had controlled since 2012.
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-Qaeda affiliate.
Jaish al-Islam has accused Failaq al-Sham of wrecking attempts to stop the fighting by launching its own attacks.
“But our brothers in Faylaq al-Rahman completely rejected this initiative”, Islam Alloush said in a statement.
Rebel groups in the area had recently clashed with one another.
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.
The militia blamed rebels for artillery shelling that killed its top military commander Mustafa Badreddine last week.
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.
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Syrian troops backed by fighters from the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah retook a key town and nine surrounding villages outside Damascus from rebels on Thursday, a monitor said.
