LATEST: Insurgents Fight ISIS in al-Khasham Village in Deir Ez Zor Province
Insurgents launched a series of attacks on Friday in Jobar in Damascus, contested for months between the opposition and regime forces.
Videos, supported by sources, showed fighters assaulting regime position including a base with pro-Assad militia. After blowing up targets, insurgents moved house-to-house in pursuit of Syrian troops.
The Islamic Front’s military commander, Zahran Alloush, leads prayers before his troops go into battle:
Jobar is in northeast Damascus. It is a vital link to the East Ghouta area, much of which is held by insurgents, including towns like Harasta and Douma.
The regime has tried to break the insurgency since November, both through its Qalamoun offensive between Damascus and the Lebanese border and through “reconciliation” agreements for cease-fires in Damascus suburbs.
However, Syrian forces have been checked in East Ghouta in the gateway town of Mleha, and the insurgents have maintained their positions in locations such as Darayya despite sustained aerial bombardment.
Reports also circulated on Friday of an insurgent breakthrough in Rankous, north of Damascus. If confirmed, the advance would be the first significant dent in the regime’s Qalamoun campaign, after Syrian forces took towns such as Yabroud and Maaloula.
#Hezbollah commander, Hussein Qassim, has been killed in clashes with insurgents in #Rankous, #Qalamoun. #Islamic_Front #Nusrah #Syria
— Islamic Front Focus (@IF_Focus) June 13, 2014
Video: Insurgents Fight ISIS in al-Khasham Village in Deir Ez Zor Province
Insurgents clashing with the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham in eastern Syria:
Residents of the village fled the fighting by boat earlier this week:
ISIS Bomb in Deir Ez Zor Province Kills 30 Insurgents…or 15 Civilians
Syrian State TV says a bomb in a weapons bazaar in Deir Ez Zor in eastern Syria killed 30 “terrorists” on Saturday.
The explosion was near an “arms market” in Mayadeen, close to the Iraqi border.
An insurgent official from the town said the blast killed at least 15 civilians in a street market. He said a car bomb was detonated by the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham, which has been fighting insurgents in eastern Syria since January.
9 Top Free Syrian Army Officers Resign Over Military Aid
Nine top Free Syrian Army officers resigned Saturday over shortages and mismanagement of military aid from donor countries.
The officers addressed their troops, “We seek your forgiveness in resigning today, leaving behind our responsibility as chiefs of battlefronts and military councils.”
Lieutenant-Colonel Mohammad Abboud said he and his colleagues resigned because the “SMC (Supreme Military Council) has no role any more. Donor countries have completely bypassed it.”
Instead, donor countries have sent aid to their favoured factions.
The officer added, “While we thank donor countries for their assistance, it has been really insufficient, and simply too little to win the fight.”
One of Few Hospitals in Insurgent-Held Aleppo To Shut
One of the few remaining hospitals in insurgent-held Aleppo will shut at the end of the month, after a European NGO withdrew funding.
The closure of Atareb Hospital will leave 500,000 people with access only to basic field clinics.
The hospital, on a major crossing just south of Aleppo city, has been vital in the treatment of casualties from regime airstrikes. With the closure of other facilities in northern Syria, it has also become a central point for the treatment of cancer, kidney failure, diabetes, and heart disease. The hospital has the only renal dialysis unit in the north of the country.
The NGO supporting Atareb would not allow its name to be made public or its staff to operate inside Syria because of safety concerns.
