PHOTO: Jabhat al-Nusra fighters after the defense of al-Eis, south of Aleppo, on Tuesday

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Syria’s rebels and Jabhat al-Nusra inflicted a defeat on an Iranian-led regime force, killing scores of fighters south of Aleppo on Tuesday.

The pro-Assad units, including Iranian special forces as well as foreign militia, tried to recapture the town of al-Eis. However, they appeared to have been met by an ambush on a nearby hilltop, with graphic video showing bodies in a “killing field”.

Nusra units fought in al-Eis and on the hill, while rebel units — including Ahrar al-Sham, the Free Syrian Army, and local brigades — covered surrounding areas and provided logistics.

Pro-rebel outlets said about 100 Iranian, Iraqi, Hezbollah, and Afghan fighters were killed. About 25 rebels and Nusra fighters were slain. A photojournalist for State news agency SANA, Ali Hassan Allaw, also died.

Iranian media have not acknowledged the defeat or the casualties. Tehran recently deployed its first Army units — including the 65th Airborne Special Forces, the 45th and 258th Special Forces, and the 388th Mechanized Infantry — to accompany Revolutionary Guards forces on the battlefront.

Al-Eis, on the Aleppo-to-Damascus highway, and nearby hills were taken by a lightning rebel-Nusra offensive on April 1. The assault also retook other territory which had been occupied by a regime-Iranian-Hezbollah advance, enabled by Russian airstrikes, last autumn.

The pro-Assad forces had made an initial attempt to move into al-Eis on Monday, but it was quickly repelled.

Yesterday’s attack had no Russian air cover, although Syrian warplanes bombed before and after the assault. Russia has not carried out strikes in Aleppo Province since a February 27 cessation of hostilities, although some reports said Russian warplanes carried out operations on Monday.

On the ground, almost all of the pro-Assad forces are foreign, with little Syrian military presence.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Feisal al-Mikdad told Russia’s TASS on Tuesday, “There are many Iranian military instructors and advisors in Syria.”

A Jabhat al-Nusra video with footage of the defense:

Photos from the rebel faction Ahrar al-Sham:

A report by American journalist Bilal Kareem Abdul, with interviews with fighters and civilians, after the rebel-Nusra capture of al-Eis:

Iran’s Head of Ground Forces: Slain Special Forces in Syria “Killed 200 Terrorists”

The head of the Army’s ground forces has maintained that four slain officers killed 200 “terrorists”.

Three Special Forces members — a Colonel and two 2nd Lieutenants — and a captain in Mechanized Infantry died on the front south of Aleppo city, as Iranian-led attacks failed to move the rebels and Nusra.

General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said at a funeral for one of the men on Tuesday:

In an operation against several thousand terrorists with the al-Nusra Front and [other] Takfiris carrying out a sweeping attack south of Aleppo, these soldiers staged devoted and decent courage and bravery, which resulted in the martyrdom of four of them.

Prior to their martyrdom, they managed to destroy a number of tanks and personnel carriers belonging to al-Nusra and kill 200 of the terrorists, documents attesting to which are at hand.

Fars News, the outlet of the Revolutionary Guards — which said wrongly on Monday that al-Eis had been recaptured by pro-Assad forces — maintains this morning:

The Syrian Army and its popular allies made significant advances near the terrorist groups’ only supply route from Damascus province to Southern Aleppo.

“The Syrian Army’s 154th Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division, the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iraqi Harakat al-Nujaba have launched joint operations against al-Nusra Front, Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, Ajnad Al-Sham, and the Free Syrian Army in the surroundings of Jabal al-Eis, whose recapture will enable the government forces to gain fire control over the Aleppo-Damascus Highway (M-5), which is used by the rebel forces to reinforce their fighters in Southern Aleppo,” battlefield sources said.

(Cross-posted from Iran Daily)

Head of Hama Medical Directorate Killed by Pro-Assad Airstrike

The head of the medical directorate in opposition-held areas of Hama Province, Hasan al-Aaraj, has been killled by an airstrike near Kafrzita:

Aaraj worked at Kafrzita’s al-Maghara Hospital, supported by the Syrian-American Medical Society. He was the last cardiologist in opposition-held Hama.

Claimed footage of the airstrike:

Syrian Military Continues Attacks in East Ghouta Near Damascus

The Syrian military is continuing attacks to take opposition territory in the East Ghouta area near Damascus.

Pro-opposition websites report assaults on several axes in the al-Marj area near Bala, with Syrian troops backed by artillery and rockets.

The sites claim rebels have repelled the attacks, inflicting casualties and destroying armored bulldozers.

Despite the February 27 cessation of hostilities, the regime forces have persisted with attempt to cut rebel supply routes, following the capture of areas in al-Marj such as the Marj al-Sultan base.

Report: Rebels Retake Aleppo Village Attacked by Kurdish Militia

Activists say rebel factions have retaken a village in northern Aleppo Province briefly captured by Kurdish militia YPG on Wednesday.

The YPG attacked Sheikh Issa village, near Mare’ and the rebel frontline with the Islamic State, just after midnight.

Rebels sent reinforcements to regain control.

The YPG seized opposition-held territory in northern Aleppo Province in February, just before a February 27 cessation of hostilities.

Despite the cessation, YPG clashes with rebels have continued in and near Aleppo city. On Monday, the YPG tried to occupy the al-Castello road, a main route into opposition-held parts of the city.

Reports: ISIS in Near-Complete Control of Yarmouk

Pro-opposition outlet Orient News reports that the Islamic State has taken almost complete control of the Yarmouk section of southern Damascus.

The site says ISIS holds all but two streets and the Palestine Roundabout after 10 days of fighting with Jabhat al-Nusra.

The Islamic State moved into the area, expelling rebels and resisting the Syrian Army, in April 2015.

Yarmouk was home to about 200,000 people — mainly displaced Palestinians — before the start of the Syrian uprising. However, bombardment and a regime siege led to the flight of all but about 18,000 people. In early 2014, the area drew attention because of the deaths of scores of residents from starvation and lack of medical care.

A local journalist told Syria Direct on Tuesday that three children and some elderly residents have been wounded by ISIS and Nusra firing:

Residents are suffering from the difficulty of getting water due to the constant IS sniper attacks in these areas. There are water centers set up by different organizations at the entrances of each neighborhood or street, but it is difficult for people to get to them.

An activist in Yarmouk added:

The Syrian regime cut off the water…more than 500 days ago, before the Islamic State and Jabhat a-Nusra took control. Since last Thursday, only two water trucks have come to provide water to three or four parts of the camp. The presence of the wells in hot zones and water trucks’ inability to move through all areas has paralyzed the process of water extraction and distribution.

Picture and Video: Assads Vote in Parliamentary Elections

President Assad and his wife Asma vote in Wednesday’s Parliamentary elections:

ASSADS VOTE ELECTIONS 04-16

In late February, days before a cessation of hostilities and amid UN-brokered political talks, Assad announced the elections, the first since 2014.

Syria’s Parliament has no effective powers.

There is no voting in opposition-held areas, such as Idlib Province, or Islamic State-controlled parts of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor Provinces.

Assad hails the “unprecedented” turnout:

A State TV clip of the voting: