Syrian Army annihilates notorious Takfiri leadership in east Damascus during early stage of Jobar offensive

Over the past 48 hours, the Syrian Army (SA) has killed two leading Islamist commanders amid clashes in the embattled Jobar neighborhood on the eastern perimeter of Damascus city.

With the SA’s 105th Brigade of the Republican Guard intensifying its operations in the northeastern part of Jobar, a new advance was secured in the so-called Taibah sector which saw government forces overrun a handful of buildings on Friday.

Amid these clashes, Failaq Al-Rahman commander Abu Saeed Al-Basha was killed. Yesterday, he was otherwise depicted vowing to repel all SAA attacks against the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (Syrian Al-Qaeda branch) in Jobar. The day before, the SAA also killed a FSA commander nicknamed Al-Shishani.

Jobar is located just west of the M5-highway, a key road that runs vertically through Syria and connects its industrial mainland. The neighborhood is important for both sides as it represents a buffer-zone into the East Ghouta rebel heartland while the SAA hopes to secure downtown Damascus if government troops are to prove victorious in Jobar.