MESOP LATEST : ISIL militants.. on way to Damascus

July 10, 2014 – ARA News – Damascus, Syria – At least 3 civilians were injured on Wednesday in the eastern Ghouta of Damascus countryside, as clashes erupted between rebels of the Islamic Front and al-Qaeda offshoot group of the Islamic State (known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant ISIL).Meanwhile, local sources reported that clashes took place between the Army of Islam and ISIL militants in Misraba town in the suburb of Damascus.

Ahmad Sabbagh, civil rights activist based in the city of Damascus, told ARA News that fierce clashes broke out between fighters from the Army of Islam, led by rebel leader Zahran Alloush, and militants of ISIL in Misraba town, resulting in the wounding of three civilians, who were accordingly transferred to the field hospital of the town.

In another context, the pro-regime forces shelled the town of Kafr Batna in Damascus countryside with ground-to-ground missiles from their headquarters in the Mezzeh military airport, coinciding with aerial bombardment by the pro-Assad warplanes on Maliha town. No casualties reported. This comes amid clashes between the pro- regime forces and rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the town of Taiba in the western Ghouta, after the regime forces attempted to storm the FSA-held town. Reporting by: Jawad al-Ali