“This is the closest Isil has ever been to the heart of Damascus.” If Damascus falls to the Islamic State, even more foreign Muslims will hurry over to Iraq and Syria to join it.
“Islamic State fights Syrian rebels and ‘moves closer to central Damascus,'” AFP, August 31, 2015:
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) battled Syrian rebel forces in a Damascus neighbourhood on Monday, bringing the extremists closer than ever to the centre of the capital, a monitoring group said.
Isil militants fought street battles against Islamist rebels in Asali, part of the capital’s southern Qadam district, after seizing two streets there over the weekend, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“This is the closest Isil has ever been to the heart of Damascus,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
He said Isil had advanced from the adjacent Al-Hajar Al-Aswad neighbourhood, where they have been based since July 2014.
A Syrian military official confirmed the clashes and said he was “very happy that they are fighting”.
“But we are ready to react if they try to advance into government-held territory,” the official told AFP.
According to the Observatory, opposition-held Qadam has been relatively quiet since a truce between rebel groups and regime forces there a year ago.
It said fighting in the district on Sunday left 15 fighters dead, but it could not specify how many were from Isil and how many were Islamist rebels.
Mr Rahman said the “fierce street battles” had forced civilians to flee the area.
Since its expulsion from the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus last year, Isil has used Al-Hajar Al-Aswad as a base for attacks on the capital.
From there, it tried to seize the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in April, but was pushed back.
That same month, Isil kidnapped two opposition fighters from Qadam and beheaded them in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad.
More than 240,000 people have been killed in Syria’s conflict, which began with popular anti-government protests in March 2011 but has evolved into a complex civil war.
The conflict has seen the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad lose swathes of territory across the country.
In the north-west province of Idlib, the powerful Army of Conquest alliance edged closer to Fuaa, one of two remaining regime-held villages in the province.
The Observatory said the alliance, a collection of Islamist and jihadist groups including al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, seized the village of Sawaghiya on the southeast edge of Fuaa early Monday after overnight clashes.
The fighting left nine fighters from both sides and two civilians dead.
After capturing the majority of Idlib province, the Army of Conquest surrounded and began heavily shelling the Shia Muslim villages of Fuaa and Kafraya.
This month saw two failed attempts at reaching broad ceasefire deals including Fuaa, Kafraya, and the rebel stronghold of Zabadani in Damascus province.

Angemon says
Pffft. As if “Isil” weren’t “islamist rebels”…
Sam says
Good. Our president Obama is winning.
Davegreybeard says
@Aton
“While Iraq was substantionally Jewish, with the largest Jewish seminary at Fallujah.”
Fascinating.
Where is a good source of information about this, Aton?
Matthieu Baudin says
I see there is not even a spark of compassion in the heart of Ramez (above). Still, it’s worth looking closely at his attitudes and demeanour because they provide an accurate portrait of the pathology of Islam on the march.
Davegreybeard says
@Matthieu Baudin
“…it’s worth looking closely at his attitudes and demeanour because they provide an accurate portrait of the pathology of Islam on the march.”
Uuuh, yeah.
It’s called “TOTAL WAR AGAINST ALL AND SUNDRY!”
What’s not to understand, Matt?
Baucent says
Looks like the writing is on the wall for al-Assad. Only a matter of time before he and his extended Alawite family board a jet for safe exile in Tehran. Rather a shame he didn’t leave two years ago.
Because when he leaves any resistance will crumble and it will be the start of a bloodbath in Damascus.
Paladin says
Once again, we see the total impotence of the Iranian Shi’ite regime. Shia and alawite being slaughtered at will by a ragtag group of filthy desert pirates in stark white sneakers and 1970’s era Kalashnikovs. If Iran can’t crush ISIS with their awesome ‘stealth’ drones and advanced missile systems, then they should really think twice about attacking a real military. Israel will destroy these Farsi-fools inside of about 20 minutes.
umbra says
iran’s standard approach to crushing opponent in conflicts is through overwhelming brute force and sheer numbers. This appears unlikely to occur this time around in syria since any substantial deployment of iranian combat units may very well be mirrored with increased funding and support for sunni opposition and terror forces – perhaps increases the escalation of tension along the entire persian gulf. Demographically, the majority sunni population are aligned against assad and his government. Unless this demography is altered substantially in favor of assad’s faction, he would probably lose syria in the long term. In the medium term, he will only rule over a fractured and crumbling country.
Also, iranian military capability appears to be mostly hot air. When portions of obama’s sanction relief takes effects, those mullahs will be rushing to Russia and China to replace their obsolescent stock of 1970’s era military hardware. Today, iran has no realistic means of successfully confronting Israel militarily in a direct manner (the iranian military knows this). However, when it gains the bomb along with along the delivery capability, in a decade or two, the situation would be very different.
cs says
They used children to clear minefields back in the days. Highly ethical.
Keith Jordan says
Only sick people think a bloodbath is a good thing!
TH says
Obama´s efforts are bearing fruit. He and his European lackeys have destroyed a stable goverment in Syria which generally respected the Christian population and handed Syria, as well as Iraq over to the jihadis. Another result of this is the hordes of Syrian refugees reaching Europe. A great job, Mr. Obama!
cutthecrap says
Hey Ramez Its easy to look down on a people from far away sitting in your comfy chair acting tough in front of a computer screen but remember this
Things change awfully quickly and soon the position that the brave mid east christians find themselves in might be your reality and then we will see how your attitude changes then don’t bother to call out for help from someone else. And if you think it can’t happen thing again just remember they blew up your twin towers and then are gonna build a mosque almost right on the site how quickly you are falling but are too blind to see
Alex says
Can’t believe some of you are defending Assad here. He is allied with Islamic supremacists Iran and Hezbollah and he is a mass murderer. Not only that, but he is also known as a CHILD TORTURER. Better think twice before defending such a person. He is clearly following the example of pedo imam Ali and pedo Mo.