Jaysh Al-Islam gains control of regime strongholds around Damascus

The Syrian opposition group Jaysh Al-Islam announced yesterday that it has taken control of many military checkpoints formally manned by Syrian regime forces on the northern outskirts of Ghouta, east Damascus.

The group added that it captured and killed a large number of regime forces and soldiers as well as taking control of parts of the Damascus-Homs road, in a battle named “Allah Ghaleb” (God is the victor).

In a statement published on their website, spokesperson Islam Alloushexplained that “after freeing a Kurdish hill and the areas surrounding the women’s prison in Adra, east Damascus, thousands of Jasysh Al-Islam fighters headed to the military zone, which encircles Ghouta, Damascus, from the Western point of Qalamoun (north Damascus), and controlled it completely after violent clashes which led to the fall of military barracks in the area, roadblocks, rallies and bunkers.”