ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE
On Friday, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) captured the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) 90th Brigade base east of al-Hadar town in the southern Damascus countryside, according to the HTS-linked news agency Iba’a.
Iba’a also claimed that the SAA is now shelling HTS positions in the area.
Then, pro-government sources claimed that the SAA and local National Defense Forces (NDF) fighters recaptured Al-Hira hill east of al-Hadar and all other position that had been lost in the HTS attack.
Pro-government sources confirmed Iba’a claims about HTS capturing the 90th Brigade base.
The attack is a major violation of the de-escalation agreement in southern Syria. Furthermore, Iba’a claims about SAA shelling is considered by many pro-government sources a sign to Israel to conduct airstrikes on the SAA positions in the area.
The attack followed reports that Israeli troops advanced 200 meters inside the area controlled by HTS and its allies near the village of Beer Ajam south al-Hadar town. Likely, the Israelis at least knew about the attack in advance if it was not a coordinated effort with them even.
Many Syrian experts believe that the Israeli airstrike on Masyaf on September 7, and the Friday violation of the de-escalation agreement were just an Israeli reaction for the SAA achievements against ISIS in Deir Ezzor.
