On March 18, militant groups operaing in Eastern Qalamoun launched an attack on positions of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces in the southern part of the pocket.
Pro-militant sources spread various unconfirmed reports about alleged casualties among the NDF and the SAA. According to them, the so-called opposition captured at least one T-72 battle tank, killed few SAA and NDF members and shot down a Su-24 warplane in the area.
All of these remains hardly confirmed. The situation in the area is unclear.
Eastern Qalamoun had witnessed calm for a long time thanks to a de-escalation agreement reached between the SAA and the local branch of Jaish al-Islam. However, the situation could change as the opposition may attempt to indriectly assist their counterparts loosing battle for Eastern Ghouta.
This video allegedly shows the “downed” Su-24 [It’s hard to identifty the warplane. It also may be a MiG-23]:
