Click to see the full-size map
On March 16, ISIS fighters resumed their attacks on positions of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the neighborhoods Joura and Assaly of the al-Qadam district south of the Syrian capital of Damascus, according to opposition sources.
The ISIS-linked news agency Amaq claimed that ISIS fighters had killed 11 SAA soldiers and had injured several others during the clashes in the al-Qadam district. A battle tank and two BMP-1 armored vehicles were also destroyed by ISIS fighters with rocket-propelled grenades, according to Amaq.
By Wassim Essa, click to see the full-size image
ISIS claimed in its newspaper al-Nab’a that its fighters had captured most of the Assaly neighborhood and large parts of the al-M’azniyah neighborhood after Syrian opposition militants had withdrawn from the al-Qadam district on March 13.
A source in the SAA told SouthFront that the SAA had deployed several armored units of the Republican Guard to the al-Qadam district in order to repel the ISIS attack on March 13. However, these units didn’t succeed in securing their new positions.
The ISIS advance in al-Qadam district may force the SAA and its allies to conduct airstrikes on ISIS positions in the Yarmouk refugees camp, east of al-Qadam. Currently, more than 85% of the Yarmouk camp is under the control of the terrorist organization. ISIS uses it as a foothold to attack several government- and opposition- held areas south of Damascus.
