50 terrorists killed in fresh militant infighting near Syria's Damascus
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Militants from Jaish al-Islam prepare their ammunition on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, on January 23, 2016. ©AFP
At least 50 foreign-backed terrorists have been killed during a fresh wave of infighting between Takfiri groups over the control of an area near the Syrian capital, Damascus.
According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the latest casualties were caused after the Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam terrorist group clashed with the Faylaq al-Rahman group, which is led by al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, in Eastern Ghouta region.
Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman also confirmed the latest killings have brought to more than 500 the number of people killed in the ongoing terrorist infighting since late April.
The initial fighting began more than two weeks ago when Jaish al-Islam’s positions came under attack by the rival terrorist groups in the volatile region. Faylaq al-Rahman is being backed in the fierce fighting by al-Nusra-affiliated terrorist group known as the Fustat Army.
On Monday, Jaish al-Islam in a statement accused Failaq al-Rahman of rejecting an initiative tabled by Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC) coordinator Riad Hijab on the conflict in Syria.
In December last year, Jaish al-Islam suffered a blow when its leader, Zahran Alloush, was killed in a Russian air strike in the area.
Jaish al-Islam is the dominant Takfiri group in Eastern Ghouta. One of the group’s leaders, Mohammad Alloush, is among the senior negotiators of the so-called opposition group at peace talks in Geneva.
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