Terrorists exploit East Ghouta safe zone to kill Syrian soldiers

On Tuesday, the Saudi-backed group Jaish Al-Islam targeted government checkpoints in the East Ghouta, thus violating the newly brokered ‘de-escalation zone’ which covers the entire region.

Targeting the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) forward positions near the village of Beit Na’em on the southeastern axis of the rebel pocket, killing government soldiers whom had been instructed not to engage jihadist belligerents due to the Astana safe zone agreement.

According to the media wing of Jaish Al-Islam, five SAA soldiers died amid the clashes:

In response, the SAA regrouped on the Beit Na’em frontier in the afternoon, retaking the depicted lost checkpoint and advancing a couple hundred meters through farm territory on the southern outskirts of the rebel-held village.

Nevertheless, prior to withdrawing from the newly raided positions, Jaish Al-Islam retrieved the bodies of a handful of fallen SAA soldiers and captured the event on tape:

Despite human losses, the SAA moved closer to Beit Na’em and may launch an assault on the village in retaliation over the blatant ceasefire violation.

Meanwhile, SAA artillery units began bombarding Irbeen on the eastern fringes of Damascus while the 105th Brigade of the Republican Guard started mobilizing in the embattled Jobar suburb alongside the 106th Brigade following a rebel capitulation in the Al-Qaboun and Barzeh neighborhoods over the weekend.