Hezbollah and the Syrian Army Give the Islamist Rebels 72 Hours to Surrender in Al-Zabadani

The Syrian Arab Army’s 63rd Brigade of the prestigious 4th Mechanized Division and Hezbollah have given the Islamist rebels of Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” a final ultimatum to fully surrender in the next 72 hours or else they are going to be shown no mercy inside the Mahata District of Al-Zabadani – this is the Islamist rebels last stronghold in the city.

This news comes eight hours after Jaysh Al-Islam (Army of Islam) launched a counter-offensive from Wadi Al-Barada to attempt to recapture the territory the Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra fighters lost over the course of 40 days, due to the full-scale siege that was imposed by the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah in Al-Zabadani.

Unfortunately for Jaysh Al-Islam, their offensive at Wadi Al-Barada did not go according to plan; in fact, it was quite the disaster, as the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah not only repelled the assault, but also, killed two dozen of their armed combatants, while destroying four armored vehicles that were mounted with 23mm anti-aircraft machine guns.

In the meantime, Hezbollah and the Syrian Armed Forces applied some pressure to the Islamist rebels by capturing more of their positions along Barada Street, while also advancing north towards Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra’s large base.

The 48 hour ceasefire that was implemented on Wednesday did not aid the Islamist rebels very much, as they neither surrendered the whole city nor improved their positions inside the Mahata District.