The battle for the northeastern front of the Al-Quneitra Governroate has recently intensified, as the militants from the Free Syrian Army’s “Southern Front” and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” have recently shifted their focus to the towns of Beit Jinn, Hadar, Jabatha Al-Khashab, and Ouwfaniyah in the eastern countryside of Syria’s Golan Heights.
After failing to capture the strategic hills of Tal Kroum and Tal Baraq last week, the FSA’s Southern Front followed up with a successful assault at Tal Al-Hamr, where they were able to secure this steep hilltop, only to relinquish control of the area after a powerful counter-attack was launched by the Syrian Arab Army’s 167th Brigade of 7th Mechanized Division and Liwaa Suqour Al-Quneitra (Al-Quneitra Hawks Brigade) on Thursday.
As the Syrian Armed Forces lifted the siege on the predominately Druze town of Hadar, the armed combatants from Jabhat Al-Nusra and the FSA’s Southern Front simultaneously attacked the towns of Beit Jinn, Jabatha Al-Khashab, and Ouwfaniyah, resulting in a series of intense firefights that surpassed the weekend clashes and continued late into Monday evening.
To combat the large agglomeration of enemy combatants descending upon the aforementioned towns in the Golan Heights, the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF) conducted numerous airstrikes at the cities of Nab’i Al-Sakhar, Tal Al-Harrah, Al-Mosahra, and ‘Umm Batna, targeting the militant movements inside this province in southwestern Syria.
Meanwhile, at West Al-Samandiyah, Al-Hamidiyah, and Al-Mosahra, the Syrian Arab Army’s 167th Brigade – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Kata’eb Al-Ba’ath (Ba’ath Battalions) – targeted the militants of Jabhat Al-Nusra at these cities in eastern Al-Quneitra, killing scores of enemy combatants, while also obstructing any advance by the aforementioned.
Infuriated over the killing of their two militants in the Golan Heights, Jabhat Al-Nusra relentlessly targeted the town of Hadar in retaliation for the Druze assault of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) ambulance at Majdal Al-Shamis in the occupied Golan Heights.