On Wednesday morning, the Islamist rebels – led by Liwaa Ahrar Al-Houran and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” – carried out a powerful assault on the Syrian Arab Army’s 9th Armored Division and the National Defense Forces’ (NDF) positions at the strategic hills of Tal Kroum, Tal Bazaq, and Tal Al-Sha’ar in the Al-Quneitra Governorate of southwestern Syria.
The Islamist assault began at 8:30 A.M. (Damascus Time) on Wednesday morning, when a large contingent of armed combatants from Liwaa Ahrar Al-Houran stormed the SAA’s 9th Division’s frontline positions at the southwestern perimeter of Tal Bazaq and Tal Kroum, capturing part of the hill after a series of clashes that persisted for about seven hours in the Al-Quneitra Governorate.
Despite their initial success at Tal Bazaq and Tal Kroum, the militants from Liwaa Ahrar Al-Houran and Jabhat Al-Nusra were driven back by a joint force of SAA and NDF soldiers around 6 P.M. (Damascus Time) on Monday evening, leaving the rebel Islamists in the same positions they controlled 24 hours ago in the province.
Earlier today, the Islamist social media activists reported the encirclement of Hader and Majdal Al-Shamis in the Golan Heights of Syria by Al-Qaeda; however, local Durzi fighters from Liwaa Suqour Al-Quneitra (Quneitra Hawks Brigade) have denied any advancement and encirclement of their positions by Jabhat Al-Nusra and their allies at these predominately Druze cities in Al-Quneitra’s northern countryside.