On Thursday morning, the Islamist rebel faction “Liwaa Thawar Souriya” launched a powerful assault on the Syrian Arab Army’s frontline defenses at the strategic hilltop of Tal Za’tar, capturing the hill’s main checkpoint amid the barrage of enemy gunfire and mortar shells coming from the last checkpoint outside of Dara’a City’s western flank.
Both sides currently claim they are in full control of Tal Za’tar; however, the video footage posted by the Islamist rebel fighters shows that they at least have fire control over Tal Za’tar, as the sound of gunfire was deafening and non-stop.
If the Islamist rebels from Liwaa Thawar Souriya take control of the last checkpoint outside of Dara’a City’s western perimeter, they will have effectively surrounded the provincial capital from three different flanks (southern, eastern, and western flanks).
Meanwhile, inside the provincial capital, the Free Syrian Army’s “Southern Front Brigades” conducted an assault on the Al-Manishiyah Quarter, targeting the Syrian Arab Army’s 132nd Brigade of the 5th Armored Division at the Dara’a Al-Balad axis before nightfall dissipated the clashes.
East of the Al-Manishiyah Quarter, the Southern Front carried out another assault near the Dara’a National Hospital, resulting in a series of fierce firefights that produced very little progress for either side.
