On Thursday morning, the Syrian Arab Army’s 63rd Brigade of the prestigious 4th Mechanized Division and Hezbollah continued their full-scale siege of Al-Zabadani, capturing more neighborhoods from Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” at this resort-city on the Syrian-Lebanese border.
The Syrian Armed Forces and Lebanese Resistance began their assault at the Imam Mosque in the Al-Zabadani city-center, where they confronted a large contingent from Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra positioned inside the nearby neighborhoods.
Following a series of fierce firefights at the Imam Mosque, the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah captured the aforementioned site its surrounding neighborhoods, killing 19 confirmed enemy combatants from Jabhat Al-Nusra and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham before noon on Thursday.
However, the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah did not stop at the Imam Mosque; instead, they pushed their way to the Za’atout Neighborhood, where they broke-through the frontline defenses of the Free Syrian Army’s “Al-Zabadani Hawks Brigade” and Jabhat Al-Nusra after a series of intense clashes.
Two hours after the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah launched their attack at the Za’atout Neighborhood, the militants from Jabhat Al-Nusra and the Al-Zabadani Hawks Brigade withdrew from their positions in order to reinforce their entrenched fighters on Hikmat Street.