A picture taken on November 7, 2013, shows an army tank driving through the streets of Sbeineh south of Syrian capital Damascus.
AlMasdarNews reports: The Islamist rebels of Jaysh Al-Islam (Army of Islam) launched a powerful counter-offensive in the East Ghouta region of rural Damascus on Thursday, targeting the key town of Al-Reyhan.
Jaysh Al-Islam began the offensive by storming the Syrian Arab Army’s defenses near the football fields in Al-Reyhan; this resulted in a fierce battle that lasted for nearly two hours on Thursday.
Despite their best efforts, the Islamist rebels were unable to infiltrate the Syrian Arab Army’s defenses, resulting in their subsequent withdrawal towards the hilltop village of Tal Kurdi
Following the failed Jaysh Al-Islam offensive, the Syrian Arab Army’s 105th Brigade of the Republican Guard launched their own attack, seizing several farms between Al-Reyhan and Tal Kurdi, while also tightening the encirclement around the aforementioned village.
Starting to notice a new SAA tactic going on here: Let them attack(besides the obvious need to not let them). Then counter attack immediately, taking and holding more area than before the attack.
It’s like the finger trap where the harder you pull out, the tighter the trap gets.
seeing how many jihadists are still alive and kicking in there despite killings and no real medical care, i cannot help but think that no jihadist enclave is really sealed off, and that the jihadists can move in fresh fighters into the enclave by smuggling them (and weapons) through government-controlled areas… i would suggest real siege, with making trenches around Ghouta, and observation points, so noone gets in or out except through controlled checkpoints. i hope that after West Ghouta is dealt with, that reinforcments are sent here to finally deal with this enclave.