On Thursday morning, the Islamist rebel group – “Jaysh Al-Islam” – renewed their offensive inside the contested town of Harasta after a two week long counter-assault by the National Defense Forces (NDF) in this area to the east of the Syrian capital.
With the Syrian Air Force grounded due to poor visibility from the weather conditions, Jaysh Al-Islam jumped at the opportunity to storm the National Defense Forces’ frontline positions near the Harasta National Hospital, where they would engage the aforementioned militia in a series of intense firefights that stretched late into the evening.
Islamist social media activists would claim they captured the Harasta National Hospital; however, Syrian military sources confirmed that the hospital is still under the control of the National Defense Forces, despite the fierce clashes still taking place at this medical facility.