Ahrar Al Sham Rebels Trolled by SAA as they Evacuate Harasta, East Ghouta

Rebels of the Ahrar al Sham jihadist group have agreed to surrender Harasta, the only town they controlled in the East Ghouta region of Damascus, in exchange for transport for them and their families to Idlib. A total of 1500 militants and 6000 of their family members are expected to be evacuated from Harasta.

On their way out, they were trolled by Syrian Army soldiers who, among other things, waved the Two-Star Flag of the Syrian Arab Republic at the outgoing buses.

This leaves a small number of Hayat Tahrir al Sham rebels in Harasta, and if they do not likewise surrender by the end of the week, the SAA will take Harasta by force.

On a related note, rebels of the Faylaq al Rahman , the jihadist group in control of the Southern Ghouta pocket which contains the towns of Irbin, Zamalka, Ayn Terma and Jobar have agreed to a ceasefire. Preliminary reports claim that they also wish to surrender for evacuation to Idlib. Hayat Tharir al Sham is also present there and if they choose not to evacuate after Faylaq al Raham, the SAA will be forced to restart operations to wrest those towns by force.

This would leave Douma, controlled by the Jaish al Islam jihadist group, as the only part of East Ghouta not under the control of the SAA. Douma is currently under a temporary ceasefire while negotiations for its surrender continue. The pattern in Douma, over the past two weeks, has been airstrikes leading to ceasefire and negotiations, and when those fail, the continuation of airstrikes.

Southern Damascus, ie the towns of Babila, Yarmouk, and Qadam, most of which is under the control of ISIS, seems to figure in the next phase of operations.