It has been nearly 3 years since the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has last entered the large Damascene city of Hajjar Al-Aswad and the Al-Qadam District; however, the pro-government forces are eager to make up for lost time, as the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) finally bids farewell to this part of southern Damascus.
For several months, ISIS has been entrenched in the city of Hajjar Al-Aswad (Black Stone) and the large Damascene district of Al-Qadam, leaving many bystanders in fear of the aforementioned terrorist group’s intentions to advance north towards the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Luckily, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the National Defense Forces (NDF), and the Palestinian resistance all kept the terrorist group in check in southern Damascus, while the Islamist rebels of Jaysh Al-Islam (Army of Islam) and Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) either colluded with or lost ground to the ISIS forces.
On Thursday morning, ISIS agreed to abandon their posts at the Al-Qadam District and the city of Hajar Al-Aswad, as long as they were provided transportation to the Al-Raqqa Governorate from the Syrian capital.
According to a military source inside of the Damascus City, 4,000 ISIS fighters are being transferred to the Al-Raqqa Governorate after negotiations between rival Palestinian groups proved successful.
This is a major victory for the Syrian Government as they are now in control of a large chunk of southern Damascus, which was once the most volatile area inside the Syrian capital.