Over the last week ISIS fighters had managed to capture the neighborhood of al-Asali and 90% of al-Madaniyah neighborhood in the al-Qadam district south of the Syrian capital of Damascu, according to an infographic released by the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq on March 21.
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Amaq also claimed that ISIS fighters had killed 173 soldeirs of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and had destroyed 2 battle tanks, a rocket launcher, a bulldozer and a BMP-1 armored vehicle during their advance in al-Qadam district .
Syrian pro-government sources have acknowledged that the SAA and the Syrian Military Intelligence lost around 100 fighters along with a battle tank and a BMP-1 armored vehicle in the al-Qadam district.
The high casualties of the SAA in al-Qadam were a result of the bad timing and terms of the evacuation agreement with opposition fighters in the district, according to pro-government sources.
Currently, the SAA is deploying more units to its positions around al-Qadam in order to boost its defense there. Should the Eastern Ghouta region be fully secured, the SAA will likely launch a large military operation against ISIS in southern Damascus.
