Earlier today, Hezbollah – in coordination with the Syrian Arab Army’s 63rd Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division and the National Defense Forces (NDF) – carried out a large ambush in the resort-city of Al-Zabadani, resulting in the death of over 40 enemy combatants from the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” and the Free Syrian Army’s “Al-Zabadani Brigades.

The ambush was carried out at approximately 9:15 A.M. (Damascus Time) on Saturday morning, when members of Jabhat Al-Nusra were identified by local scouts traveling towards Al-Sultani Street.

Unaware of the well-prepared Syrian Army and Hezbollah soldiers spread across the road, the militants from Jabhat Al-Nusra and the Al-Zabadani Hawks walked right into an ambush that would later cost them over 40 soldiers, including Monzer Fahd Al-Shamis, Bassel Adnan ‘Abdullah, Mahmoud Mohammad Bara’a, ‘Ali ‘Salameh Al-Ansari, Mohammad ‘As’ad Al-Fawaz, and ‘Umar Thabet Abu Zayd.

Following this successful ambush, Hezbollah and the SAA’s 63rd Brigade forestalled an attempted infiltration by Jabhat Al-Nusra and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, killing a dozen militants and seizing a large cache of semi-automatic weapons and ammunition.

In addition of their success near the city of Al-Zabadani, the Syrian Armed Forces also pushed further south towards the strategically located town Madaya, capturing a number of small streets before sunrise on Saturday.