On Thursday morning in the northern Dara’a countryside, the Free Syrian Army’s “Al-Khalifa’ Al-Rashideen Battalion” of 1st Brigade launched a large-scale counter-assault inside the strategic city of Sheikh Miskeen in order force the Syrian Arab Army’s 5th Armored Division to exit the west district.

However, the Syrian Arab Army’s 15th Brigade of the 5th Armored Division had other plans for the Islamic rebels from the Free Syrian Army’s 1st Brigade, striking the encroaching enemy combatants with a powerful blow that forced the aforementioned Islamist group to retreat towards the east district in order to evade the Syrian Armed Forces and the swarming helicopter gunships from the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF).

According to a battlefield report from the 5th Armored Division in the city of Izra’a, the Syrian Arab Army’s 15th Brigade was able to forestall any advance from the Free Syrian Army and they reportedly killed between 24-30 enemy combatants in the process of clearing the area.

Recently, the Syrian Arab Army’s 5thArmored Division has concentrated on the city of Sheikh Miskeen after they conceded it to the Free Syrian Army’s 1st Brigade and Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda) last year.

Over the course of a week, the Syrian Arab Army’s 5th Armored Division has recovered several sites around the city of Sheikh Miskeen, including the Water Pump Factory, Battalion 82 Engineering Base, and Al-Dilli.