Early on Monday morning, a convoy of Al-Nusra Front (Jabhat Al-Nusra) fighters was traveling from the ‘Arsal District in Lebanon to the Syrian village of ‘Assal Al-Ward in the Qalamoun Mountains, attempting to resupply and reinforce their comrades combatting the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Hezbollah (Party of God) in this area.

NDF scouts identified a convoy of militants from the Al-Nusra Front making their way to ‘Assal Al-Ward during a reconnaissance mission near the Lebanese border. As a result, a joint force of Hezbollah and NDF fighters prepared an ambush on the road leading to ‘Assad Al-Ward around 7 A.M. on Monday; this surprise attack led to the death of over 30 militants from the Al-Nusra Front.

The Al-Nusra Front suffered significant casualties as a result of this attack in the Qalamoun Mountains, including a number of senior members that were traveling with this convoy. Among the dead senior members of the Al-Nusra Front killed in the ambush was the field command “Mohammad Khalouf” – he was identified as key figure of the Al-Nusra Front’s operations in the Qalamoun Mountains. Khalouf led the failed counter-attack on Hezbollah fighters at Faleeta and Rankous in early October 2014.