On Friday morning, the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s (ISIS) field commander, Hassan Al-Alaaya, was killed during a firefight with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) at the village of Al-Jarajeer in Syria’s Qalamoun Mountains.

Known as “Abu Alaaya”, Hassan Al-Alaaya was identified by Syrian Air Force Intelligence as one of lead field operatives for ISIS in the Qalamoun Mountains before he was killed by the SAA – he becomes the second ISIS field commander killed in two months.

Directly south of Al-Jarajeer, the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Hezbollah (Party of God) repelled an infiltration attempt by the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” at the village of Faleeta, killing almost 20 militants before they withdrew east.

Among the dead enemy combatants at Faleeta, two Jabhat Al-Nusra fighters from Deir Ezzor were identified: Ahmad Al-‘Ali (Mohassan) and Khaled Al-Farhan (AbuKamaal).

The SAA and Hezbollah continued their successful offensive in Al- Zabadani, attacking Jabal Al-Gharbiyah (Western Mountains) from the western flank, while their comrades at the town of Bloudan in the eastern flank assault the city.

According to a military source, the SAA and Hezbollah’s recent progress has occurred in conjunction with the Lebanese Army’s assault on the ‘Arsal Barrens, as both national forces combat Al-Qaeda militants on the border of Lebanon and Syria.