The militants from the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” swarmed the Brick Factory from two axes on Sunday night, attempting to break-through the National Defense Forces’ (NDF) frontline fortifications from the Poultry Farms to the east and the military checkpoint to the north.

For six straight hours, Jabhat Al-Nusra and their allies from Ajnad Al-Sham pounded the Brick Factory with a barrage of rockets and mortar shells in order to weaken the facility’s defenses.

After their failure to breach the NDF’s defenses, the Islamist groups launched two suicide operations in order to penetrate the former’s fortifications; they would utilize BMP vehicles filled with explosives to drive into the NDF’s positions, hoping to open a gap for their comrades to enter the Brick Factory.

The constant bombardment paid off for the Islamist fighters, as the Brick Factory eventually caught on fire at midnight on Monday morning; this forced the NDF to pull back towards the camp area, where firefights persisted amid the flames engulfing the facility’s main building.

According to a military source in Al-Mastouma, the militants from Jabhat Al-Nusra suffered heavy casualties during their attack on the Brick Factory – the source estimated between 60-80 enemy combatants were killed; meanwhile, the NDF lost a confirmed 19 fighters before they pulled back towards the camp.