Sunday's attack, in which insurgents used tunnels they control in northeastern Damascus neighborhoods to hit government positions, appears to have caught the Syrian military off guard. Syria's al-Qaeda's branch has used suicide bombers targeting government security installations since the early days of the conflict. It was the latest in a series of stepped-up attacks claimed by the al-Qaeda-linked Levant Liberation Committee. The Levant Liberation Committee, the latest spinoff from Syria's al-Qaida branch, has claimed several other high-profile attacks in government-controlled areas recently. A wave of coalition aerial attacks has killed some senior al-Qaeda commanders in Syria in the past year, adding more pressure on the group.

Source: Egypt Independent March 21, 2017 08:26 UTC