It is part of a wider effort by the group to recover in the north. Jaish al-Islam commander Issam al-Buwaydani told Reuters in an interview that his group is reorganizing and rearming. “My entire combat group is working today in construction,” said Abu Jaafar al-Khouli, 25, one of the Jaish al-Islam fighters working at the construction site. The eastern Ghouta rebels defended their stronghold on the Damascus outskirts through years of government siege until earlier this year, when Assad took back the area in a ferocious Russian-backed offensive. He said the group is ready for new battles against the Syrian government or other enemies, including the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia which controls much of northern Syria.

Source: Egypt Independent September 27, 2018 11:26 UTC