BEIRUT // ISIL fighters on Sunday pushed into a large district in southern Damascus, clashing with rival militants a few kilometres from the centre of the Syrian capital.
More than two dozen militants were killed in the clashes on the edges of the Qadam neighbourhood, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has an extensive network of activists on the ground.
The pro-ISIL Aamaq news agency reported that ISIL fighters seized half of Qadam.
ISIL fighters were holding two streets and that fighting was continuing, said the Observatory’s Rami Abdurrahman.
Supporters of the extremists posted propaganda pictures claiming to show ISIL fighters advancing in the narrow streets of Qadam. The authenticity of the images could not be confirmed independently.
Earlier this year, ISIL fighters entered the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, east of Qadam, and controlled large parts of it. ISIL has emerged as one of the most powerful forces in the battle to overthrow Syrian president Bashar Assad.
The extremist group executed 91 people – a third of them civilians, over the past month in areas of Syria it controls, said the Observatory.
The victims were executed for “crimes” in the extremist group’s self-proclaimed caliphate between July 29 and August 29.
The toll included ISIL members, rebel fighters and forces loyal to Mr Al Assad.
* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
