Militant pullout on hold from Yarmouk in Damascus

Allouch, 44, was the head of the rebel Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) movement, the most powerful insurgent group in the eastern suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus. Given the Kremlin’s loose terminology about who constitutes ISIS (Moscow are usually talking about all Salafis in Syria when they talk about “ISIS”) should this be interpreted as a not so subtle warning that Moscow will not cease such operations against groups it has determined to be terrorist regardless of who the Saudis, and possibly the Americans too, determine to be a legitimate opposition group in Syria who should be part of a negotiated solution to this almost half-a-decade-old Syrian conflict?

The Islam Army was the main rebel group responsible for the daily mortar attacks against civilian areas inside Damascus.

The combined developments all strengthen Assad’s position as his government prepares for peace talks that the United Nations is planning to convene in Geneva late next month.

Jaish al-Islam rose to prominence in Eastern Ghouta and has remained firmly opposed to both Assad and to the Islamic State jihadist group.

The Army of Islam sent members to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this month for talks among opposition groups aimed at choosing representatives for a third round of global peace talks, scheduled for early 2016. He replaces Islam Allouch, who was killed in the airstrike on a meeting of rebel commanders in a Damascus suburb. But the Syrian military later claimed responsibility in a statement published by the state-run SANA news agency.

And in November, Jaish al-Islam used dozens of captives in metal cages as “human shields” in an attempt to “prevent regime bombardment” of Eastern Ghouta, according to the Observatory.

Tumah also said that while he still intends to attend the peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, in January, Assad should not have any role in the future of Syria. Syria has long accused Saudi Arabia of paying for arms and other supplies to Alloush.

The opposition has already barred ISIL and Jabhat Al Nusra from participating in their discussions, but Syria and Russian Federation are unlikely to accept the presence or influence of groups like Jaysh Al Islam either.

The assassination could also provide a “morale boost to Assad’s beleaguered forces”, points out the Washington Post. In addition to Allouch, it said the airstrike killed “a large number of commanders of Ahrar al-Sham and Faylaq al-Rahman”, other rebel factions who are often allied with the Army of Islam.

The air strike that exterminated Zahran Alloush also exterminated one of the primary field commanders who were responsible for the transition from the primacy of Muslim Brotherhood linked insurgencies to Al-Qaeda-linked insurgencies in the Syrian theater.

Critics accuse him of sectarian politics and brutal tactics similar to that of the Islamic State group. The Assad family is Alawite.

Buses were due to transport the fighters to Raqqa, the de facto capital of Islamic State in northern Syria, Lebanese Hezbollah’s Manar TV station said.

Alloush’s death leaves so much up in the air, Lund wrote, especially in the Damascus suburbs of Ghouta.