DEBKA Exclusive: deputy commander of ISIS forces on Syrian Golan killed

DEBKAfile's military sources report exclusively that the deputy commander of ISIS forces in southern Syria including the Syrian Golan, Abu Diab Al-Nablusi, was killed Thursday afternoon in a battle just five kilometers east of the Israeli border. Al-Nablusi was among ISIS forces battling fighters from the Nusra Front and the Free Syrian Army. The battle, which has been raging since Sunday, can be heard clearly on the Israeli side of the border.
As for the situation of the fighting between the Syrian army and ISIS near Palmyra in eastern Syria, DEBKAfile's military sources say that the army advanced several hundred kilometers closer to the historic city on Thursday and captured an intersection leading to the western part of Palmyra, but is still three to five kilometers away. No Russian planes or helicopters are providing air cover for the attack.