IAF smashes ISIS-linked mortar team after Golan shelling

DEBKAfile was founded by a team of journalists in June 2000 as an independent Internet Web site, providing an intelligence and security news service. November 27, 2016, 11:15 AM (IDT)

The Israeli Air Force went into action Sunday against a group of the Khalid bin Walid Army, after a mortar and light arms attack on the Golan border fence. No one was hurt. This militia’s chiefs have sworn allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. The fire came from a militia position in the Syrian-Jordanian-Israel border triangle in southern Syria. DEBKAfile reports that the attack followed the return to their posts of UNDOF personnel to supervise and restore the pre-war demilitarized zone between the Israeli and Syrian Golan sectors.
The observers returned in the last few days as a result of the secret talks underway between Israel, Jordan and Syria for restabilizing the border area. Those talks were first revealed by DEBKAfile on Nov. 21. They are taking place with the knowledge of US president elect Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. The main obstacle to the restoration of calm to this flashpoint sector is the presence of the jihadist Khalid bin Walid Army, which has apparently decided to fight rather than succumb to the authority of the Syrian army.

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