Jabhat al-Nusra.

This is coolbert:

Thanks to the tip from Robert and the original article as written by Alistair Bunkall, Sky News.

"Islamic State attacks in Iraq and Syria at highest level since 2014"

"Mainstream analysts are portraying this as a sign of desperation: 'The group is resorting more and more to mass-casualty violence as it comes under heavy pressure from multiple angles.' . . . the strikes against the Islamic State still don’t amount to much more than timid half-measures."

Timid that word within the military context very pejorative!!

"Islamic State has increased its attacks in Iraq and Syria to the highest level since 2014, according to a report by IHS Janes."

. . . .

"There is further sobering news for Syria as the report concludes that Jabhat al-Nusra has successfully established itself within the militant Islamist opposition and is arguably 'a more dangerous long-term threat in the country than the Islamic State'”.

And as extracted from the wiki regarding JaN:

"Al-Nusra Front, or Jabhat al-Nusra . . . often abbreviated to JN or JaN), sometimes called al-Qaeda in Syria or al-Qaeda in the Levant, is a Sunni Islamist militia fighting against Syrian Government forces in the Syrian Civil War, with the aim of establishing an Islamist state in the country"

IT WOULD SEEM THE CAPTURE OF al-SHAMS OF VITAL SYMBOLIC IMPORTANCE TO THE SALAFIST. al-SHAMS THAT AREA GENERALLY DESCRIBED BY WESTERNERS AS THE LEVANT, THE MODERN NATIONS OF LEBANON, ISRAEL AND SYRIA. WITH REGARD TO THE LATTER INCLUDE THE LAND WESTWARD FROM THE ROAD CONNECTING ALEPPO, HOMS, HAMA, DAMASCUS.

coolbert.