In preparation for the offensive, the ISIL affiliate was secretly supplied with intelligence and ammunition by members of three rebel factions in exchange for money.

[18] At the end of February 2017, rebels from 16 different FSA-affiliated factions formed the Nawa Operations Room in an attempt to quell the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army’s advances.

[23] Fighting continued into 17 April, with rebels being ambushed and, according to ISIS' Amaq News Agency, sustaining heavy casualties with 25 being killed and 27 injured.

[26] On 11 June, fighting erupted between factions of Southern Front amid fears of defections to the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army in towns of Inkhil and Maaraba and the Nasib Border Crossing.

[29] However, Southern Front regrouped and recaptured the villages before dawn of 8 September at the expense of 6 of their militants killed and 1 captured by the ISIL-linked group.

[30] In the early hours of 18 April 2018, the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army launched another offensive against rebels in Saham al-Jawlan and other villages in the area.