The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 09:45

if at all ISIS goes down, they will make their last horse cavalry charge, black flags fluttering in the dry wind and curved swords gleaming in the winter sun around Raqqa and the area to the south of it.

habal · Post by **habal** » 12 Oct 2015 09:47

Look at the eastern part. Deir Ez Zor from where we know a military division of Syrian Republican Guards is protecting the military airport.

We hear little about Der Ez Zor, though ISIS is losing hundreds of rats per day trying to storm the air base for 365th time...they know what is coming, once the fronts in the western side of Syria is stable and the several offensives are giving fruits, ISIS know RuAF will use Deir Ez Zor airbase as the base to attack ISIS in Iraq, this base is large, safer in terms of perimeter and minutes from Iraq, ISIS is desperate and they know they risk being cut off in half between Iraq and Syria.

Another Russian strategy is to go against the battle-hardened Al Qaeda Nusrats (Nusra), by far the best rat fighters, if their backbone is broken, then this war is already partially won, ISIS is all show and no go, basically radicalized kids taken out of Sunni madrasas around the globe, basketball sneakers and shades with face masks but no capability to fight. Idlib, Aleppo, Homs will be all rat free in no time, but to break al Qaeda Nusrats backbone will take some time. Right now Al Qaeda Nusrat leaders in Syria are screaming for help, they know when their main defenses breakdown it will be a mess, all rats are on the front line and no much coming from Turkey anymore, time is ticking, the RuAF, SAA, Hezb, IRG, Shia militias just need to keep up pressure until lines are broken at Idlib.
https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1/stat ... 3753420800

Battle for Deir Ezzor Becomes a Blood Bath: ISIS Disregards Death Toll to Advance
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/bat ... o-advance/

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 10:01

the ISIS does have a veteran core of ex Iraqi army/Sunni insurgent types and chechen jihadis who have burned their passports and vowed to serve the Caliph till the end. the cannon fodder will be used for things like driving suicide trucks loaded with explosives to breach gates and defensive lines, creating an opening where others can exploit.

wrt to the TOW missiles, in a stable front with opposing lines a few km apart in farms and hills its useful to sneak around take potshots at exposed targets...but its needs in manpower is high and mobility is low unless mounted on back of a pickup...if a proper regimental size 55 tank attack is launched on a narrow 1km wide front, with helicopters scouting ahead to locate TOW positions (usually atop hills and buildings with clear FOV due to wire guidance) and artillery/grads able to respond quickly...I dont see how a few TOWs and toyota borne HMGs can repel such an attack.

its just Assad being woefully short of manpower, intel and proper networked artillery that has stabilized the front and given the rebels huge chunks of territory.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 10:03

Dier Azzor probably is a roadblock between ISIS and easy access to the jordan border, their plan-B escape route.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 10:16

rt.com - keeping up pressure on the home front

Today
02:11 GMT
Firefight in Russia’s Ingushetia as militants trapped in anti-terror op
Militants have been blockaded in two houses in a counterterrorism operation underway in the Russian Republic of Ingushetia located in the North Caucasus region, TASS quoted a law enforcement spokesperson as saying. A firefight with security forces is ongoing. “A group of militants was discovered in the village Gazi-Yurt. They have put up a fight when confronted.” Law enforcement is considering tightening security in the area, including blocking cellular services.

habal · Post by **habal** » 12 Oct 2015 10:17

regarding the refugee crises. Has anyone wondered how refugee crises came about 4 1/2 years after beginning of war ???

think it is happening now because Erdogan has reached the conclusion that overthrowing the government of Syria is not going to happen. So, all of those he allowed in because he thought they would be short term "guests" have worn out their welcome and are being cajoled into moving on. Lebanon is full. So, they have to move on into Europe.

All these are men between 18-35 and unemployable. They will destroy the social security/social spending system eventually, they can not assimilate. This is Tourkiye's revenge on Europe for non-admission into EU maybe, destabilize it's economy and demographics.

LOL

Poles are waking up: NATO and the US are the enemy, not Russia;
politicians don't think that the huge chasm between the public and policy will make any difference - - wait until the next election and the populace is up to its ears in illegals living on the dole, blowing things up, shooting people, or some combination. Too funny!
http://sputniknews.com/politics/2015100 ... inion.html

Turks on twitter predict Erkodakan will lose upcoming elections and flee to Europe or Qatar.

https://twitter.com/agitpapa/status/652016469681827840

"TR whistleblower Fuatavni had claimed Tayyip was getting ready to flee. Cumhuriyet reports today that spy chief Hakan Fidan is resigning after Nov election & getting embassy or other posting abroad - i.e he's also running. Fuatavni predicted Tayyip's "money son" Bilal weekend end up on Lake Como so he could easily carry suitcases of cash 2 Zurich. Liechstenstein"
In several twitters, the word is that "merdogan" would leave to Qatar.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 12 Oct 2015 11:16

Saudis,barbaric vandals,the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pots of the Islamic world.

The West rightly condemns Isis vandalism of ancient sites – but not when the Saudis do it
Saudi Arabia's grotesque destruction of Muslim history is directly linked to Isis’s own purgation of the past
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the ... 89931.html

Robert Fisk
@indyvoices
Sunday 11 October 2015

David Cameron meets with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal inside 10 Downing Street in London, on March 22, 2011. Akira Suemori - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Explosives pulverise historic sites in the Middle East, bulldozers erase ancient tombs and shrines, historic forts are torn down and Ottoman facades destroyed. The home of the favourite wife of the most revered man in an entire religion is even turned into a block of toilets. How can the world prevent this wicked desecration and extinction of a heritage that belongs to all mankind? I am, of course, referring to those iconoclastic Wahhabi-Salafist Muslim head-choppers … the Saudis!

And the world will do absolutely nothing. It will screech and rage and curse as the iconoclastic Wahhabi-Salafist Muslim head-choppers of Isis blow to bits the Roman ruins of Palmyra, but will never dare – and has never dreamed – of uttering a pussy-cat’s protest against Saudi Arabia’s wilful destruction of the ancient graves, homes, shrines and buildings of Islam’s Prophet Mohamed and his closest relatives and companions. Naturally, we could conclude that Roman remains are more valuable than the antiquities of Islam. But this would be about as racist a reaction as suggesting that the Roman empire was more important than the Islamic empire.

No, the real reason we ignore the vandalising of so many Muslim sites is that we cannot – will not, must not – criticise the Saudis whose grotesque wealth silences all of us to such obscene lengths that our Prime Minister flies our flags at half mast when its autocratic ruler dies. No suggestion must be made – not even the softest whisper must be uttered – that might connect our Saudi friends with the apocalyptic cult called Isis, which follows with absolutist determination the Wahhabi Sunni faith adopted 270 years ago by the ancestors of the present Saudi monarchy.

Why Syria’s Christians can never go home

In the past few days, we have rightly bewailed the pulverisation of the magnificent Arch of Triumph at Palmyra, 1,800 years old – probably erected to commemorate the Emperor Aurelius’s victory over Queen Zenobia who was later dragged, Isis-style, through the streets of Rome – and the loss of the entrance to the magnificent and roofless Roman colonnade which, we must all fear, will also be levelled by the time the Syrian army, with its Russian air cover, recaptures the city. The reduction of Palmyra to rubble is a war crime, according to the UN. But when the country with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Isis supporters – and donors – wipes out the Islamic history of Arabia, including 90 per cent of Mecca’s millennium-old sites, we pay as much attention to this mass vandalism as we do to the damage of a nativity window in a Co Kerry church.

Take a glance at what has come to pass in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A library has been built over the dwelling where the Prophet Mohamed was born in Mecca in AD570 – even this may now be replaced by skyscrapers – and the fine Bilal mosque, dating from this same period, has been bulldozed. Mohamed’s first wife, Khadijah, lived in a Mecca house which has been turned into toilets. The Mecca Hilton Hotel was erected over the house of Abu Bakr, Mohamed’s father-in-law, his closest companion and future Caliph. Hundreds of old Ottoman houses have been destroyed in Saudi Arabia and Ottoman architecture around the Great Mosque is being torn down for pilgrimage “expansion” projects. Five of the famous “Seven Mosques”, built by Mohamed’s daughter and four companions, were demolished 90 years ago. And, after the Lebanese (Christian) Professor Kamal Salibi published a book in 1985 suggesting that many Saudi villages bore biblical Jewish place names, the bulldozers arrived to erase them.

This grotesque destruction of Muslim history is directly linked to Isis’s own purgation of the past by the Wahhabi faith, which the Saudis adopted from the teachings of the 18th-century Mohamed ibn Abdul Wahhab – who preached that Islam should return to the purity of its earliest principles. From these ideas came the notion that almost any historical monument represents an excuse for idolatry, a precept adopted with ferocious enthusiasm by the Saudi tribes. When Abdul Aziz ibn Saud moved into Mecca in the 1920s, his first actions included the destruction of the graveyard in which Khadijah was buried, along with the tomb of one of the Prophet’s uncles. The same fate awaited the tombs of Mohamed’s daughter Fatima and his grandson Hasan ibn Ali.

Thus began the vandalism of graveyards, tombs, shrines and historic buildings across south-west Asia: from Shia shrines in Pakistan to the magnificent Buddhas of Bamiyan to the ancient libraries of Timbuktu; from the antiquities of Mecca to the churches of Mosul and the Roman ruins of Palmyra. Even beautiful – though war-damaged – Bosnian mosques hundreds of years old have been torn down in favour of the Saudi-funded concrete monstrosities that are now appearing in the Balkans. This hatred of history is part and parcel of the retrograde Wahhabi belief in which the past has only a spiritual presence, its physical remains a reminder only of imperfection.

It’s not that Saudi Arabia’s self-destruction of history is unknown – The Independent was one of the first Western newspapers to give it publicity in pre-Isis days. Nor, may the saints preserve us from such folly and the kingdom’s lawyers, must we ever suggest that the Saudi regime supports Isis. But if we are to understand just what Isis is – and what it represents and who admires it – then we must study much more carefully the frightening religious habits that connect Isis, the Taliban and al-Qaeda to the people of a country whose king calls himself the “Caretaker of the Two Noble Sanctuaries” of Mecca and Medina.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 12 Oct 2015 12:37

IDSA Article on Sryia

Russian Military Intervention in Syria

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 12 Oct 2015 12:40

Singha wrote:if at all ISIS goes down, they will make their last horse cavalry charge, black flags fluttering in the dry wind and curved swords gleaming in the winter sun around Raqqa and the area to the south of it.

More likely to be Tikrit (Saddam's birthplace) or Fallujah in Iraq as the last stand. Raqqa is going to get harder to hold on to, they might exit Syria altogether.

member_28990 · Post by **member_28990** » 12 Oct 2015 12:50

Klaus wrote:
Singha wrote:if at all ISIS goes down, they will make their last horse cavalry charge, black flags fluttering in the dry wind and curved swords gleaming in the winter sun around Raqqa and the area to the south of it.
More likely to be Tikrit (Saddam's birthplace) or Fallujah in Iraq as the last stand. Raqqa is going to get harder to hold on to, they might exit Syria altogether.

according to their so called jihadi credo, the last stand is destined to be at Dabiq

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/p ... ia-mccants

In a prophecy attributed to Muhammad, the Prophet predicts the Day of Judgment will come after the Muslims defeat Rome at al-`Amaq or Dabiq, two places close to the Syrian border with Turkey. Another prophecy holds that Rome’s allies will number 80. The Muslims will then proceed to conquer Constantinople

since these guys are essentially cowards, i doubt they will make a last stand ANYWHERE.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 13:13

Tikrit was wrested back from ISIS after a long campaign in the summer. the current frontline seems to be Baiji further 100k up north.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 12 Oct 2015 13:14

15 People Detained in Moscow for Terror Plots
http://ria.ru/incidents/20151012/1300444199.html

Media: among those detained for preparing terrorist attack in Moscow - three Syrians

On the eve of the law enforcement agencies have detained a group of people who are suspected of preparing terrorist attack in Moscow. In total 15 people were arrested, including three citizens of Syria, and 12 people from the North Caucasus.

As previously reported the information center of the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, in one of the houses security forces detained a group of people allegedly preparing attacks in the Russian capital. They found an apartment and defused an improvised explosive device.

"The apartment house 5, building 3 of Strelbischensky alley were detained 15 people. Of these, 12 - from the North Caucasus (including Chechnya), 3 - the citizens of Syria. They are now being questioned," - the newspaper said.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 12 Oct 2015 13:19

There is an element of Risk in Russian Operations on Syria and later may be Iraq , Aircraft might crash , or terror strikes could happen on Latakia bases or Russian Citizen Abroad might get Targetted by ISIS or other terrorist.

Internally there might be Terror Strikes may be some spectular ones God Forbid , I think thats the risk a country has to take in dealing with Terrorist , India is an example of facing all these specially Terror Strikes against civilian.

The risk of not doing any thing against ISIS is far far greater then the risk of Engaging them and getting rid of them.

Reminds me of

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 13:22

from a kurd website pukmedia.com
On Monday, October 12, 2015, People's Protection (YPG) Units joins arms with the new alliance, which they consist of Arab groups; a military source told PUKmedia.

The alliance calls itself the Strong Democratic Syria. They fought well together with the YPG Kurdish forces, and neutralized the Islamic State (IS) forces in south of Syria.

It is mentioned that the alliance also consists of Christian Assyrians, different ethnicity and cultures.

--

a turk journalist claims on twitter the US has airdropped by 110 pallets of weapons and ammo for the YPG to pickup and join the new alliance of sunni warlords and tribes cobbled together to attack Raqqa in concert with the YPG..i suppose more than quality its quantity , boots on the ground, basic infantry who can occupy space and hold lines, and well trained FACs who can communicate with SF units on ground and 1-800-B52 overhead that will decide the fate of Raqqa battle.

hopefully the sands of time are running low for the depraved murderers and the women and children they hold in slavery many can be rescued.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 13:28

yahoo news
Baghdad (AFP) - The Islamic State group executed 70 members of a Sunni tribe allied to the government in western Iraq earlier this week, a tribal leader and the United Nations said Wednesday.

The victims, members of the Albu Nimr tribe, were executed on Sunday in the Tharthar area north of Ramadi, the capital of the western Anbar province, tribal elder Naim Gaoud told AFP.

"These people who were executed were the fathers and brothers of members of the police, the army... and of tribal fighters who are battling Daesh," he said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

"Daesh executed them by shooting," he said.

Iraqi security forces, backed by US-led coalition air strikes, launched a vast operation west of Ramadi Sunday to tighten the noose on IS, which captured the Anbar capital in May and controls most of the province.

Hatem al-Gaoud, another clan member reached by phone, said IS had trapped dozens of tribe members in the Khanzir area of Tharthar since the jihadist group launched its major offensive in Iraq last year.

"They gathered them outside Khanzir and shot them all in the head," he said.

"I don't know what IS did with the bodies, but it is likely they buried them in mass graves near the site of the execution," he said.

The UN Mission in Iraq's human rights office confirmed the mass execution.

"This is not the first attack on the Albu Nimr, since they have been actively opposed to ISIL (IS)," it said in an email to AFP.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 13:30

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/11 ... k-Hawijah-

Members of the Daesh Takfiri militant group have reportedly executed dozens of its own members in Iraq’s embattled western and northern provinces of Anbar and Kirkuk.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arabic-language Sky Press news agency that Daesh terrorists killed 50 fellow extremists in the conflict-ridden western city of Khan al-Baghdadi, situated about 180 kilometers (110 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad, on Saturday, after accusing them of espionage and passing confidential information to Iraqi security personnel.

The source added that Daesh extremists are in a state of panic and terror as a result of heavy shelling by Iraqi security forces and fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units across Anbar Province.

The development came on the same day as Daesh terrorists beheaded 10 fellows publicly in the town of Hawijah, located about 282 kilometers (175 miles) north of the capital, on the ground that they had collaborated with government forces and leaked information about militant commanders.

Daesh members later took away the bodies of the slain militants with them to an unknown location.

Last month, Daesh killed 112 of its own members in the militant-held city of Mosul on the grounds that they had orchestrated a coup against the militant group’s leader, Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The militants, among them 18 top commanders, were executed by firing squad at a prison in southern Mosul.

The slain terrorists had reportedly planned to kill the self-proclaimed Mosul governor, Abu Abdul Majid Afar, overrun Nineveh Province, break with Daesh, and declare war on terrorists currently positioned in Syria’s northern city of Raqqa.

Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since ISIL Takfiris launched an offensive in June 2014, and took control of portions of Iraqi territory.

The militants have been committing vicious crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and others.

Units of army soldiers joined by volunteer fighters are seeking to win back militant-held regions in joint operations.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 12 Oct 2015 16:27

Interesting assessments on ISIS and its assault on Deir Ezzor. While I do not disagree with whats been mentioned but I wish to add the following of my own.

Importance of Deir Ezzor for ISIS is more than access to Turkey, Jordan etc. At some level it is also that but at another level, like with everything else, ISIS / Daesh are just extremely puritanical Death Cult with a guide book of the 06th century. The guide book says (as they understand) kill, they kill. If the guide book says get killed, they get killed.

Deir Ezzor has witnessed large attacks from ISIS and other rebel groups for a long time now. It came under pressure exactly a month ago, the situation was almost identical for ISIS as today. Multiple attacks, heavy losses, etc.

This is from June 14: http://syrianperspective.com/2014/06/up ... z-zor.html

This is from 12 Sep 15:http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/isi ... ups-gains/

There was a better report from 14th Sep but unfortunately, I am unable to find it now.

There is a wiki on the Deir Ezzor conflict. Historically, Armenians have strong emotions for Deir Ezzor.

A lot of planners of Daesh are ex Saddam Army bosses. Mostly from his intelligence units. They know the area and importance of each. They also understand military warfare very well. Also, for suicide attacks trained, hardcore fighters like Chechans or ex-Iraqi army are never used. The 'Takfiri' black hooded mob, uses younger, brain washed Abduls (likely Paki, Indian, Bangladeshi, etc, etc) for these missions. I saw a video from 2014, where a young one was being psyched for an attack on Kobane and I have seen others where, the fighters are all either Arab / Chechan / Afghan types and not the SDRE types.

In this map posted by Singha Ji, there are a few important things to note. I am looking at waterways / rivers / dams located and following few things occurred to me:

On the border with Turkey, ISIS tried but failed at Kobani. It is still trying. Kobani is on the East bank of the river (Euphrates). It is one of the areas bordering Turkey, not in complete control of ISIS. The next gap on the border with Turkey is a large forest area with no population or water. The next water / waterway / river/ dam is at Mosul (Tigris), again a location where ISIS has repeatedly 'hung on' / defeated/ recaptured and now firmly stable.

From there on down South till almost Baghdad they control the river. On the Euphrates, their control from Dabiq (part of Allepo governorate) and down south eastwards to Fallujah would be complete except that the SAA will not give up Deir Ezzor. ISIS is in complete control of the areas between these two areas all through Syrian and Iraq. For them anyway it is one country. They are not focusing on the coastal areas of Syria. The fight West of the North - South vertical passing through Aleppo (almost vertical ) does not seem to be bothering ISIS, at least as of now. Dabiq, is something ISIS take very seriously, because of the Quranic myth. So much so that the magazine published by ISIS is named "Dabiq".

Raqqa, South west of the dam on Euphrates in Syria, is the ISIS, HQ. From there they did not move west but they moved towards Tigris in Iraq. ISIS has been desperately trying for Kobane, Mosul and Deir Ezzor and I think it is because they want to control the two rivers and everything in between.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 17:46

Mosul has a huge dam I think and its storage controls wate for farming down south. It's been claimed if they blow the dam Baghdad will get washed away

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 17:49

BTW Mosul is ancient gaugamela where alaksindr fought and won the second of his three battles against Darius the third. That belt, as all of Iraq and Iran is steeped in history and layers of civilization back to sumeria.

It was probably where wheat was domesticated.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 12 Oct 2015 17:51

Nice summation by former ambassador "auld acquaintance" KP. However,he is very silent on the meat of the issue,just like the other mandarins of the MEA who've taken "maun".What should India's position be?
Do we support the legitimate govt. of Assad,beseiged by non-UN sponsored barbaric entities,or support the barbaric entities ,the children of the Wahaabi "Pol Pots" and their Arab "Khmer Rouge" despot,the House of Saud? There is a famous saying.If you "fence-sit" for too long,the spear point will enter Ur-anus!

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 17:52

Controlling headwater of both major rivers would give them a sustainable farming economy and chances of deal with shia republic down south.

It's the paki mania for cashmere headwaters

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 12 Oct 2015 17:59

Flee-Syria Army suffers reverses.
Moments ago, the Syrian Arab Army’s 87th Brigade of the 10th Tank Division – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) – broke-through the Islamist rebel defenses at Kafr Naboudeh and took control of the southern entrance into this imperative town inside the Hama Governorate’s northern countryside.
.. progress to Kafr Naboudeh after (RUAF) MI-24 Hind Helicopter Gunships pounded the Islamist rebels of the Free Syrian Army’s 101st Brigade, Liwaa Suqour Al-Ghaab, Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” at the aforementioned town, paving the way for the SAA and NDF to attack the southern gates...Kafr Naboudeh is a town located on the border of the Idlib Governorate; at the neck of the northern Hama salient that the Syrian Armed Forces are currently attacking.

If Kafr Naboudeh is captured by the Syrian Armed Forces, then the Islamist rebels entrenched inside the imperative city of Kafr Zita will be flanked from both the east and west; this would be disastrous for the Islamist rebels because this area provides them a buffer-zone to the south of Khan Sheikhoun.

In addition to their advance at Kafr Naboudeh, the Syrian Armed Forces are pushing north towards the Idlibi town of Al-Tama’aneh; if captured, the strategic city of Khan Sheikhoun will be in serious danger.]

And against ISIS

The Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division surprised the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) with an assault on their positions inside the town of Kafr Tunah and the small mountaintop at Jabal ‘Antar in the Aleppo Governorate’s northeastern countryside.

According to a military source in the provincial capital of Aleppo, the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) – carried out a successful assault on the terrorist group’s poor defenses in Kafr Tunah and Jabal ‘Antar, killing over 20 enemy combatants and seizing a large cache of assault rifles and ammunition in the process.

Following a brief firefight with the terrorist group, the Syrian Armed Forces imposed full control over Kafr Tunah and Jabal ‘Antar; this forced the unprepared ISIS militants to retreat north towards the Aleppo Infantry Academy in order to evade the Syrian Arab Air Force’s Hind Helicopter Gunships that were lurking around this rural area.

Kafr Tunah and Jabal ‘Antar are both located northeast of the Sheikh Najjar Industrial District; this aforementioned site in the provincial capital of Aleppo was captured from the Islamist rebels during the Syrian Arab Army’s large-scale offensive last year that was dubbed “Operation Northern Storm.”

ISIS’ recent success at the Aleppo Infantry Academy has left the Syrian Arab Army on high alert due to the aforementioned site’s proximity to the densely populated provincial capital; if the terrorist group were to enter Aleppo City, it would be through the Sheikh Najjar Industrial District.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 12 Oct 2015 18:06

More aerial deliveries for Flee Syrian Terrorists

(RUAF) conducted a number of airstrikes over the Hama Governorate’s northern countryside this morning, striking the Islamist rebels of the Flee Syrian Army’s 101st Brigade, Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, Liwaa Suqour Al-Ghaab, and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” at the cities of Kafr Zita, Kafr Naboudeh, Latmeen, and Al-Lataminah.

At the request of the Syrian Arab Army’s 87th Brigade of the 10th Tank Division and the National Defense Forces (NDF), the Russian Air Force carried out specific airstrikes that targeted the aforementioned cities inside northern Hama in order to propel the Syrian Armed Forces past the frontline defenses of the Islamist rebels entrenched at these rugged sites.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 18:22

The diwali cracker aoa video posted yesterday was repoedly submunitions from smerch.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 12 Oct 2015 18:27

Good to see the "performing fleas" of the Flee S.A. conducting the classic Yanqui mil manoeuvre ,"beating the retreat" ! More manna from heaven for them.

Combat report: Russian jets strike 53 ISIS targets in last 24 hours (VIDEOS)
Published time: 12 Oct, 2015
https://www.rt.com/news/318353-russia-s ... s-targets/

The Russian Air Force has carried out 55 sorties in the last 24 hours, hitting 53 Islamic State targets in four Syrian provinces and destroying command posts, terrorist training camps and a transfer point, among others.

Russian anti-terror op in Syria
Sukhoi Su-24M and Su-34 bombers, together with Su-25SM ground support aircraft, bombed ISIS positions in the provinces of Idlib, Latakia, Homs and Hama, the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, told journalists.

The airstrikes destroyed seven command points, six training camps, six arms depots and a stronghold near the village of Salma in Latakia province.

Russian aircraft have also attacked 24 of the terrorists’ fortified strongpoints, along with weapons and vehicles stored there.

“Over the last day, Russian warplanes have also eliminated a convoy of terrorist vehicles, a mobile mortar gunnery team and three underground bunker systems," Konashenkov reported.

READ MORE: Best of RT’s coverage on Russia’s air campaign against ISIS in Syria (VIDEOS)

A Sukhoi Su-25 ground-support fighter jet, using reconnaissance data obtained by drones, bombed a mobile mortar battery in the Hama province, wiping out three SUVs with mortars mounted on them and a truck of munitions.

Also in Hama province, a Sukhoi Su-24M deployed a guided KAB-500 air bomb and destroyed an Islamic State fortified command post.

“A pinpoint strike demolished all [engineering] installations of the terrorists,” Konashenkov reported.

The convoy eliminated near the town of Sukeyk north of Hama consisted of three petrol tankers, a large truck and two SUVs with heavy machine guns mounted on them. All the vehicles have been destroyed.

RT EXCLUSIVE: Report from the frontline where Syrian troops are fighting ISIS

A group of Sukhoi Su-24M bombers has hit a large transfer point of Islamic State terrorists in Latakia province, striking the target with high-explosive air bombs, which caused a fire at the installation equipped with underground facilities. The fire caused munitions stored at the facility to detonate.

The target was completely destroyed, Konashenkov said.

An airstrike on a terrorist target near the village of Al-Mastumah in Syria’s northern Idlib province destroyed an Islamic State installation used as a transfer point for militants coming to Syria from other countries.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 12 Oct 2015 18:28

Singha wrote:The diwali cracker aoa video posted yesterday was repoedly submunitions from smerch.

Yup, posted this yesterday:

deejay wrote:
Austin wrote:It keeps cracking like diwali cracker any idea what weapon is that ?

Looks more like MBRL attack to me. Together, concentrated and sustained. I have seen other videos of MBRL attacks and they appear similar.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 12 Oct 2015 18:50

Deir Ez Zor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_gcrCQJUkM

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 19:23

the dier ez zor enclave if it survives and Govt is able to march in and link up will go in the annals as one of the valiant defences in the history of war. old men who should be playing with their grandchildren in the farms forced to fight years to save their society from the Orcs.

meantime, govt artillery of various types 105/122mm unloads on rebel positions today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMAIRDYz8nM

Y. Kanan · Post by **Y. Kanan** » 12 Oct 2015 19:31

UlanBatori wrote:Still nothing visible on Brophet Googullah on the huge destruction of Syrian Army tanks by the heroic Flee See-lie-an Almy in recent days. Kananji?

Your tone implies that I'm somehow rooting for the rebels. If that's what you're getting at, quit pussyfooting around and just say it. If you'd ever read any of my previous posts you'd realize what an idiot you are for even suggesting such a thing. What I am is a realist, something which at times seems to be in short supply on this forum.

Anyway there's certainly no shortage of reports from various sources which show the Syrians losing far too many tanks and armor than they can possibly sustain. I hope the Russians have a plan to deal with this threat, but I can't imagine what that would be.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/did ... li=BBgzzfc

BEIRUT — American antitank missiles supplied to Syrian rebels are playing an unexpectedly prominent role in shaping the Syrian battlefield, giving the conflict the semblance of a proxy war between the United States and Russia, despite President Obama’s express desire to avoid one.

The U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW missiles were delivered under a two-year-old covert program coordinated between the United States and its allies to help vetted Free Syrian Army groups in their fight against President Bashar al-Assad. Now that Russia has entered the war in support of Assad, they are taking on a greater significance than was originally intended.

So successful have they been in driving rebel gains in northwestern Syria that rebels call the missile the “Assad Tamer,” a play on the word Assad, which means lion. And in recent days they have been used with great success to slow the Russian-backed offensive aimed at recapturing ground from the rebels.

Since Wednesday, when Syrian troops launched their first offensive backed by the might of Russia’s military, dozens of videos have been posted on YouTube showing rebels firing the U.S.-made missiles at Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles belonging to the Syrian army. Appearing as twirling balls of light, they zigzag across the Syrian countryside until they find and blast their target in a ball of flame.

The rebels claim they took out 24 tanks and armored vehicles on the first day, and the toll has risen daily since then.

“It was a tank massacre,” said Capt. Mustafa Moarati, whose Tajamu al-Izza group says it destroyed seven tanks and armored vehicles Wednesday.

More missiles are on the way, he said. New supplies arrived after the Russian deployments began, he said, and the rebels’ allies have promised further deliveries soon, bringing echoes of the role played by U.S.-supplied Stinger antiaircraft missiles in forcing the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan in the 1980s.

The hits also plunged Washington into what amounts to a proxy war of sorts with Moscow, despite Obama’s insistence this month that “we’re not going to make Syria into a proxy war between the United States and Russia.”

“It’s a proxy war by happenstance,” said Jeff White of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who counted at least 15 tanks and vehicles destroyed or disabled in one day. “The rebels happen to have a lot of TOWs in their inventory. The regime happened to attack them with Russian support. I don’t see it as a proxy war by decision.”

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Oct 2015 19:36

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-is ... up-2134158

some background on baghdadi and his key advisers. he is just 44 years old.

habal · Post by **habal** » 12 Oct 2015 19:50

Republican Guards of SAA guarding Deir Ez Zor military airbase

Shalav · Post by **Shalav** » 12 Oct 2015 20:39

Singha wrote:Syed akbaruddin? Or is he slated for London or other big posting?

Permanent UN Rep.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 12 Oct 2015 20:46

He is probably on personal terms with US soldiers who served in Iraq.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 12 Oct 2015 21:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naTm6tbbHuY

Speaking of Russian bluntness, and couldn't-give-less-of-a-shytery, check this out at the end of the Kerry-Lavrov press conference, how Lavrov handles a journalist's question. I wouldn't spoil the surprise by detailing it. Watch to the end.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 12 Oct 2015 21:16

On the ground - fighter to fighter. Al Zabadani in Syria has witnessed intense clashes between ISIS and SAA plus Hezbollah combine. Lots of blood and gore videos but here is an interesting one - truce negotiations between Hezbollah soldier and an ISIS terrorist. Longish, with English subtitles. The ISIS guy speaks less, but the narrative on the ground and ideas of each party are visible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj0p2s-NmB8

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 12 Oct 2015 21:57

Quoting Y.I. Kanan:

Your tone implies that I'm somehow rooting for the rebels. If that's what you're getting at, quit pussyfooting around and just say it. If you'd ever read any of my previous posts you'd realize what an idiot you are for even suggesting such a thing. What I am is a realist, something which at times seems to be in short supply on this forum.

I asked a simple question and posted myself the proof when I found it. 2 days ago. By the way, the new article is simply a re-hash which says the writer also read the same lies and watched the same Langley training videos, professionally edited with variable zoom etc.

The really hilarious part was where the Goebbles types eventually realized how bogus the U-Tube videos looked. So they also claimed that it was a part of the sales agreement that every TOW attack must be videotaped in color. Great arrangement for an urban guerrllla combat theater, sure, sure!

Here come the tanks, straight at us! GET THE BETACAM, Haider! Set up the satellite dish, Hussein! Log into FaceBook, Mukhtar! Found the power supply, Jemal? Got the storyline laid out on Adobe Moviemaker, Faisal? Got the zoom properly framed? Shout when you are ready: Act 14, Scene 1!! Start recording? Get the TOW, Abdul! Here we go, load the mijjile, Shakil! Set the fuse. Connect the wire to the spool. Aim the weapon. Allaho**** ! HEY, SHAKIL! COME BACK HIYAR!

Oh, yes! That's the way combat is done these days.

BUT hey, that would take some thinking to figure out, no need to worry yourself about such things. Today's news shows that TOW or no TOW, the 'rebels' are on the run in Hama and everywhere else. or getting blown to bits.

Thanks for the Revelation about yourself. I am adding you to my DO not READ list.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 12 Oct 2015 22:34

Y.Kanan you are needlessly taking it personal.

No need for that.
UB asked for links about the tank losses of the Syrian Army.

lets avoid blue-on blue fratricide.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 12 Oct 2015 22:55

U.S. delivers 50 tons of ammunition to Syria rebel groups

U.S. military cargo planes gave 50 tons of ammunition to rebel groups overnight in northern Syria, using an air drop of 112 pallets as the first step in the Obama Administration's urgent effort to find new ways to support those groups.

Syrians probably will be careful in using any of this if found as easy win.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 12 Oct 2015 23:05

From the People of the United States. To the Rapist Terrorists of the ISIS. With Our Compliments Using Our Hard-Earned Money Extorted As Fed. Tax to Fund Terrorists.

member_23370 · Post by **member_23370** » 12 Oct 2015 23:09

I find it difficult to believe that RuAF cannot target these supplies. Infact when the rebel groups come to claim them , it should be a turkey shoot.