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

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 27 Jan 2016 13:45

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/origina ... sions.html

How Biden annoyed Ankara during his recent visit to Turkey

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Jan 2016 14:04

Despite all the dying and fighting and chaos even the Syrians couldn't help but notice this:

Leith Abou Fadel ‏@leithfadel now2 hours ago
That hug you give someone when they smell awful.....however, in this case, Hollande is just an asshole

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Jan 2016 14:55

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZnzN-ZWcAAgMYd.jpg

new thermobaric rocket for RPG provided from the rodina

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZnzN9xWYAAD3cZ.jpg

anti_TOW bike borne skirmisher cum spy

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZnzN9nWYAQgjDP.jpg

anti-material rifle useful against TOW types and snipers

habal · Post by **habal** » 27 Jan 2016 15:55

Singha wrote: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZnzN9xWYAAD3cZ.jpg

anti_TOW bike borne skirmisher cum spy

isn't it better to employ some drones to get a clear gist of affairs from air first.
and then send the skirmishers their way.
like this thing, it seems to be russian.
http://www.deagel.com/Tactical-Unmanned ... 35001.aspx

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Jan 2016 16:30

manpack drones might have limited endurance and be fairly useless at night given the small size of camera. these bike bandits can move around and hide and camp if need be , and move cross country easily on the motocross tyres.

a bigger night vision drone of the nishant type would surely help but the syrians do not have much. Drone tech is one area where Rus lags much behind. they have no predator sized drone yet.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 27 Jan 2016 17:12

"Yet" is the word. We may be surprised with what they have. No one guessed that they have SSKs firing some 2000km range missiles which can hit with great accuracy.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 Jan 2016 17:16

Lots of newest Tu-23M3 video and pictures in this link from Russian MOD on latest bombing

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/1702783.html

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 Jan 2016 17:19

Singha wrote:Drone tech is one area where Rus lags much behind. they have no predator sized drone yet.

Precisely they started working on Drone only after georgian war in 2008 when they realised how Georgia used Israel drone.

They bought quite a good amount of Searcher drone form Israel but I dont see them using it perhaps because israel may know how to hack it.

They use their other indiginous drone for tactical mission , nothing as big as Predator exisit yet , I already posted link before of drone they use in Syria.

Certainly an Armed Drone in such mission needing loitering and hitting opportunistic target is a great asset to have

habal · Post by **habal** » 27 Jan 2016 17:47

this is russian. this is over syria. it is predator sized.
http://m.liveleak.com/view?i=68b_1444679639

looks like Gen. Vodkov is on the case ..

Russia restores a missing link in the Aerospace Forces system

The Russian army will begin in 2016 to receive new pilotless craft (drones), capable of handling long distances. In particular, devices will arrive in the pilotless aircraft divisions of the Eastern Military District. Earlier, the mass media had information that in 2016 promising drones capable of covering up to a thousand kilometers will be armed.

As suggested by experts, this is a question of heavy strike systems weighing between 1 and 20 tons. Heavy devices can carry onboard several bombs and even ground- to-air missiles. At the current moment, the Russian Army has no strike systems or modern devices capable of long-distance reconnaissance.

The Russian defense industry complex began work on creation of such drones in the mid 2000s, but according to Anatoly Serdyukov the matter was limited to demonstrating prototypes or attempting to buy drones from Israel. Plans are to completely fill in this missing link in the Aerospace Forces system of the Russian Federation by 2020.

“Okhotnik” [Hunter], “Inokhodets” [Pacer], and “Altius-M”

In January, 2015, Deputy Minister of Defense Yury Borisov announced that in Russia a heavy drone capable of conducting reconnaissance and destroying targets had been created. The tactical and technical characteristics of the device are to be kept secret. According to the mass media, the Sukhoi Developmental Design Office (Moscow), Sokol Developmental Design Office (Kazan), and CJSC Tranzas Aviatsiya (St. Petersburg) are working on the heavy drone project.

In early October, 2011, in a competition run by the Ministry of Defense to create drones up to 1 ton in weight, the Ambler design won, and in the one up to 5 tons, the Altius-M design won. Offensive operations drones up to 20 tons are being developed by the Sukhoi Developmental Design Office, on the basis of the Skat project with which Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG has been engaged since 2005. The new project received the name Okhotnik [Hunter].

According to unconfirmed data, the Okhotnik will at the same time be a sixth generation fighter. Its first flight is expected in 2018, and its introduction into operations in 2020. Like the Skat, the new drone will have the shape of a flying wing (a so-called “flying saucer”).

At the same time as the Okhotnik, Sukhoi is conducting developmental work to create a medium-range system, the Zenitsa, with a velocity of 800 kilometers per hour. Supposedly, this drone is being created based on the Tu-143 Reys, which was developed in the 1970s, designed for tactical reconnaissance in the front zone.

An additional project of the Russian AFS is the Dozor-600 [Patrol], which belongs to the class of heavy medium-altitude long-flighttime drones. Experts suggest that the device is a direct analog of the American MQ-1 Predator. Despite the fact that the Dozor-600 weighs 720 kg, it is capable of carrying out the functions of an offensive operations drone.

Russia is catching up with the USA

The range of use of pilotless aircraft is extremely broad, but it has special value on a modern battlefield. Operation of aircraft is much more expensive, and their flight is interlinked with risk to the life of the pilot: air defenses and the opponent’s air forces do not sleep, and anything can happen in the sky.

Therefore a reconnaissance and strike drone is an excellent assistant to military aircraft and ground forces. In the future, drones will be able to carry out the most risky missions, on which there is apprehension about sending aircraft, ground reconnaissance, and special troops.

The value of drones for efficiency of action of the armed forces was recognized in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation after the conflict to Georgia in August, 2008, in which the enemy quite successfully used systems of Israeli manufacture. Originally, in order to eliminate a backlog in the area of drones, a decision was made to import systems from the Israel Aerospace Industries company.

However, the practice of purchasing foreign equipment, which was applied widely by Serdyukov, was quickly stopped. The Israeli party refused to sell more of the sought-after heavy pilotless systems after delivery to Russia of the small and medium drones Bird-Eye-400, I-View, and Sercher Mk. 2.

In 2012, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin declared that the Russian Army will have its own offensive operations drone, which will not be inferior to the American analog. Mass receipt of pilotless craft in the armed forces of the Russian Federation began in 2013. At the same time, the Russian AFS has drones of short and average range (primarily the Orlan [Sea Eagle], Reys [Flight], and Strozh [Martin]).

Only the USA and Israel possess full-featured offensive pilotless aircraft. Russia along with China is in the list of countries catching up. In the USSR, drones began to be created from the 1950s. Drones were generally used in interests of the Chief Intelligence Directorate. These were small-dimension supersonic high-altitude devices, distinguished by their high performance for the time. In addition, drones were actively used in the USSR as “aircraft targets” for fighter aircraft training and firing practice from antiaircraft installations.

Offensive operations drones to assist Syria

The founder of the portal Military Russia, Dmitry Kornev, noted that the West realized the possibility of broader use of drones somewhat earlier. In the Soviet Union, the drone “boom” occurred later, in the mid 1980s. During this period Yakovlev’s Developmental Design Office created the Shmel-1 [Bumblebee] device, advanced for its time.

“With the fall of the USSR developmental and production work naturally stopped. Enterprises focused on the Ministry of Defense did not makes drones as there were no orders, and private manufacturers appeared in the Russian Federation only in the late 1990s to early 2000s”, stated Kornev.

The abolition of the USSR led to degradation of the defense industry complex and, as a result, of pilotless aircraft. Russia missed a key trend in the area of drones – away from miniaturization and towards creation of heavy drones. During the period of troubled years in our country, such important sectors for development of promising drones as microelectronics and robotics lost ground. Also, the Russian MIC has problems with development of software and operating systems necessary for functioning of drones.

Dmitry Kornev considers that the Ministry of Defense has learned its lessons and that essential work is proceeding. According to the expert, one option for additional stimulation the drone sector is state investment in commercial production, since the universality of function of reconnaissance drones does not presume any special mode of privacy,

An excellent “test range” for battle testing offensive operations drones is the air operation in Syria. Currently only reconnaissance drones are carrying out this task in the Syrian sky . Considering the Ministry of Defense plans that have been announced, it is possible to consider that heavy drones will be used in the Syrian operation in 2016.The tragic incident with the Su-24M once again testifies to the need for urgent receipt of offensive operations drones by the ASF.
http://southfront.org/skat-on-the-way-t ... ke-drones/

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 27 Jan 2016 20:14

Drones can't help with this: flame-throwers and fuel-air explosives leading to duct detonations can.

A good read from 2014 on the sweet bunches that constitute the Syrian (western-funded terrorist) Opposition.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Jan 2016 20:56

SAA has had some advances in Lattakia, Eastern Aleppo and near Sheikh Miskeen. ISIS has successfully killed a lot of its rat population in Dier Ez Zor in self explosion efforts.

Turkey is trying for treason 02 journalists who had exposed the arms supply across Syrian border to the rebels.

In other interesting news from Turkey -

Hayder al-Khoei ‏@Hayder_alKhoei now6 hours ago
US VP Biden on arming Syrian rebels. What he said in Oct. 2012 vs what he said in Oct. 2014. Spot the difference.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Jan 2016 20:58

The Syria talks in Geneva have finally decided who will represent the rebels

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Jan 2016 21:02

Now Chinese weapons in Syria.

Green lemon
‏@green_lemonnn
#Syria FSA southern front was supplied w/ a brand-new Chinese Howo 6X4 mounted 122mm MRLS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgMp-komrAo …

Maybe, India should look at Pinaka export markets.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Jan 2016 21:25

Another report from Dier Ez Zor

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/isi ... eir-ezzor/

ISIS sacrifices hundreds of terrorists in failed advance at Deir Ezzor
Written by Leith Fadel on 27/01/2016 7:55 am

The Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) has recently concentrated a large amount of their fighters to the Deir Ezzor Governorate’s northwestern front, where they have repeatedly attempted to seize the remaining Syrian Arab Army (SAA) positions outside the provincial capital’s northern districts.

On Tuesday morning inside Deir Ezzor’s northwestern countryside, ISIS launched their 4th assault on the Al-Baghayliyah District in 4 days, striking the Syrian Arab Army’s defensive positions at the Firat Al-Sham Hotel and the Al-Jazeera University near the western bank of the Euphrates River.

However, ISIS was unable to achieve the progress they were hoping for on Tuesday, thanks in large part to the Russian Air Force’s relentless airstrikes on their positions at the Radio Broadcast Tower, the Heart Hospital, ‘Ayyash weapons depot, ‘Ayyash fuel station, Al-Rawad Hill, and the village of ‘Ayyash.

According to a military source from the Syrian Arab Army’s 104th Airborne Brigade of the Republican Guard, ISIS risked hundreds of fighters in a callous attempt to break-through the defenses at the Firat Al-Sham Hotel.

The source stated that these ISIS militants were foolishly running in open territory, while the Syrian Army’s machine guns pounded the terrorists with a barrage of bullets to stop any advance.

ISIS’ casualties could not be counted because most of their corpses were left in the contested areas of Al-Baghayliyah.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Jan 2016 22:43

I am not sure what strategic objective other than a morale boost with a massacre the IS hopes to gain by deir azzor?
- they have no AF so the air base is useless
- they control the roads to the east and west so this enclave is not blocking their oil trade or logistics
- the defenders are too few to come out and attack IS, they are having a tough time holding the enclave against waves of suicide bombers
- dier is not the gateway to any other vital area - its out in the middle of nowhere

yet they keep surging forward....to what end none know...
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZq8fnMUMAIQi99.jpg

I think like the redcoats at rorke's drift, the defenders will eventually win.....if they can get transport planes to land at the airbase safely mortars, another brigade and 105mm guns and ammo can be shipped in low quantities and start making a difference.

planes must be flying in and out. issam zahredine was out on the coast a while back, now he is back at the front.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 27 Jan 2016 22:46

This is where I hope Gen. Vodkograd's Spcl. Fauj Balaclavas will sort-of land in the supply lines/retreat path and cut off the entire ISIS force. With any luck the ISIS herrows will think they are shot from behind by their own aphsars. As the old song went:

Arr soldiers went 2 war
Arr soldiers fought well
Arr soldiers shoved their bayonets
Up the Major's Ar....e.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 27 Jan 2016 22:48

I am not sure what strategic objective other than a morale boost with a massacre the IS hopes to gain by deir azzor?

This is what worries me too. And maybe Assad's generals, because they have had time to really reinforce D-e-Z by now. Yes, planes have been flying in every night for a long time now.

Maybe a diversion - or maybe they are busily digging the tunnels in to Damascus and Latakia air/naval base while all this goes on.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Jan 2016 22:49

yeah in a ideal world the 101st airborne would attack raqqa from the north and a russian VVD division stage out of deir azzor and head north to raqqa.

when the world cannot even agree to fight ISIS properly, you know how bad international politics is.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 27 Jan 2016 22:53

OTOH, the pressure on D-e-Z may be precisely to get Assad and the Russians to let up in the other places (like south, Jordan border) where they are beginning to really move out and cause a rout. IMO ISIS and the "Syrian Opposition" meaning US-Directly-Funded Terrorists, share the same High Command and take orders from the same sh1ts - in Ankara, Riyadh, Qatar and DupleeCity.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Jan 2016 22:57

some of the 104th republican guard look like old men or prematurely aged by years of war.
they know no mercy will be shown to them if captured, so I guess will fight to the death if need be.
thats the personal protection detail of the general I think.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Jan 2016 23:01

this crew looks like a american sf undercover unit

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Jan 2016 02:38

What is that black cigarette tin at the end of the barrel of the weapon held by the guy at the far right of the pic?

Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 28 Jan 2016 02:47

Muzzle flash suppressor?

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 28 Jan 2016 03:05

Russia hunts for pilot's killer in Syria-Turkey border town

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/01/27 ... -town.html

Seeking "revenge," Russian forces stormed a Syrian town on the border with Turkey hunting for the attacker who claimed he shot and killed the pilot of a downed Russian jet, state media reported Monday.A Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down the Russian aircraft near the Turkish border north of Latakia, Syria on Nov. 24, a senior U.S. official tells Fox News. Soon afterwards, Turkish citizen Alparslan Çelik said in a video that he killed the pilot on the ground because Russia had been dropping bombs minutes before the jet was downed.State media report the gunman is in the town of Rabia, in Latakia province, which Syrian government forces recently recaptured from rebel fighters.Russian president Vladimir Putin's government did not make clear what would happen to Çelik if soldiers found him, but they were looking to "take revenge," according to state media. Previously, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova ordered Turkey to "take immediate steps to apprehend Alparslan Çelik and his accomplices and bring them to justice for the murder of the Russian pilot."

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Jan 2016 05:50

I guess the basement at #1 Dzerzhinsky Square is still ready for "guests".

The other day I saw a lot of photos on Siberia in winter. Nice roads they have built, from all the rocks broken by D.S. "alumni".

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Jan 2016 06:04

This site is gruesome.
Deir Ez Zor

ISIS arrests dozens of women in Syria’s Jarablus for violating ‘Sharia dress code’

They were brutally beaten by ISIS jihadis in front of hundreds of people in the marketplace, before being arrested and transferred to the women’s detention center in Jarablus,” a media activist who witnessed the campaign told ARA News, speaking on condition of anonymity for security concerns.

“The arrested women are expected to be whipped in public tomorrow afternoon,” the source reported, quoting sources in the ISIS-led Sharia Court in Jarablus.

In areas under ISIS control, every woman accused of violating the Islamic dress code imposed by the radical group is being flogged 50 times in public as a punishment, based on extremist regulations of the Sharia Court.
Reporting by: Hozan mamo
Source: ARA News

Netherlands to join anti-ISIS pebble-tossing with NATO: ISIS fears for the paint-job on their white Toyotas

Meanwhile: US air power at its awesome mightiest under Hussein AlObama ul Pigeonullah: ISIS drives Iraqi Army out of Ramadi HQ

member_29325 · Post by **member_29325** » 28 Jan 2016 06:17

UlanBatori wrote: Netherlands to join anti-ISIS pebble-tossing with NATO: ISIS fears for the paint-job on their white Toyotas

The situation is seriously escalating -- next NATO and US may indiscrimately cause dents and maybe even slash a tire. Dangerous times ahead.

The US and NATO did not invite the kurds to the UN but invited ISIS for negotiations - expected of course, since they funded "good" ISIS, aka syrian rebels in the first place. What is even more amusing is all the jokers in the US talk shows and elsewhere getting a raging boner about Obama's heroism in taking down ISIS and "reclaiming ramadi".

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Jan 2016 06:37

This place is COLD!

Deir ez Zor Weather: 27°F (-3°C), Wind NW at 11 mph (18 km/h), 53% Humidity
Local time: Thursday 4:07 AM

Not a place to sit out all night, hain? Unless one is Ivan Vodkovich ul Siberiawali.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Jan 2016 06:39

UN ‘Powerless to Assist’ Syria's Deir ez-Zor Besieged by Daesh
© Flickr/ Jacqueline Poggi
Middle East
19:42 27.01.2016Get short URL
153505
The UN World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said that food prices at Deir ez-Zor are many times higher than what WFP would expect, and they provide a huge obstacle for residents to obtain food.

A general view taken on December 20, 2015, shows a bulldozer clearing debris from the site of a reported Israeli air raid that killed a senior figure in the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, Samir Kantar, in Jaramana, southeast of the Syrian capital Damascus.
© AFP 2016/ LOUAI BESHARA
UNICEF Welcomes Russia's Humanitarian Aid to Syria's Besieged Areas
UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — The UN World Food Program (WFP) has been powerless to assist the residents of Deir ez-Zor in Syria, which is besieged by the Islamic State terror group, WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

“Half the besieged population, an estimated 200,000 people, are trapped in Deir ez-Zor, where ISIL [Islamic State] took control in July 2014,” Cousin said. “However, due to the extensive damages on the runway, lack of air space security for our planes, inability of our staff or partners to distribute, we have been powerless to assist those in need in Deir ez-Zor.”

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160 ... z3yV8Mzzc6

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Jan 2016 06:43

Warning: "Sy-Lian Observatory for Hyooman Rites" site

The regime forces advance in Jabal al-Akrad and control villages and areas, and casualties in airstrike on area in the countryside of Jisr al-Shughur

January 28, 2016 Comments Off on The regime forces advance in Jabal al-Akrad and control villages and areas, and casualties in airstrike on area in the countryside of Jisr al-Shughur

Latakia Province:
The Islamic factions targeted by several shells positions for the regime forces in Marj Khokha area in Jabal al-Akrad in the northern countryside of Latakia, and information about casualties in the ranks of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them, while clashes continue in Latakia Mountains between the rebel and Islamic factions, the Islamic Party Turkestan and Jabhat Al-Nusra (al-Qaeda in Levant) against the regime forces operation room led by Russian officers and which includes Russian soldiers as well as for the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them from Syrian, Arab and Asian nationalities in conjunction with mutual shelling between both parties, amid advancement of the regime forces in the vicinity of Salma in Jabal al-Akrad and controlling the villages of Ruwayssat al-Maalaqa, Owaynat, Al-Mziraa area, Doarkh village located to the north of the town of Selma in the depth of Jabal al-Akrad and other points were controlled by factions and, and information about more casualties in the ranks of both parties.

Idlib Province:
Intersecting sources informed the activists of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in Jisr al-Shughur that a non-Syrian man was killed and four others injured were injured in raids carried out by warplanes targeted house near a headquarter of an Islamic faction, in al-Tabiyyat Junction area near Ghassaniya village in the countryside of Jisr al-Shughur yesterday.

Pictures of the car which was carrying members from the Islamic movement of Ahrar al-Sham and targeted by unknown gunmen using an IED in the north of Saraqeb town, when the fighters were returning from the clashes in the southern countryside of Aleppo against the regime forces, which injured them.

Advancement for the regime forces in the countryside of Sheikh Meskin and controlling hills there

January 28, 2016 Comments Off on Advancement for the regime forces in the countryside of Sheikh Meskin and controlling hills there

Daraa Province:
The clash continue between the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them from Syrian, Arab, Iranian and Asian nationalities against the rebel and Islamic Factions and Jabhat Al-Nusra (al-Qaeda in Levant) in the vicinity of Sheikh Meskin town, where the regime forces managed to advance and control Hamad hill and other nearby hills, and confirmed reports about casualties in the ranks of both parties, the clashes were accompanied by mutual bombing and shelling.

https://www.facebook.com/syriahro/posts ... 0330793115

A displacement movement in Muadamiyat al-Sham after separating it from Darayya by the regime forces

January 28, 2016 Comments Off on A displacement movement in Muadamiyat al-Sham after separating it from Darayya by the regime forces

Rif Dimashq Province:
The displacement movement continue from the southern neighborhoods in the city of Muadamiyat al-Sham b in the Western Ghouta, in conjunction with the continued military operations, the displacement movement began after the regime forces were able to control and monitoring yesterday by firearms the area between both cities, while it rose to 24 the number of barrel bombs dropped by regime’s helicopters on areas in the city of Darayya, no information about casualties, also a man died affected by injuries he had when the regime forces shelled areas in the city of Douma, rising to 5 (including a citizen woman and a child) the number of people who killed in this bombing.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Jan 2016 06:47

From "My Awesome Daily Finds"

Wednesday, January 27, 2016
ISIS terrorists killed in Deir Ezzor
TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian army, backed up by Russian air support, managed to hunt tens of ISIL Takfiri militants in the Western parts of Deir Ezzur province.
The Syrian army killed 30 ISIL members during a battle against the terrorists at Ayyash warehouses, Baqaliyeh.

The Syrian army is engaged in fierce clashes with ISIL militants in the Western countryside of Deir Ezzur province now.

Other Syrian army units also clashed with the Wahhabi-Takfiri terrorists, in al-Rushdiye neighborhood in Deir Ezzur city, inflicting heavy losses on them.

In the course of the current week, the Syrian army also imposed huge damage on terrorists' hardware, and destroyed their weapons and munitions during clashes in several Deir Ezzur city's neighborhoods.

The Syrian army also foiled several attempts by the ISIL terrorists to capture the hilltops overlooking the coastal area of Baqaliyeh town in Deir Ezzur province, inflicting heavy losses on the militants

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Jan 2016 10:28

stalingrad....the famous hill on the shore of the volga and the tractor factory.....

the only question is anyone planning op uranus now - if the govt had got palmyra under control it could have been a staging base for the long push forward of the relief column ...

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 28 Jan 2016 15:18

Features protection of Syrian tanks T-72M

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/1703381.html

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Jan 2016 16:16

That must add a good couple of tons? But of course, worth it. Deters RPGs and may survive TOWs. Gives the operators a good few seconds to shoot anyone trying to climb over, too. A well-aimed grenade lop from close range can still blast the top, but would have to be lucky. OTOH, mines...

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 28 Jan 2016 17:07

ISIS expanding in Lebanon

https://twitter.com/TheArabSource

ISIS on the brink of entering strategic Lebanese city
by Leith Fadel on 28/01/2016 12:04 pm

The so-called “Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham” (ISIS) has made several gains in eastern Lebanon today, as their former allies from the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” continue to retreat from their military posts inside the ‘Arsal Barrens of the Beqa’a Governorate. Moments ago, ISIS seized another two checkpoints from Jabhat Al-Nusra in the northern outskirts of Jaroud ‘Arsal, leaving the aforementioned Islamist group on the verge of retreating in order to evade the swarming Da’esh terrorists that are overwhelming their positions in eastern Lebanon.

Should ISIS enter the strategic city of ‘Arsal, the aforementioned terrorist group will be in position to strike Lebanese Army’s defensive posts near the western flank. In addition to their assault on ‘Arsal, ISIS has launched a massive attack on Jabhat Al-Nusra’s final positions inside Jaroud Jarajeer in the Qalamoun Mountains of western Syria. Jaroud Jarajeer is one of the last Syrian border-crossings into Lebanon that is under the control of Jabhat Al-Nusra and their allies in the western slopes of the Qalamoun Mountains. As a result of ISIS’ massive assault these last two days, the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah have been put on high alert, despite only the Jihadist fighters combating one another.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 28 Jan 2016 17:08

In other ISIS innovation:

RT ‏@RT_com now3 minutes ago
Australian teen accused of planning to pack kangaroo with bomb and attack police for #ISIS http://on.rt.com/72yx

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Jan 2016 18:14

despite only the Jihadist fighters combating one another.

Think about that. Lebanon is not a Brutal Assad/ddam Dictatorship With WMD. It is an embattled nation trying to come out of decades of invasion and uncivil war and terrorism and assasinations, and has a fragile ELECTED government. Yet large parts of it are "controlled" by these Obama-supported, US-taxpayer-financed, US-protected-Saudi-NATO supported Islamist terrorists (Al Nusra? ISIS? whats' the difference?)

Is there any fig-leaf left to cover Obama's musharraf on this? I mean, that both ISIS and Al Nusra are either NATO-protected-supported (ISIS is NATO-member Turkey's Razakars/Tribesmen whereas Al Nusra is NATO MUNNA Saudi Wahabi terrorists.)

Yet NATO etc do absolutely nothing to help Lebanon bring the rule of law to its own territory. All that the govt can do is watch while rival gangs savage each other for the right to brutalize and enslave the civilian population.
Impeachment time... and time to dissolve the UNSC.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 28 Jan 2016 18:41

UB ji, the problem for Lebanon is Hezbollah which the NATO considers terrorist organisation. The double speak here is obvious as they look the other way when allies arm Al Nusra and ISIS.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Jan 2016 07:54

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha 7h7 hours ago
#SDF (#YPG) are reportedly planning offensive to seal the #IS - #Turkey border strip in north #Aleppo (#Jarablus -> #Azaz) #Syria

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 29 Jan 2016 07:57

ISIS retreats after sustaining heavy losses in

Deir Ezzor
Al-Masdar News: Written by Leith Fadel on 28/01/2016 10:23 am
For the 5th day in a row inside the Deir Ezzor Governorate’s northwestern countryside, the so-called “Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham” (ISIS) launched a massive assault on the Al-Baghayliyah District in order to seize the Al-Rawad Hill, Al-Jazeera University, and Firat Al-Sham Hotel from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) near the western bank of the Euphrates River. The terrorist group began their assault on the Al-Rawad Hill (Tal Al-Rawad) in the Al-Baghayliyah District, where they were confronted by a large force of Syrian Arab Army soldiers from the 104th Airborne Brigade of the Republican Guard and the 137th Artillery Brigade of the 17th Reserve Division. Following their preliminary assault on Al-Rawad Hill, two other ISIS contingents stormed Al-Jazeera University and the Firat Al-Sham Hotel; however, their assault was cut short, thanks in large part to the strategic airstrikes conducting by the Russian and Syrian air forces that were patrolling the area and picking off the terrorists. According to a military source from the 104th Airborne Brigade, the ISIS forces that attacked the Al-Baghayliyah District’s southern sector on Wednesday had suffered significantly high casualties as a result of their failed bid to advance into Deir Ezzor city’s northern perimeter. The source added that the terrorist group withdrew from the aforementioned sites after a 8 hour battle on Wednesday – they are expected to attack once again in the coming hours. Meanwhile, in western Deir Ezzor, ISIS launched another attack on the 137th Brigade’s headquarters from the Damascus-Baghdad International Highway, but this assault was repelled before it could produce any significant gains.

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