Levant crisis - III

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2017 12:23

100 years ago...turk taunting starving armenians with food

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2017 12:29

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/pi ... tian-city/

ISIS has taken over the port city of Arish 200,000 pop in sinai and setup checkpoints. pictures in link.

so defeat in iraq and syria means they will shift to jordan and egyptian sinai. jordan for sure is no position to fight a long term war for survival. the egyptians have population and will survive.

jordan by its acts of omission and commission on the anti-assad pogrom might face some heat internally now.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2017 12:34

syrians quietly preparing for idlib battle

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/sy ... r-battles/

this is their heartland they cannot let it go

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2017 12:38

video of battles in eastern aleppo....the countryside is dry and flat ... easy to flow around strongly held points.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/vi ... rn-aleppo/

ruaf is busy pounding maskanah citadel...some 80 strikes yesterday

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2017 12:39

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2017 12:41

pin them in place along deir hafr to jirrah line and crush them with a armour thrust from the back via jaboul lake - its wide open desert there ...

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2017 12:44

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2017 23:04

Look at isis war machine

Http://misterxanlisis.wordpress.com/201 ... -doctrine/

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 13 Mar 2017 10:27

Video: Su-24 over Idlib, launch X-25 Rocket. He is under fire, but doesn't seems he cares.

https://twitter.com/warsmonitoring/stat ... 0048949249

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 13 Mar 2017 10:31

Singha wrote:Look at isis war machine

Http://misterxanlisis.wordpress.com/201 ... -doctrine/

Quite Powerful Well Armed Funded and Motivated force. That document is a keeper.

I wonder how do these IED really work https://misterxanlisis.files.wordpress. ... 5f_4x3.jpg

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Mar 2017 10:37

crude pressure activated mine?
tons and tons of these small drum type things were found in palmyra and iraq. making IEDs is really their strong suit.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Mar 2017 10:39

deir azzor airbase is under severe attack again. a lot of ISIS high rankers have moved out raqqa and toward deir azzor. they want the town at all costs to build a second fortress and block access toward al bukamal and few small towns where khalifa and his elites are hiding.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Mar 2017 12:59

Brasco_Aad‏ @Brasco_Aad
#SDF/#YPG just received a dozen BTR-80 APCs from Mother #Russia (with tacit approval from the Syrian government)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Mar 2017 13:05

It seems a 2nd jihadi emirate with easy access via turkey has formed in idlib and europeans flocking to it now that joining isis is not easy

http://riskhedge.com/post/exclusive-sec ... ging-syria

Syria is preparing to invade idlib. They should call forth more iraqi militias once mosul ends. Its a big area and needs lot of boots

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Mar 2017 13:11

11h
Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity
Iraqi groups in #Syria must deploy reinforcements the moment the Idlib battle begins. Our revenge vs. Al-Qaeda should come in its heartland.

in reply to @IraqiSecurity

11h
Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity
Not just airstrikes. After the murder of 46+ Iraqi Shi'a pilgrims, #Iraq must explore the options ground operations in #Syria in response.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Mar 2017 13:13

Nato might be willing to play ball in idlib. The refugee jihadis and returning fighters from idlib will stage france style attacks for sure.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Mar 2017 16:21

Iraqi Day @iraqi_day Mar 11
More
Iraqi Day Retweeted Iraqi Day
500+ bodies were found, all were executed by #ISIS when they took control of Badush prison NW #Mosul city back in 2014.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Mar 2017 16:25

BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:25 A.M.) – The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has been forced to sit idly in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, as bad weather engulfs the region.

According to Al-Masdar’s northern Syria correspondent, Yusha Yuseef, the Syrian Arab Army’s Tiger Forces have not been able to launch any attacks on the Jirah Military Airport and its surrounding villages due to poor visibility and heavy rain.

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 13 Mar 2017 16:56

Austin wrote:
Singha wrote:Look at isis war machine

Http://misterxanlisis.wordpress.com/201 ... -doctrine/
Quite Powerful Well Armed Funded and Motivated force. That document is a keeper.

I wonder how do these IED really work https://misterxanlisis.files.wordpress. ... 5f_4x3.jpg

Singha saab as usual amazing stuff! From where did you get this!

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 13 Mar 2017 17:03

US has sent 100s of soldiers in Syria (Manbij), their armoured convoy are a regular sight in Manbij where they have set up a base to understand territory . they are training & arming SDF for battle on Raqqa.
Assad has lodged strong protest with UN & declared US an invader but powerless to do any thing.

[So what after Raqqa is liberated: who will control the territory? Will Sy be divided ?]

Iraqi insiders have posted on SM that Bagdaddy where about is well known to West intel but not being shared with Iraq as he knows too much on Saudi, Qatar etc.

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 13 Mar 2017 21:16

Turkey has invaded Syria with tacit green light from Russian federation. The US sends troops to Manbij to ensure it does not get `liberated` from kurds by Erdogan. Nothing against the US there.

Besides Iraqi insiders have intel that US has intel about Baghdadi but they dont have intel on what is the actual intel?!

Muslims of all hues and colors hate America. Except when they need visa or other kinda help. No surprise with, US does this and supports terrorists or knows this, etc.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Mar 2017 11:16

selfie in mosul just as a vbied went off

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Mar 2017 11:23

wapo

Marines have arrived in Syria to fire artillery in the fight for Raqqa
By Dan Lamothe and Thomas Gibbons-Neff March 8

Marines from an amphibious task force have left their ships in the Middle East and deployed to Syria, establishing an outpost from which they can fire artillery in support of the fight to oust the Islamic State from the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, defense officials said.

The deployment marks a new escalation in the U.S. war in Syria, and puts more conventional U.S. troops in the battle. Several hundred Special Operations troops have advised local forces there for months, but the Pentagon has mostly shied away from using conventional forces in Syria. The new mission comes as the Trump administration weighs a plan to help Syrian rebels take back Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State. The plan also includes more Special Operations troops and attack helicopters.

The force is part of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which left San Diego on Navy ships in October. The Marines on the ground include part of an artillery battery that can fire powerful 155-millimeter shells from M-777 Howitzers, two officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the deployment.

The expeditionary unit’s ground force, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, will man the guns and deliver fire support for U.S.-backed local forces who are preparing an assault on the city. Additional infantrymen from the unit will provide security, while resupplies will be handled by part of the expeditionary force’s combat logistics element. For this deployment, the Marines were flown from Djibouti to Kuwait and then into Syria, said another defense official with direct knowledge of the operation.

The official added that the Marines’ movement into Syria was not the byproduct of President Trump’s request for a new plan to take on the Islamic State but that it had “been in the works for some time.”

“The Marines answer a problem that the [operation] has faced,” the official said. He added that they now provide “all-weather fires considering how the weather is this time of year in northern Syria.”

Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top U.S. general overseeing the campaign against the Islamic State, has previously said that a small number of conventional soldiers have supported Special Operations troops on the ground in Syria, including through a truck-mounted system known as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS. The defense official with knowledge of the deployment said Wednesday that the Marines and their howitzers will supplement, rather than replace, those Army units.

The new Marine mission was disclosed after members of the Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment appeared in the Syrian city of Manbij over the weekend in Strykers — heavily armed, eight-wheel armored vehicles. Defense officials said they are there to discourage Syrian or Turkish troops from making any moves that could shift the focus away from an assault on Islamic State militants.

The Marine mission has similarities to an operation the Marine Corps undertook about a year ago when the U.S. military was preparing to support an assault on the Iraqi city of Mosul. In that case, a force from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, from Camp Lejeune, N.C., established a fire base south of the city in support of Iraqi and Kurdish troops who were then carrying out operations to isolate Mosul from Islamic State-held territory around it.

The existence of the outpost near Mosul, originally named Fire Base Bell, became public after it was attacked by rockets March 19, 2016, killing Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin and wounding at least four other Marines. Defense officials said at the time that they had not disclosed the deployment of Marines there because the base was not fully operational, although photographs released by the Defense Department shortly afterward showed Marines launching artillery rounds a day before Cardin’s death.

For the base in Syria to be useful, it must be within about 20 miles of the operations that U.S.-backed forces are carrying out. That is the estimated maximum range on many rounds fired from the M-777 howitzer. GPS-guided Excalibur rounds, which the Marines also used after establishing Fire Base Bell, can travel closer to 30 miles. Fire support for the Mosul operation has since been turned over to the Army.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 14 Mar 2017 13:02

the US doesn't wanna give intel to Iraq on Bagdadi because they know darn well it will get back to Bagdadi who could then take countermeasures.

the middle east is a treacherous cesspool.

we've already winged him once. we'll nail him eventually.

his scalp is gonna go on our totem pole. and he knows it.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Mar 2017 13:08

maybe he is already put under by a drone but like a lizards detached tail, his Emirs are running the show. in any case, he was never the military brains of isis, those would be iraqi mil intel types of baath days and chechen / turkoman / north african elite commanders.

the 4 huge clusters of daesh left are - eastern homs near palmyra, eastern aleppo , west of mosul and raqqa-deir azzor belt.
quite easily 20,000 riflemen with some supporting arms for logistics, admin, religious police, mukhabarat....5000 would be elite shock troops with best level of gear.

the sheer vastness of the deserts makes it tough to assad to make a direct move given his weak logistical tail and lack of hands. same for the SDF though the eastern bank is populated and they are training up arab militia recruits as fast as they can.

the battle for old Mosul has started today. it will take another 3 months to clean up mosul and tal afar. then iraqis can start to consider crossing the border and moving upriver in support.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Mar 2017 13:12

old mosul - centered on the grand mosque where khalifa proclaimed his rule. a endless maze of narrow alleys , packed housing, shops barely wide enough for bikes to enter - good thing is VBIEDs not possible. bad thing is a paradise for pre-rigged IEDs and snipers.

the fight is about to get even more close quarters and brutal. god be with these men.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Mar 2017 17:00

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Mar 2017 17:01

^^
маяковский‏ @moscow_ghost 24h24 hours ago
More
Assad gave green light to #Iran to build a naval base in #Latakia, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Mar 2017 21:07

https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=72a_1489437080

isis cadres fighting in central mosul

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Mar 2017 06:18

Idlib jihadis showcase elite unit

https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article ... rian-army/

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Mar 2017 07:32

Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity

IMPORTANT:

Tribal sources in western #Iraq say that up to 2,000 US troops have arrived in Sa'ad air base (aka H2)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Mar 2017 07:33

This is anbar province. Maybe helicoptered into position firebase near raqqa. Need to be within 20 miles for non rap shells of m777 to range in.

Gyan · Post by **Gyan** » 15 Mar 2017 11:15

Bagdadi would be sitting in some Palace in Saudi Barbaria raping Yazidi slaves.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Mar 2017 15:21

a snapshot of the sultans overflowing jails

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Mar 2017 16:59

the vast nineveh desert remains a uncontested no mans land where ISIS prowl around at will....could be 100s of bands of ISIS strung out there living under rocks and small burrows making IEDs for a living and roasting lizards and birds for food.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Mar 2017 17:01

SDF is still 38km from deir azzor. remains unclear if they can/want to break the siege of deir azzor or focus only on isolating raqqa (not really possible as nobody but ISIS rules the south bank of the river)

taking deir azzor and rolling up ISIS from both banks (SDF on north, SAA reinforcement via SDF land tunnel on the south) is the wiser move but wise heads of pentagon have to buy in. largely mobile units like the desert hawks are ideally suited to stage out of deir and move north across the desert to tabqa from the south, while tigers from north...will increase the fear actor of isis also. in concert the iraqis can move on al qaim and al bukamal.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Mar 2017 17:09

the US army may have sent this chopper to help SDF. the turks surely have not - usa, turkey and japan are one of few to use the outrigger fuel tanks

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Mar 2017 17:09

location is the Lafarge cement plant now a SOCOM base with ospreys, apaches, chinooks etc.

https://www.google.co.in/maps/@36.54342 ... a=!3m1!1e3

location is 120km from raqqa ... ideally located on M4 motorway that goes to hasakeh...permits trucking in heavy supplies from erbil airport off C17 and C5 haulers...same route as SDF is getting new vehicles and weapons

https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Laf ... 38.5857178

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 15 Mar 2017 19:15

http://presstv.ir/Detail/2017/03/15/514 ... key-Russia

'Turkey seeks to gain upper hand in Syria peace talks'

Omar Nashabe believes that Turkey has been keeping the Syrian opposition from attending the Astana talks and by doing so Ankara is trying to send a message that it is seeking a more powerful position vis-à-vis the Kurdish forces inside Syria.

Meanwhile, the other panelist, William Morris, said that contrary to militants’ claim that they boycotted the Astana discussion because of attacks on their positions in Homs, it is indeed Turkey that has instructed them to pull out of the talks.
Turkey is seeking to thwart the ceasefire talks because its desire to crush the Kurds has been foiled, he argued.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 16 Mar 2017 07:24

https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article ... ttlefield/

Pmu fighter killed by isis sniper while rescuing a child