Levant crisis - III

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Apr 2017 17:33

Latest raqqa map.long way to go

Take a look at @AraratKurd's Tweet: https://twitter.com/AraratKurd/status/8 ... 78592?s=09

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Apr 2017 23:11

https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article ... eir-ezzor/

Isis moves capital to mayadin some 40km from deir azzor

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 24 Apr 2017 00:15

US commandos have carried out raid in East Syria and killed chief finance officer of IS, a close aid to Bagdadday Now a days US depends on drone mostly to take out high value target. Killed IS man Abdurakhmon Uzbeki, is believed to be from Uzbekistan.
The US says he played a key role in an attack on a night club in Istanbul on New Year's Eve which killed 39 people.
Turkish police arrested Abdulkadir Masharipov, the main suspect in the attack, on 17 January after a huge manhunt. This man was apparently taking instructions from Uzbeki.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39673142

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Apr 2017 07:31

Isis attacks north of raqqa beaten by sdf

https://twitter.com/_paulo34/status/856142588373544961

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 25 Apr 2017 18:13

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04 ... s-kurdish/

Turkey says it bombed Kurdish terrorists in Syria and Iraq but US Kurdish allies say they were hit.

But the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria and the Peshmerga forces in Iraq both said their forces had been targeted in the Turkish strikes. Both the YPG and the Peshmerga are US allies fighting on the front lines against Isil.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Apr 2017 21:53

Wailing by kurds and calling in usa officials to inspect damage wont save them.

They will have to fight back

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 26 Apr 2017 00:03

Chinese Jihadi Group Thrown In In The Syrian Civil War Mix !

Chinese jihadis' rise in Syria raises concerns at home

BEIRUT (AP) -- Many don't speak Arabic and their role in Syria is little known to the outside world, but the Chinese fighters of the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria are organized, battled-hardened and have been instrumental in ground offensives against President Bashar Assad's forces in the country's northern regions.Thousands of Chinese jihadis have come to Syria since the country's civil war began in March 2011 to fight against government forces and their allies. Some have joined the al-Qaida's branch in the country previously known as Nusra Front. Others paid allegiance to the Islamic State group and a smaller number joined factions such as the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham.But the majority of Chinese jihadis are with the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria, whose vast majority are Chinese Muslims, particularly those from the Turkic-speaking Uighur majority native to Xinjiang in China. Their growing role in Syria has resulted in increased cooperation between Syrian and Chinese intelligence agencies who fear those same jihadis could one day return home and cause trouble there.The Turkistan Islamic Party is the other name for the East Turkistan Islamic Movement that considers China's Xinjiang to be East Turkistan.

Like most jihadi groups in Syria, their aim is to remove Assad's secular government from power and replace it with strict Islamic rule. Their participation in the war, which has left nearly 400,000 people dead, comes at a time when the Chinese government is one of Assad's strongest international backers. Along with Russia, China has used its veto power at the U.N. Security Council on several occasions to prevent the imposition of international sanctions against its Arab ally.

Abdul-Hakim Ramadan, a doctor who was active in Idlib province, said one of his teams was trying to enter a northwestern village to vaccinate children when TIP fighters prevented them from entering, saying only Chinese can go into the area.Ramadan said unlike other fighters who have come to Syria, the Chinese have not merged into local communities and the language has been a major barrier. Some experts have speculated that Pakistan ISI is behind this mischief !

arun · Post by **arun** » 26 Apr 2017 11:39

X Posted from the Islamism Thread.

News wire service United Press International (UPI) reports that stampeding wild boars kill three belonging to the Mohammadden belief inspired group, Islamic State aka IS aka ISIS, near Kirkuk in Iraq.

Does being killed by a “Haram” beast like a wild boar cancel out a trip by these dead Mohammaddens to “Jannat” and the company of “72 Houris”?

Stampeding wild boars kill 3 Islamic State militants in Iraq

Stampeding wild boars kill 3 Islamic State militants in Iraq

By Mike Bambach | April 25, 2017 at 9:32 PM

April 25 (UPI) -- A stampede of wild boars mauled to death three Islamic State militants waiting in ambush Sunday in Iraq, Kurdish fighters said Tuesday.

The mangled bodies were discovered by refugees fleeing territory controlled by the Islamic State about 50 miles southwest of Kirkuk, said Sheikh Anwar al-Assi, a chief of the local Ubaid tribe and supervisor of anti-Islamic State forces. ……………………

The above article of wild boars killing three terrorists of the Mohammadden belief inspired group, Islamic State aka IS aka ISIS in Iraq reminds of the Janurary 1987by news wire service Associated Press (AP) story of a wild boar destrorying a F16 of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s Air Force :

Boar Reportedly Ruins Pakistani F-16 Jet

Boar Reportedly Ruins Pakistani F-16 Jet

January 03, 1987|Associated Press

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A Pakistan air force F-16 exploded after hitting a wild boar on the runway during takeoff, The Nation newspaper said Friday.

The accident happened Thursday at the air force base at Sargodha, 120 miles southeast of Islamabad, the English-language newspaper said. It did not say whether the pilot survived.

The Nation said the fighter plane's nose wheel was knocked off after hitting a wild boar. The plane skidded along the runway, caught fire, "turned into a fireball and was destroyed," the newspaper said. ………………………

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 Apr 2017 15:08

Russia Ready to Send Ground Forces to Syria

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960204000944

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian military sources revealed that Moscow has informed Damascus of its preparedness to dispatch ground troops to Syria.

Al-Hadath news quoted the sources as saying that Russia has announced that in case of the Syrian army's request it is ready to send ground forces to Syria.

The sources said that special Russian forces are prepared to be deployed in regions which are experiencing the most pressures by the terrorist groups.

They added that the technical aspects of the plan have been studied and prepared by Russia, saying that the plan can be implemented upon Russian President Vladimir Putin's order after Damascus' official request.

A Russian daily reported earlier this month that the country's soldiers are about to shoulder the responsibility of restoring security to the Christian-populated regions during the Syrian Army's imminent anti-terrorism operations in Northern Hama.

Izvestia reported that the Russian units will help popular forces in Hama province to restore security to the town of Mahradeh, whose population are mainly Christians.

The daily added that terrorists are under the Syrian Army's siege from all directions.

There have been fierce clashes between the government forces and militants near Hahradeh since April 4th.

Informed sources believe that the army intends to complete the siege of the terrorists in Northern Hama to clean the region up to the border with Idlib province.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 Apr 2017 15:10

^^ So many Orthodox and RC/Egyptian Christians have died in Syria and Russia did not send any troops earlier when Nuns and Preist where getting killed ....Shame on them for calling themselves Conservative Orthodox Christians.... lead by that bas#@$% moron on Chief Putin who prides himself calling christian.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 Apr 2017 18:15

Russia’s Aerospace Forces carry out over 23,000 sorties in Syria
Military & Defense
April 26, 15:36 UTC+3

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. The Russian Aerospace Forces have carried out more than 23,000 sorties and about 77,000 strikes on terrorists since the beginning of the military operation in Syria, Sergey Rudskoi, Head of the Russian General Staff’s Main Operations Directorate, Colonel-General Sergey Rudskoi, said on Wednesday.

"The Russian Aerospace Forces have carried out more than 23,000 sorties and about 77,000 strikes since the beginning of the military operation," Rudskoi said at the Moscow Conference on International Security.

More:
http://tass.com/defense/943379

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 27 Apr 2017 02:53

Russia sending ground forces at this stage of the conflict seems intended to forestall bright ideas by others, hain? Ground forces means tank divisions, artillery, SAM positions, many more helicopters and air and naval forces to support them. Plus offensive operations to capture and hold territory where Syrians may not be able to go ... like Golan Heights and Idlib. HUGE decision by Putin.

Plus when they return I guess they plan to leave the Syrian Army better equipped.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 Apr 2017 10:28

Russian and Saudi FMs clash over Syria & Iran

https://www.rt.com/news/386265-lavrov-j ... nts-syria/

Iran’s involvement in Syria is where Moscow and Riyadh “are mildly speaking, not matching,” the Russian Foreign Minister has said after hosting his Saudi counterpart. The alleged chemical attack in Syria has proven another point where Russia and Saudi Arabia are at odds.

Riyadh is standing against the involvement of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Hezbollah group in Syria, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir said at a news conference after talks with Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

“We believe that they have no place in Syria or in any other part of the world. These groups influence the situations in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Gulf countries, Yemen. Hezbollah is carrying out its operations in various Middle East regions and follow’s Iran’s agenda,” Jubeir said.

“We would like to put an end to Iran’s involvement in the region,” he added.

Russia’s Foreign Minister countered this view, noting that Iran, as well as Hezbollah, are operating in Syria on President Bashar Assad’s official request.

“We don’t see Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. We believe that both of them [Iran and Hezbollah] – like Russia’s Air Forces – came to Syria following the request of the legitimate government,” Lavrov said.

“We know that our approaches are – mildly speaking – not matching, but we are sure that we need all Syrian parties without exceptions and all international players influencing these parties to join us to deal with this crisis,” Lavrov said.

Both ministers agreed that Teheran is one of the custodians of the ceasefire regime in Syria as outlined in the Astana agreement.

Apart from Tehran’s involvement in Syria, the two countries are also at odds over the US missile strikes on a Syrian airbase in early April. The US said the military operation was in retaliation for the alleged chemical attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun, which Washington blames on Syria's President Assad.

The Saudi Foreign Minister called the US assault a “balanced step in order to punish the Syrian authorities.” The envoy supported the idea of an international probe into the attack but emphasized that Riyadh believes Assad bears responsibility for it.

However, there is still no substantial proof that Damascus was behind the alleged chemical assault, Lavrov noted.

“We were secretly told that our American partners have conclusive evidence, allegedly a list with names of officials and military people who sanctioned the use of chemical weapons and other facts. But they naturally can’t share this data since it’s confidential,” Lavrov said, adding that Moscow simply cannot “trust” this kind of statements.

Critics of the probe said that UN experts couldn’t be sent to the site of the attack for security reasons, allegedly citing a corresponding UN department, the Russian envoy went on. “We took the trouble of checking these statements and they turned out false… There are no reasons not to send experts both to the chemical attack site in Khan Shaykhun and the airfield from which the planes with chemical weapons allegedly took off,” Lavrov said.

At the same time, French intelligence claims that samples allegedly collected at the scene of the attack in Khan Shaykhun showed that “there is no doubt that sarin gas was used” and it was produced in Syrian labs, AFP reported on Wednesday. The same claim was made by the UK ambassador to the UN Matthew Rycroft earlier in April.

In this regard, Moscow wants to know where did the UK and France get the samples from, Lavrov said, wondering why no other member of the international community except for Paris and London know about these samples and the analysis results.

Turning to Syria’s future, Foreign Minister Jubeir said President Assad “has no place and can’t play any role” and must step down. At the same time, Jubeir confirmed that Saudi Arabia supports the Syrian peace talks that helped to usher in the current ceasefire.

Overall, according to Lavrov, both Moscow and Riyadh have no insurmountable differences regarding the settlement of the Syrian crisis, adding that the bilateral relations of the countries, on the whole, have improved over the past years.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 Apr 2017 11:00

Russia Thwarts ISIS Attack In Far East Oil Hub

http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-Gener ... l-Hub.html

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Apr 2017 11:54

russia from yesterday has started withdrawing 50% of its air component saying reduction in active fronts means less airframes needed.

the active fronts at present are north hama, deir azzor and palmyra
ruaf does not participate in daraa, lebanon border and east ghouta fights - only SyAF there

al maskanah plain is still in ISIS hands . jirrah airbase is not taken. most of the tigers got moved to north hama.

there is no sign of any Idlib offensive. word was iran and assad wanted it , but russia urged them to hold off and arrive at some settlement. so a nuova pakistan is likely next to assadist heartland. the border will need to be heavily fortified.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Apr 2017 11:55

kurds have retaliated along border for tuAF bombing that killed 20 and destroyed some 5 tanks.

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 27 Apr 2017 16:52

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-i ... SKBN17S2YG

Israel is seeking an "understanding" with the Trump administration that Iran must not be allowed to establish a permanent military foothold in Syria, Israel's intelligence minister told Reuters on Wednesday.

Katz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, insisted, however, that Israel was not asking Washington to commit more forces to Syria, but to "achieve this by talking to the Russians, by threatening Iran, by sanctions and other things."

I dont think Russia will deploy ground forces in Syria. Any unilateral deployment by Iran will be attacked by Israel.

Today Israel attacked Damascus airport region again to destroy weapon supplies from Iran.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39728682

An Israeli missile strike has caused a large explosion and fire at a military site near Damascus international airport, Syrian state media report.
A fuel tank and warehouses were damaged, the Sana news agency said.
But Syrian rebel sources said an arms depot run by Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, which is fighting in Syria as an ally of the government, was hit.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 Apr 2017 17:32

Russians are there to stay in Syria for a long time as they have the Mediterrian Naval Base at Tartus which now they are expanding , Previously there was just a small berthing base but now they are expanding to full fledge Naval base https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170 ... tus-syria/

There are also lakhs of Orthodox Christians in Syria that Sunni Jihadi would be more than happy to slaughter if not protected , many already killed

CSTO country is also worried of their own nationals about 20000 of them returning back to CIS if they are not taken care in Syria and Iraq. Few Returned did terrorist attack in CSTO country and major in St Petersburg. http://militarynews.ru/story.asp%3Frid% ... d%3D449623

So many reason for Russians to stay put in Syria , It is just a question of what is the appropriate time to send the troops and not just if to send it.

Most likely these troops will be from Russian/CIS countries not just Russians likely even Iranians . Many from Russian Equivalent of Private Blackwater are already operating there

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Apr 2017 17:35

videos efrin kurds blasting turkish tanks and a border post with ATGMs
https://twitter.com/em_bernadin/status/ ... 1448407040
https://twitter.com/Dr_Partizan/status/ ... 9455926274
https://twitter.com/ThomasOz_/status/857307364420190208

U.S. Central Command‏Verified account @CENTCOM 19h19 hours ago
.@OIRSpox We are troubled by #Turkey airstrikes on #SDF and #Kurdish forces

^^ hope this translates to giving kurds the tools they need to fight a strong foe like turkey and its packs of FSA jihadi auxiliaries

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Apr 2017 17:38

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 Apr 2017 17:47

Erdogan shuns West with Syria strikes and more mass detentions

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/26/europ ... n-us-west/

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 27 Apr 2017 17:49

Singha wrote:kurds have retaliated along border for tuAF bombing that killed 20 and destroyed some 5 tanks.

Difficult to believe. More likely propaganda by YPG to keep up the morale. Unless it comes in MSM.

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 27 Apr 2017 18:23

Iraq & Syria seem to becoming free for all
Syria war: 'Israeli strike' hits military site near Damascus airport http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39728682

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Apr 2017 06:30

The cnn type msm has not managed to file a teport from tabqah front yet...you want them to patrol the border and report on atgm strikes....
It looks good to me..m60 tanks hidden behind berms and firing on post below from hills of efrin

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Apr 2017 06:38

https://twitter.com/PolatCanRojava/stat ... 4104498177

https://twitter.com/curdistani/status/8 ... 8448555009

17 turks and 8 vehicles is the claim so far. Turkish fsolahs are hovering over kurd areas but atgm teams are very hard to spot.

The usa could empower its allies with 5000 javelin 5000 missiles and aesa wlr with m777 pkg to take out the turkish howitzers

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Apr 2017 06:39

Or more cheaply give them grads and daily howitzer locations

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 28 Apr 2017 09:21

Dont expect 'quick fix' in Syria, China tells EU

https://euobserver.com/foreign/137680

The EU should not expect a "quick fix" in Syria, China's special envoy on the issue said on Tuesday (25 April), warning that "imposing a solution" from the outside would "not be workable".

Xie Xiaoyan was in Brussels for the second time in a month and met officials from the EU external service before heading to Moscow. He told a group of journalists that China, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, had a "shared interest" with the EU to find a political solution in Syria.

He said that Beijing agreed with the EU on the need to have a cease-fire and a political discussion on "a transitional authority, democratic elections and a rewriting of a constitution".

While describing the talks with EU diplomats as a "useful, informative discussion", Xie admitted that China and the EU "may have different approaches as to how to resolve the crisis".

He said that all parties involved, including the EU, should be aware that they would "meet difficulties, twists and turns, ups and downs, flips-flops".

"It will not be a smooth sailing," he said, adding that the 6-year old conflict was "the most complicated issue in [his] diplomatic career", because "there are so many players".

Earlier this month, EU foreign affairs ministers said that "there can be no lasting peace in Syria under the current regime" of Bashar el Assad.

But for the Chinese envoy, "regime change will bring disaster" in Iraq and Libya, where Western powers took dictators Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi down.

"External forces have a role to play but there is a line beyond which it is meddling in internal affairs of another country," said Xie, insisting on a fundamental principle of China's diplomacy.

He said that the future of the Syrian regime and of its leader - whose name he didn't use - as well as what kind of government would replace it, are "in nature internal affairs of Syria".

"It's not our job to make a pre-judgement, it's not our duty to decide the future of that particular person," he added.

"Don't think we are more clever than the Syrian people himself," he insisted.

He said that China "strongly advocates" the Syrian regime and the opposition to "engage in serious discussions and make progress". He added that both sides "should abandon the illusion that they can win militarily".

The Chinese Syria envoy said that Beijing could talk with all parties involved in Syria, in the region and at a global level, and that it wanted to be "bridge the gaps" between all.

Common interest

He also suggested that no solution would be found if China's position were not taken into account.

He said that if the UN Security Council, where Beijing holds veto power, was "split", it would "reduce its effectiveness".

He said that despite the US shifting positions under president Donald Trump, Washington would play "a very important if not a vital role". He also said that the influence of Russia, whose army is in Syria to support Assad, would "remain very strong".

He added that if the US and Russia could "continue their dialogue" it would be "a good omen for the region and for everybody".

For the EU, his message was that "consultation and coordination" are needed.

"We don't have to see eye to eye on all the major issues," he noted. "As long as we have one common interest, we can work together."

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Apr 2017 09:42

https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article ... er-attack/

Leader of nato unable to bring turkey to heel. Raqqa offensive stalls.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 28 Apr 2017 13:03

One aspect of the ME wars and Levant in particular,is the exodus of Christians who've been living there for 2000yrs. The Copts in Egypt are under attack from jihadi Islamists,and we see the same happenings in Pak,etc.,where Islamic fundamentalism is taking vengeance upon Christians remembering the bloody Crusades.Veteran ME scribe Fisk on the subject.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/pop ... 05351.html

Christians are under attack in the Middle East – and not even a visit from the Pope can convince them to stay
In the British mandate of Palestine, the Christian population was 9.6 per cent of the population. By 1999, it was 2.9 per cent. Meanwhile, 35 per cent of the Christians of the West Bank and Gaza left between 1967 and 1999
Robert Fisk

After 44 Christian Copts were killed in two church bombings in Egypt this month, can they stay? EPA
Almost exactly a quarter of a century ago, I wrote a story for the front page of what was then The Independent’s Weekend Review. It was headlined: “Exodus: a story of Christians”. It told the tragedy of those people of the faith who were fleeing the lands of the forefathers.

I interviewed the only hermit left in Lebanon, in a cave in the north of the country, and he said to me: “I am the only hermit left in all the Middle East.” His eyes creased in happiness when I acknowledged his unique theological condition. “I will never leave Lebanon,” he said. “No Christian should leave the Holy Land. Those who have left will come back.”

He exuded faith: childlike, passionate, precise, untrammelled by contradiction or facts. And he was wrong.

As I wrote at the time – from Iraq, from the West Bank, from Lebanon and from Egypt, “probably” (that was my word then) from Syria, too – the Christians were leaving. A community of 14 million people, the inheritors of the original, eastern church of Christ, were draining away from lands now inhabited by up to 160 million Muslims.

Today, the Copts of Egypt alone may be as many as 15 million, but they make up only 10 per cent of the population. Under attack from Islamists, they are leaving for the West in huge numbers – which is one reason the Pope lands in Egypt on Friday in the hope (a plaintiff one, I fear) that Christians and Muslims can take violence out of religion. We pretend to care very much for these Christians, of course. (Indeed, we care so much that even the new American President, Donald Trump, was too frightened to call the 1915 slaughter of one and a half million Armenian Christians a genocide this week.)

25 dead during mass at Egypt’s main Coptic Christian Cathedral
I was much moved some two years ago, in the little Syrian town of Qamishleh, by the local priests and bishops of the Maronite (Catholic), Armenian and Orthodox churches who pleaded with me to stop suggesting that the Christians should seek sanctuary in the West. If they went to Canada or the US or Europe, they said, they will become part of a secular world in which they would lose their faith. This should not be the fate of the Christians of the Middle East.

But, after 44 Christian Copts were killed in two church bombings in Egypt this month, can they stay? When Christian Copts are murdered in Sinai, can they stay? When Isis in Iraq tells them to convert or die, can they stay?

By 1999, only 10 per cent of the people of Jerusalem were Christian. Just 30 per cent of Nazareth’s population of 172,000 were Christian.

In the British mandate of Palestine, the Christian population was 9.6 per cent of the population. By 1999, it was 2.9 per cent. Meanwhile, 35 per cent of the Christians of the West Bank and Gaza left between 1967 and 1999. And Christianity is supposed to be one of the world’s great religions.

I have long debated with Middle Eastern people whether this all goes back to the Crusades. In 1996, I had a long conversation with an Egyptian Muslim, Heba Raouf Ezzat, and this is what she said: “We are a different culture. We are a different civilisation. And usually, people think of those who are different as weird, as strange, as sometimes puzzling, sometimes as the ‘opponent’. So I think this is the first thing.

“You had a long history of colonial relations with our region and there was always this conflictual relation that we were ‘the enemy’ – especially during the Crusades – and I think that the Crusades is the key word. This is a history which you can’t just throw out of the window. This is a history that was there, blood was shed.

“Through the centuries, both sides – actually not only you, but we as well – started making our own myths regarding ‘the enemy’… and it lasted for two centuries or so and you can’t just forget it or think it’s not important or it’s a very minor issue. There is history and both cultures do have history. And people just don’t forget.”

But, I said to Ezzat, we had Richard the Lionheart and she had Salahedin “and you won”.

She would not accept this. “And we were defeated later by different people and with different tools,” she replied. “I’m not the person who would say ‘Oh we should overcome this’. I think people do have their differences. And it’s important to look and analyse and try to see why people have their differences and how they can run these differences through time and in different situations. But I think that both sides are responsible for this.”

What will the Pope say to that? Or to the Grand Imam of al-Azhar in Cairo, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb? Will they be up to the task of self-incrimination?

I recall reading some years ago Amin Maalouf’s wonderful book, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, wherein he recorded how the Crusaders, on their way to Jerusalem, stooped to cannibalism. They ate some of the Muslim dead after a pitched battle in a city in Syria. And the name of that city was Homs.

What can I say? Read the book.

The irony is that so-called "Christian Europe" is accepting in their millions,Muslim refugees from the ME resulting in latter-day terror strikes breaking out in EU countries.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Apr 2017 13:47

well euro christians wiped out so many native religions...
islam has returned the favour in the oldest christian areas..

the two desert religions will fight until the end of time. co-existence is not in their DNA.

Gyan · Post by **Gyan** » 28 Apr 2017 21:51

As Iraqis have got bogged down in Mosul, it has created a bloody stalemate in the whole region. Only after Mosul, Tal Afar is cleared, will Shias be able to clear of Sunni terrorist cabal.

Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 29 Apr 2017 03:50

https://www.thenation.com/article/is-tu ... ed-states/
Is Turkey’s War on Syrian Kurds Becoming a War on the United States?
Juan Cole April 28, 2017

he Trump administration was unusually subdued this week after the Turkish air force launched a bombing campaign against facilities of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria. The State Department said it “asked” Turkey to stop killing US allies in the fight against ISIL (ISIS, or the Islamic State). The Pentagon complained that Turkey not only hit its allies but failed to coordinate with the US Air Force, which is flying in the area. In essence, Turkey acted as a hostile power against the US war effort. In the aftermath, a fierce firefight has broken out at the Syrian-Turkish border between YPG forces and Turkish army units operating in northern Syria.

The YPG personnel are close allies of the United States in the fight against ISIL in northeast Syria. On coming to power, President Trump increased the number of US troops embedded among them to some 500. Just this week he gave the Defense Department under Jim Mattis the authority to make further determinations about needed troop levels in Syria and Iraq.

...

After the outbreak of civil war in Syria in 2011, the PYD’s paramilitary, the YPG, emerged as a significant fighting force, warding off fundamentalist Sunni Arab militias and establishing a semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Syria, which locals call Rojava.

When ISIL attacked Kobane, a Kurdish town on the border with Turkey, in September 2014, the YPG swung into action and ultimately secured US air support, allowing the militia to lift the siege and begin pushing back ISIL, which has committed several major massacres of Kurds. In the aftermath, then–Secretary of Defense Ash Carter decided that the YPG was the only ground force willing and able to take on the minions of faux “Caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in his capital of Raqqa, immediately to the south of the Kurdish region. Because it looked bad for the United States to be helping leftist Kurds (the YPG insignia contains a hammer and sickle) sweeping into a conservative Sunni Arab town like Raqqa, Carter tried to find Arab allies for the YPG, which led to the formation of the Syrian Democratic Forces. It appears, however, that the number of Arab fighters in the SDF has been inflated, and its core is the Kurdish YPG.

...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulled out of longstanding negotiations with the PKK and went to war against it in the summer of 2015.
...
Some suspect that he deliberately sought to polarize Turkish society over the question of Kurdish political identity because of the rise of a center-left, multicultural pro-Kurdish party, the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which had taken votes away from his own center-right Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the June 2015 elections.
...

Washington has been deeply frustrated by Turkey’s unwillingness to devote significant resources to rolling up ISIL. Erdogan’s priority has been attempting to destroy the PKK, and attacking what he sees as its Syrian Kurdish allies. Ankara fears that for the sake of defeating al-Baghdadi in Raqqa, the United States is helping to create an autonomous Syrian Kurdistan, which in turn may act as a model for Turkish Kurds, some 20 percent of the population of Turkey. In fact, separatist sentiments are not very widespread among Turkish Kurds, though economic discontent over government neglect of the hardscrabble southeast is. Erdogan has displaced some 350,000 Kurds with his current campaign, however, and is polarizing his country on several fronts at once.

Now Turkey is more or less at war with the United States in northern Syria, inasmuch as its bombing of the YPG could easily hit US Special Forces embedded with them. Likewise, the possibility of an aerial dogfight between the US Air Force and its Turkish counterpart cannot be ruled out. The United States cannot hope to retain credibility as a battlefield ally of YPG fighters risking all to take on ISIL if it cannot even protect them from a NATO member like Turkey. Erdogan appears to believe that he can bully Trump into abandoning the Syrian Kurds as allies. It remains to be seen if he has calculated correctly.

Bheeshma · Post by **Bheeshma** » 29 Apr 2017 04:06

Well the kurds were stupid enough to trust US. But they had very little option as Russia also will not support kurdistan. Maybe US was the better option, lets see if dumpf can tame erdolf.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Apr 2017 14:50

US only has to give grads to YPG and pass them daily coordinates of the turkish artillery as the shelling starts. even if they shoot and scoot, they have to stop sometime and US can maintain a continuous watch using GMTI sensors. or their ammo dumpd and train stations can be hit.

that would be enough to teach a lesson to sultan.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Apr 2017 14:53

khan IFVs doing flag march on turkiye border https://twitter.com/Dr_Partizan/status/ ... 9599121408

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Apr 2017 15:08

syrian 5th corps with russian advisers has gradually started to take back the oil and gas areas around palmyra

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 29 Apr 2017 17:39

Singha wrote:US only has to give grads to YPG and pass them daily coordinates of the turkish artillery as the shelling starts. even if they shoot and scoot, they have to stop sometime and US can maintain a continuous watch using GMTI sensors. or their ammo dumpd and train stations can be hit.
that would be enough to teach a lesson to sultan.

US wont arm the Kurds against a NATO ally. If Kurds do get arms, it would have to be from Russia.
Besides Trump is an idiot with low IQ. So unlikely he will do anything against the Sultan.
Putin`s reaction to his plane getting shot down by Turkey shows that he is not willing to counter Turkey in any field other than economic or diplomatic till time.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Apr 2017 18:34

Russis and Syria have been providing some ammo to efrin and lately opened the route to hasakeh. Maybe the pmu can provide kornets to ypg as surely the barzani kurds will not provide milans or tows.

Ypg does not seem to have atgm or even light arty at all...just small arms...

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 30 Apr 2017 03:36

Singha wrote:Russis and Syria have been providing some ammo to efrin and lately opened the route to hasakeh. Maybe the pmu can provide kornets to ypg as surely the barzani kurds will not provide milans or tows.
Ypg does not seem to have atgm or even light arty at all...just small arms...

Considering how quick Jihadi Erdogan was to go around kissing Poroshenko, Putin has been extremely cautious against Turkey. IMHO, Sultan will start supporting Chechen and central asian jihaadis, now that Erdogan has got his iron grip over Turkey.
In reply, Russia will start giving arms to Kurds. No surprise Russia is willing to go to any length to see the back of US in Afghanistan.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 30 Apr 2017 07:15

Georgia armenia and azerbaijan could be new proxy battlegrounds