Levant crisis - III

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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

eastern damascus being pounded by govt artillery
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Re: Levant crisis - III

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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Aug 3
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Replying to @IraqiSecurity
The cretins in #Turkey are opposing "Shi'a forces" which include an Iraqi army brigade, 2 Federal Police brigades and a Hashd faction.
1 reply 8 retweets 11 likes
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Aug 3
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Replying to @IraqiSecurity
Indirect (and direct) support for Da'ish from #Turkey is nothing new. #Iraq's PM Abadi must make a stand vs. the Ottofascist dictatorship.
2 replies 16 retweets 23 likes
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Aug 3
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#Turkey is actively blocking the liberation of #Iraq's Tal 'Afar, opposing the participation of Iraqi Turkmen forces in the operation.
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 30
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Saudi's FM Jubeir has said that Qatar's demands for the internationalization of hajj is a "declaration of war" against the Wahhabi kingdom.
5 replies 27 retweets 29 likes
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^^^^ a first demand to split off the Hejaj region makkah and madinah to a coalition of countries ... it was formerly ruled by UK backed hashemite jordanians.
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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Replying to @IraqiSecurity
Investigations are ongoing regarding intel pointing to dozens of local soldiers that collaborated with Da'ish in #Mosul (mainly smuggling).
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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Infiltrating the security apparatus of Sunni cities in #Iraq, like Mosul, Fallujah, Ramadi & Tikrit, is a old and honed tactic by Da'ish.
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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Alarming reports that local tribal militias in #Mosul are already being infiltrated by Da'ish terrorists, according to the city's mayor.
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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#Iraq's armed forces are preparing a wave of localised ops to hunt down & exterminate Da'ish cells, specifically in central Anbar & Diyala.
1 reply 9 retweets 15 likes
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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Indicative that Sunni support for Da'ish in #Iraq hasn't completely gone after 3 years of pain. Da'ish can't survive without local support.
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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Replying to @IraqiSecurity
Shirqat, Baiji, Tikrit, Samarra, Fallujah, Ramadi, Hit, N. Diyala, Ba'qubah.. the usual terror hotbeds in #Iraq are slowly hotting up again.
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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Worrying small-scale daily attacks by Da'ish in Anbar, Salahuddin and Diyala. Tell-tale signs of a bloody insurgency to come in #Iraq. :(
1 reply 14 retweets 14 likes
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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Replying to @IraqiSecurity
Da'ish is fracturing. A complete split, overhaul and/or rebranding could come soon. Many smaller terror groups could be born in the process.
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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This split has led to Da'ishi followers of Al-Hazimi being rounded up. Many in Syria's Raqqa have reportedly detonated themselves.
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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Da'ish followers of Al-Hazimi believe anyone living under a non-Wahhabi state should be killed. Binali basically agrees, which is funny.
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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The Binali (dead, coalition strike) and Al-Hazimi (from - surprise, surprise! - Saudi) split centres around the definition of a "Muslim".
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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The latest round of infighting is taking place between the followers of the Bahraini cleric Turki Binali and the Saudi cleric Al-Hazimi.
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Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity Jul 28
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Massive infighting going on behind the scenes among Da'ish ranks. Splits taking place between "ansar" (locals) and muhajireen (foreigners).
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

the Ansars will no doubt split more along ethnic and tribal lines into syrian, iraqi and gulfie Ansars. tough new leaders will emerge who will crush rivals and take charge

the chechens and turkomans will form their own kabilas as usual...they have safe haven in turkey and caucasus lawless regions.

the europeans will try to run with the chechens and if rejected will drift back into EU and launch terror attacks

fascinating...we are witnessing the next phase of evolution and middle-east is the petridish
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

brett mcgurk said last week that around 2000 daish are trapped in raqqa city
afaik no reports of POWs being taken.

after capturing Sukhnah the syrians are moving NE instead of direct E to DEZ. NE lies the desert hamlet of Al Kwam which is midway to Resafa. a linkup with forces coming from Resafa is the goal to totally cut off the ISIS pocket in east hama.

https://earth.google.com/web/@35.193550 ... 760787t,0r

this is on the sole remaining route between isis in east hama and the euphrates.
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

syrians have managed to isolate and split the daish strongpoints of humaymah and T2 (X in map)
pounding with artillery

http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.42 ... 6&z=11&m=b
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

East homs are rugged hills north of palmyra and tribes are pro isis so saa is probably looking to bottle them up in a few key places and eliminate later like iraqis did in tal afar

The fall of al kawm will cut their logistical tail to euphrates
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

fwiw

24 Resistance Axis‏ @Syria_Hezb_Iran 1h1 hour ago
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Replying to @Syria_Hezb_Iran
BREAKING | #PMU Commander:
#ISIS does not have smart missiles & targeting was clear from #US aircrafts
1 reply 9 retweets 17 likes
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

a mysterious heavy artillery strike by either us, jordan or isis was followed by a huge ISIS attack on a PMU position near the Al tanf border in Anbar that led to 67 soldiers being killed yesterday by the hit and run
Image

iraqis need to quit dawdling and send regular army division to Al rutba and start rolling up the border tracts toward Al bukamal, the main isis threat is not Tal afar but in the anbar desert and areas like tikrit hawija baiji

sections of anbari sunnis do not like the mainly shia PMU - tough - but they got to roll with the Govt in baghdad now and quit flirting with isis.
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

the main syrian units are further east along that border at wadi al waer , building up recon and supplies for a eventual march to Al Bukamal that will bring the curtain down on the anti ISIS war.

its the Iraqis who are unable to mobilize enough resources and political capital in Anbar on their side. they are still far off from Al Qaim at Haditha
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by deejay »

Pasting images of reports cited by Ivan Siderenko. Reports are good insights into actual battle positions in Sukannah.
https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1

This is from day before yesterday
Image

From yesterday
Image

Image of battle fatigued eyes
Image
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by deejay »

Peto Lucem map of Homs Governorate on 7th Aug:

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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by deejay »

Map of Eastern Ghouta (Damascus) where the firing is on:
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by deejay »

Sukannah seems to be now fully under SAA

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/br ... untryside/
BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:00 P.M.) – A Syrian Arab Army (SAA) military source has just announced the full liberation of al-Sukhnah town in eastern Homs Governorate.

Last night, the Syrian Army and its allies entered the strategic town from its southern and southwestern axes. Amid heavy clashes with ISIS terrorists, pro-government forces managed to crush the last ISIS defense lines inside the city and advanced deep towards the northern districts before fully liberating it.

SAA ordinance disposal teams have started work on clearing al-Sukhnah of mines and improvised explosive devices (IED).

By this advance, the SAA is now 55 kilometers from the western Deir Ezzor provincial border and 110 kilometers away from the city of Deir Ezzor itself (via the al-Sukhnah axis).

More details to follow …
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

Sukhnah as you said is already taken and the SAA is chasing the remnants in 2 directions - NE to Al Kwom and E toward Kobbiajep for a few kms each.
the ISIS tried a quick counter attack but was beaten off.

that being said 100km of desert is not easy to traverse with no towns enroute to replenish and threats from both flanks.

they might go to Al Kwom first to encircle the East hama area in your map. this rugged region is very hard to fight in and the tribes are pro ISIS.

further south the attacks have re started on Hamimah and T2 to pull more ISIS bees there
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/30 ... east-hama/

Uqayrabat - the name comes again and again. its kind of clearing house like binori town in lahore ... a quila e daish and hard to get at. russians have struck it repeatedly with airstrikes and SLCMs but little impact.

i guess in rugged mountains like AfPak border, kashmir and east hama no amt of men are enough and no amt of airpower too. it just sucks everything up and no wonder the PKK survives in the mountains after decades of the turks trying to get them
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

well meh look who showed up ?

al masdar news

BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:45 A.M.) – Various US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) mercenary groups based in southern Hasakah Governorate have released a statement regarding their unity under a single operations room in preparation for an assault on the mostly ISIS-held Deir Ezzor region of Syria.

According to the statement, the new operations room is to be called the ‘Wings of the Freedom of Deir Ezzor.’ To this end, the edict clarified that all FSA signatories have agreed to carry out operations in province against ISIS and, if need be, “regime” forces also.

Four objectives were highlighted:

1. Freeing Deir Ezzor from the current group (ISIS) that is oppressing it.

2. Banning other militias from taking the governorate, whether “anti-Assad” or “other.”

3. Forming new “revolutionary” groups in Deir Ezzor.

4. Supporting new regional “revolutionary” groups that emerge with all resources available.

The commander of the Wings of the Freedom of Deir Ezzor is to be one Yassir Izzadeen al-Turki (rank unspecified).

The current FSA groups in southern Hasakah were recently airlifted there from al-Tanf (Badia al-Sham region) by US forces. These apparently “moderate” proxy militias (who use to cooperate with al-Qaeda prior to 2014) are to be the United States’ means of extending its reach in Syria to the Deir Ezzor heartland where it can take control of the province’s many energy infrastructures and strategic boundaries.

The strategy behind such actions by the United States is to help Washington gain leverage over the Damascus government in preparation for post-war negotiations
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by deejay »

^^Some guys had raised the FSA flag at Al Bab yesterday. Coincidence????
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

fsa is being propped up to win a seat at negotiation table

Al bab is under erdogans iron rule though any fsa will be crushed
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

Image

by Emmanuel
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Baikul »

deejay wrote:Pasting images of reports cited by Ivan Siderenko.

Image of battle fatigued eyes
......
My god, that photo is possibly the best representation of the thousand yard stare I've ever seen.
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Theeran »

There are tons of villages between Suknah and Deir ezzor. It will be a while until the army gets there. Maybe a month or more.

I just noticed not even half the deir ezzor town is with Assad. They seem to be holding just the airport and a tiny bit to the west.
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

Theeran wrote:There are tons of villages between Suknah and Deir ezzor. It will be a while until the army gets there. Maybe a month or more.

I just noticed not even half the deir ezzor town is with Assad. They seem to be holding just the airport and a tiny bit to the west.
they hold about half the town and kilometers of desert with a network of berms outside , and the airbase. the large cemetary area in between was taken by ISIS earlier this year

oldish map but not much has changed

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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

>>There are tons of villages between Suknah and Deir ezzor

the two main ones are near DEZ - ash sholah and kobbiajep. other than that it looks like a blank slate.

there are small oasis on either side of the road where ISIS could sortie from for strikes though. both flanks will need to be secured before heavy logistics can move on the road.

3 months it might take to reach DEZ. the dregs , die hards and defeated remnants of other fights will rally around the call to defend the forward of Euphrates line. they can also call upon strong units from Anbar where they have been running riot lately....
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Re: Levant crisis - III

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The'Nimr'Tiger Souria4Syrians 6h6 hours ago
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US backed mercenaries say they were backstabbed by tribal forces who gave their positions to SAA in East Suwayda near Jordan
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

large ISIS attack on humaymah NE of T2 station on a position they had hit and run earlier

80 ISIS killed in exchange for 22 govt forces killed is the callout

photos of isis corpses

https://twitter.com/Souria4Syrians/stat ... 2748196866

photos of isis IFVs

https://twitter.com/Souria4Syrians/stat ... 8407259136
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Re: Levant crisis - III

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The'Nimr'Tiger Souria4Syrians 8h8 hours ago
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Sources say a group of ISIS suicide bombers were pinned down by SAA for hours, then blew themselves up prematurely in the desert #Humaymah
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:30 A.M.) – The battle for Deir Ezzor is still months away, but the current clashes taking place across the Syrian Desert are providing a frightening glimpse into what is to come in the near future.

The Islamic State (ISIL) has lost a significant amount of territory in central and northern Syria; however, this was expected given the vast amount of desert landscape that was under their control.

With the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) closing in on the town of ‘Uqayrbat in east Hama, the Islamic State decided to send a large number of their forces from this region to the Homs-Deir Ezzor provincial border.

ISIL’s reinforcements didn’t waste time getting acclimated, as their forces gave the Syrian Arab Army the first taste of what is to come once the battle for Deir Ezzor begins.

Islamic State fighters stormed the SAA’s positions in the Humaymah area, killing a total of 22 soldiers and wounding more than 40 others that were participating in the battle.

While the Syrian Army was able to fend off the ISIL assault, their casualty toll was demoralizing for the troops deployed in this region.

The days of ISIL retreating to the desert are now over; they have nowhere to go anymore, as Deir Ezzor becomes their last stomping ground in Syria.


https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/ba ... yrian-war/
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

SAA urgently needs more of the seasoned republican guard formations from rural damascus to help the paramils in the southern desert humaymah, T2 region and also beef up the Sukhnah units which are likely the best chance of reaching DEZ.

tigers will have to cope with a continuous chain of inhabited villages along euphrates to cover the 60km from raqqa border to DEZ

Iraqis need to find their mosul focus back and make a move on cleaning up the s**t in Anbar from multiple directions .... vast legions will be needed for that - the spaces of Anbar are huge

none of the syrians paramils seems to have ATGMs while iraqi PMU has a lot of them. Russia needs to plug the material and training gap in ATGMs - a hellish swarm of SVIED attacks is sure to come.
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

Saudis are trying to placate moqtada al sadr and turn him against the baghdad govt and the persians.
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

same attack as above
Elijah J. Magnier‏ @ejmalrai 14h14 hours ago
Elijah J. Magnier Retweeted Elijah J. Magnier

The gathering was a prep of a huge attack (several hundreds) #SAA and allies towards Deir al-Zour front.Elijah J. Magnier added,
Elijah J. Magnier @ejmalrai

#BreakingNews:
#ISIS attack with 6 suicide #VBIEDs T3 killing over 40 #Iraq/i , 10 #Afghan and 9 #Hezbollah #Syria.
3 replies 16 retweets 12 likes
Reply 3 Retweet 16 Like 12

Elijah J. Magnier Retweeted Elijah J. Magnier
#ISIS is doing everything 2prevent #SAA/allies from reaching wadi alFurat where all leaders based. Attacks expected.
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by deejay »

Make Shift refineries of Syria under ISIS. This one near Abu Kamal / Jabal Baghouz since 2014:

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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

what kind of djinn tech is used to convert crude oil into petrol and diesel in these ? does it not need a fractional distillation tower and loads of energy to break up the crude oil?
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

to answer my own question - just wow there is truly no end to human innovation
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2013/ ... es/100439/ - great photos


the process is described here http://sciencing.com/distill-motor-oil- ... 61173.html
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

by coasting post Mosul and not pressing on tal afar immediately, the iraqis have lost momentum and allowed ISIS to crawl back in the game
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/pi ... -tal-afar/
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

isis claims of casualties to sdf in raqqa battle
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/10 ... qa-battle/
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Austin »

Israel Tried to Derail Syria Ceasefire at Secret Meetings With U.S. And Russia Over Iran

http://www.newsweek.com/israel-tried-de ... ran-648520
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Re: Levant crisis - III

Post by Singha »

90+ but still batting hard for the sunni kabila

Al-Masdar News‏Verified account @TheArabSource 11h11 hours ago

"Iranian radical empire" may follow defeat of #ISIS: Kissinger https://aml.ink/oPmQ8 #Iran
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