Levant crisis - III

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 08:02

AFP news agency‏Verified account
@AFP
#BREAKING Kurds invited to take part in Syria peace congress in Sochi: Lavrov

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 08:03

note the location - sochi, not geneva or some arab/EU capital.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 08:06

Leith Aboufadel
@leithfadel
11h11 hours ago
Residents in the government-held town of Al-Zahraa in northern Aleppo are reporting Kurdish forces moving through their roads to Afrin.

^^^ so assad has opened his roads to kurdish military convoys from the eastern zone

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 08:10

nubl and zahraa had been saved from slaughter by "FSA" by the kurds of afrin who had a border with them. now their armed youths have offered to help fight the "FSA" to repay the debt. some of the youths are already part of syrian hezbollah and fighting in other parts of syria

Aymenn J Al-Tamimi‏
@ajaltamimi
Follow Follow @ajaltamimi
Interestingly, he adds that ‘youth of Nubl and Zahara’ [two govt-controlled Shi’i villages near Afrin] entered Afrin but the Kurds turned them back’: meaning YPG in Afrin rejects being too closely associated with Syrian govt and allies so far.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 08:12

apparently one of erdogan's SIL bilal erdogan is a big producer of drones. here he is in a mil ops room observing his drones of afrin

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 08:15

turkiye M60 and arv's marching into afrin..in the distant mountains must be the defenders dug in

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 08:21

BEIRUT, LEBANON (4:30 P.M.) – Minutes ago, the rocket battalion of the Houthi forces fired a ballistic missile at a military camp controlled by Saudi and UAE backed fighters in the Ta’iz Governorate.

According to a report from the Houthi forces, their rocket battalion fired a Qaher-M2 ballistic missile at the Al-Khayami Military Camp in Ta’iz.

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The missile was launched during a military parade in the Ta’iz Governorte and reportedly scored a direct hit.

The Houthi forces claimed that over 35 pro-government fighters were killed and another 50 more wounded by the missile strike.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/br ... rs-killed/

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 09:04

the YPG should imo redeploy all its combatants and weapons to the north, send half to defend Efrin and the other half can attack Erdogans so called jihadi security zone in the NE of aleppo. hit them from the rear while they are clawing in from all sides into Efrin.

these bandit gangs are both anti-assad and anti-kurd, so common enemy.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 13:31

Hamza Hemze
@Hamzamiran_
20h20 hours ago
Turkey is waging a racial war against Kurds in Syria since 2013. Turks ethnically cleansed 127 Kurdish villages in Azaz-Bab. While Turkmen villages in Syria under Turkey are flourishing, the Kurd villages are empty.
Turks want to repeat their racist operation this time in Efrin

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 13:33

Elijah J. Magnier
‏

@ejmalrai
16h16 hours ago
More
Noureddine Zinki, Ahrar al-Sham and all "Syrian moderate rebels" financed, equipped and trained by the #US forces are attacking the Kurds, #US allies on different fronts in Afrin.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 13:36

https://elijahjm.wordpress.com/2018/01/ ... -in-afrin/

so the aim of the unmolested ISIS zone on the syria iraq border, north of al bukamal is now clear. unnamed rebadged "raiders" and "bandits" who will attack the shia LOCs into iran.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 16:15

while the armenian genocide is more well known, the turks in general do the genocide thing quite well
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_genocide
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_genocide

in most of these the kurds were enthusiastic participants in the sultans army going against these cross worshippers and apostates.

I would imagine the yezidis and mandeans of north persia got the stick too.

so I guess the russians who are now the only powerful strain of eastern orthodoxy are not wasting their sympathy on the current plight of the kurds, except some crocodile tears for show and tactical advantages.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 23 Jan 2018 18:40

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 23 Jan 2018 18:42

"Fools step in whete angels fear to tread".Putin has withdrawn the bulk of his forces for two reasons, for the domestic audience who were worried about another Afghan disaster and to also recharge the Ru forces' batteries for the next round which he knows is inevitable.The US and its Sunni allies will be gnashing their teeth waiting for a second chance to oust Assad.They're trying to squash the little enemy , the Turds,whose painful but not lethal stings are of great nuisance value to the Turks.Putin is watching and waiting in the wings so are the Iranians.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 19:53

https://twitter.com/EHSANI22/status/955537995079274505

interesting thread on the calculations done in damascus prior to the turkish attack.

vinod · Post by **vinod** » 23 Jan 2018 20:28

^^^ Very interesting indeed!

His previous tweets also provide some insights into various (mis-)calculations by various parties going on inside this never-ending conflict.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 21:11

Russians are only 2 km south of menagh air base which was bombed by turkiye. I guess turkiye has geofenced that region off for strikes

Perhaps putin wants kurds to feel some heat to bring them to talks in sochi with a greater awareness of how little the usa can do against turkiye hold up a mirror to massa

Meantime tiger forces and repub guard are making tracks north and west their next bigtime target will be saraqib if that falls the north hama front will be turned from rear and become hard to sustain for jihadis. Saraqib and khan sheikhun are on main highway to aleppo and lost by govt way back

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 21:18

Realistically syria has no air power to defend afrin even if it wanted to and scant few sam
Russia cannot either with their modest outfit in syria
They could pound turkiye fron black sea side but that is general war not a contained conflict

Right now erdogan holds the high ground and good cards

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jan 2018 22:17

Ypg is holding in some areas and losing ground in others. The wolves are darting in from all sides

Unless ypg mobilizes bigtime and attacks azaz and mare from
Manbij side just afrin cannot hold there is no maginot libe there

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jan 2018 10:57

https://twitter.com/EmmanuelGMay/status ... 1670094849

maps of ongoing fighting in efrin. no significant progress by jihadis. not surprising given they are unmotivated paid criminals and bandits.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jan 2018 11:06

yesterday twin car bombs killed many in benghazi libya. further SW, the Sahel region is boiling over with devious regimes, warlords, TSP type double dealers and jihadi orgs.

this is the most unpoliced land in the world barring antarctica
see in chrome https://lecourrierdumaghrebetdelorient. ... struction/

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jan 2018 11:07

the relatively prosperity and peace of senegal, ivory coast and ghana will go for a six once the storm gathers mass.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 24 Jan 2018 14:54

And Rwanda! Believe you me great opportunities there.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jan 2018 15:14

video of ISIS hit and run attack in eastern syria against a disintegrating SDF
https://twitter.com/EasternMediafax/sta ... 4208842753

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jan 2018 15:19

EMN NEWS
‏

@EasternMediafax
7h7 hours ago
More
#BREAKING:

EMN NEWS received a report talking about the fact that #IS fully captured Kharanij town at the eastern Euphrates riverbank from the #SDF forces. Waitng for confirmation from our sources inside Deir Ezzor.

2 replies 14 retweets 27 likes
Reply 2 Retweet 14 Like 27

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jan 2018 15:22

unreported by heavy fighting going on north of albu kamal west of the euphrates
https://twitter.com/EasternMediafax/sta ... 5158164481
https://twitter.com/EasternMediafax/sta ... 2848814080

taking advantage of regular SAA units going away to fight in Idlib , ISIS is extracting a toll on the inexperienced militias left behind

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jan 2018 15:29

this explains the magical ISIS pocket that appeared in Hama. who are they? they are a offshoot of jund al aqsa called liwa al aqsa who refused to merge and pay tribute when jund al aqsa went with the nusra after ahrar al shams thrashed the jund. they are locals. some escaped isis from uqayrabat might have joined them after sneaking across the khanasser desert

https://twitter.com/EasternMediafax/sta ... 1811111938

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jan 2018 15:37

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jan 2018 20:42

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/yp ... -pentagon/

pentagon says that ypg who fight for afrin are on their own and will not get coalition support

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jan 2018 20:43

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/tu ... ive-idlib/

turkish military escorted by nusra visits western aleppo to plan setting up OPs to deter syrian govt moves into idlib

Parasu · Post by **Parasu** » 25 Jan 2018 01:06

The Kurds are forced to move from Eastern Syria to Afrin to defend against Turks and other jihadis. This should help ISIS.
Putin is clearly hand in gloves with ISIS, trying to prop it up and use it as a strategic tool in West Asia. Great grand chess player that he is.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 25 Jan 2018 02:38

Putin is clearly hand in gloves with ISIS, trying to prop it up and use it as a strategic tool in West Asia. Great grand chess player that he is.

Not to mention those chemical attacks by the Russads, hain?

"Tillerson talks to Russian counterpart". INVESTIGATE HIM!!

pralay · Post by **pralay** » 25 Jan 2018 09:23

Not confirmed yet but, Al Mayadeen reported it according to @Syria_Protector

https://twitter.com/Muraselon/status/956185127482208257
BREAKING: Kurdish official say they welcome the Syrian Army in Afrin region
“Kurdish official in Afrin say they welcome the Syrian Army in Afrin region and that Syrian government was never an enemy to them” Al-Mayadeen Tv reported on Wednesday.
“We welcome Syrian army in whole Afrin region amid the agreement between us and the Syrian government”.
“Syrian government was never been an enemy to us, we just want to be part of the political solution in Syria and our weapons will be handed over to Syrian government once politician solution happens”
“YPG was never part of the U.S coalition and we didn’t get any support from them, our weapons and support are all from Syrian government”

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Jan 2018 09:47

The above has been denied

Turkish planes bomb manbij indicating he wants not just afrin

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Jan 2018 09:55

Video two more s400 systems land in syria

https://twitter.com/warsmonitoring/stat ... 98944?s=17

Signaling i think to erdogan to respect agreed red lines and not overstep as he often does. One might be sent inland to cover aleppo and one to cover idlib. The vshorad protection will be usual tor and pantsyr

Shanmukh · Post by **Shanmukh** » 25 Jan 2018 10:04

@Singha,
It is not just the Armenians & Assyrians & the rest of the Middle Eastern Christians who dislike the Kurds. Even the Russians in the 18th & 19th century really really disliked the Kurds for what the Kurds did to the Christians of the Middle East. More than one Russian officer has gone berserk on the Kurds. Most of the anti-Christian acts in today's Armenia & Eastern Turkey were done by the Kurds, not the Turks (though the Kurds were nominally under the Ottomans). The Russian generals' memoirs of the mid-late 19th century vividly capture the anti-Kurdish sentiment among the Russians. I don't think anyone has forgotten that part in Russia yet.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Jan 2018 13:26

The southern fringe of the black sea ie anatolia, the greco-turkish-syrian coast, north persia mesopotamia and the caspian basin seem like historically a region pervasive violence and disorder

Later, the venetians who were great financiers, builders and patrons of art had a strong navy and merchant fleet and were involved in huge slave trading capturing people north of black sea and selling them south

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Jan 2018 19:48

ISIS remnants in the western desert and units who crossed the euphrates from the east attempted a joint offensive ... i assume with great difficulty the limited syrian 2nd line units in that region have held firm
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/br ... ack-flips/

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Jan 2018 19:51

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/80 ... estimates/
BEIRUT, LEBANON (1:35 P.M.) – Despite the great territorial defeats suffered by ISIS over the course of 2017 which led to the virtual destruction of its Levantine empire throughout Iraq and Syria, the remaining number of militants still based in the former country appears to run into the many thousands when various estimates are added up.

At the present time, Islamic State militants continue maintain an active presence in six areas of Syria, these are identified as:

The Yarmouk Basin (Daraa province);
Northwestern Syria (commonly referred to as the northeast Hama pocket; also extends into east Idlib and south Aleppo);
Southern Damascus;
Western Deir Ezzor, east Homs desert;
Eastern bank of the middle Euphrates valley region; and
Eastern Deir Ezzor desert near the Iraqi border.

The fact that all these areas are dislocated from each other is important for future operations against them and represents a major improvement over previous years whereby the terrorist group held contiguous swathes of territory across the country that were centered along the Euphrates valley.

At the same time, the sight of isolated ISIS pockets on a map can create a false sense of security as it overlooks the fact that many thousands of fighters are still present within them.

General estimates place the number of militants belonging to the Islamic State and affiliate militias throughout Syria as follows:

The Yarmouk Basin – 1,500 to 2,000.
Northwestern Syria – at least 1,000.
Southern Damascus – 1,500 to 2,000 (some sources claim as high as 3,000).
Western Deir Ezzor, east Homs desert – 200.
Eastern bank of the middle Euphrates valley region – 3,000 to 4,000.
Eastern Deir Ezzor desert near the Iraqi border – 1,000.

By this range of estimates it becomes apparent that anywhere between 7,700 to 11,200 Islamic State and Islamic State-affiliated terrorists remain active in Syria.

To this effect it is worth noting that whilst with non-ISIS militant groups often only one-third of their declared ‘paper strength’ represents actual front-line fighters (with the remainder consisting of armed locals who do not operate beyond their town or village and have only taken up arms to receive a paycheck by which they can feed their families), all Islamic State fighters (even so with individuals missing limbs as video evidence shows) are generally trained and mobilized for operations at the front.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Jan 2018 19:53

Lawrence of Arabia
‏

@Lawrence1918x
15m15 minutes ago
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As for now, Kurds have the upper hand in Afrin. Turks are having a really hard time trying to breach their defences. During the weekend I will write a summary of the first week of #OperationOliveBranch. Map still looks the same - no changes, stalemate on every front.