Levant crisis - III

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 23 Oct 2016 15:31

Timing...it will come when Pakistan is sufficiently weakened like Syria is.

We are just about conjuring the guts to say POK is ours.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Oct 2016 16:04

https://mobile.twitter.com/Pynnha108/st ... 12/photo/1

Jihadi plan to retake aleppo. The northern prongs are fighting ypg right now...turkish tanks and ifv have been photoed in azaz and marea..couple have been atgmed. Now is the time for saa to pass on huge weaponry to ypg as it protects their back in.north aleppo and perhaps ruaf to wipe out some turkish armour as a chetawani

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 23 Oct 2016 16:10

Singha wrote:Our govt should take a leaf from erdogan book and say our borders are british era constructs and not settled either. Everything upto kandahar and kashgar was part of bharat varsha and india would not accept anything less

+1
When I said superpowers are weakened and there is message for India from this war: this is what I meant!

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 23 Oct 2016 16:31

Turkey attacks US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria
Escalating clashes highlight conflicting agendas of Turkey and US in increasingly complex battlefield in northern Syria.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/t ... 45848.html

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 23 Oct 2016 16:41

Aleppo ceasefire ends with heavy clashes

Smoke billows from a govt building in East Aleppo due to rebel firing http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37741969

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 23 Oct 2016 16:47

It bound to end as US and EU do not see any advantage in any stopping of war even for a small time. "Balkanization" of ME is under way? The principle seems to have ME burning so that all the fancy arms can be sold and all the Jihadis will have a regular work in ME only and not in the west.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 23 Oct 2016 17:14

^^^ explains why ombaba does not want boots on the ground in syria - that would be an immediate jehadi magnet...
surprised the roosi's haven't galvanised the green movement against them this time...

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Oct 2016 17:34

out of box russi thinking for dealing with the odd deck fire or two

the regular inbuilt system had some issues, so why delay the trip?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Oct 2016 17:38

PKK has started to take a leaf out of IS / Nusra books and using SVBIED to wipe turkish camps

here the latest one

I suppose PKK are also sunni...

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Oct 2016 17:41

lot of CT and infighting over who let the daesh into kirkuk

Ranj Talabany
‏@ranj_talabany

100 #ISIS fighters entered #Kirkuk via #Daquq checkpoints with weapons. Daquq crossing is under control of General Sarhad Qadir. #KDP

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Oct 2016 17:42

agitpapa ‏@agitpapa 2h2 hours ago
agitpapa Retweeted Ikram Balekanî - Nû
ISIS rat in Kirkuk who confessed the Turkish military airlifted them into the city to bypass the checkpointsagitpapa added,

Ikram Balekanî - Nû @ikramBalekaniY
Flash
Çeteyê DAIŞê yê li Kerkûkê hate girtin li axivî: Em bi helîkopterên dewleta tirk hatin Kerkûkê. ANF
#Kirkuk

agitpapa ‏@agitpapa 2h2 hours ago
agitpapa Retweeted Ikram Balekanî - Nû
Turkish residence permit found on ISIS rats flown in on Turkish choppers for Kirkuk raid

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Oct 2016 17:47

given the proliferation of small drones and SVBIED, how long before a svbied disguised as a construction truck like the PKK one above makes its appearance on a civilian target in India ? sounds easier than a jihadi 26/11 type squad albeit the 100s of kg of explosive needed will be tough to smuggle in ... maybe gelatin sticks that are regularly stolen or purchased from small mines by the criminal networks ?

pretty horrible thought, but the pakis are keen twitter readers too.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 23 Oct 2016 17:58

more scary than that, you do not even need mil grade explosives to cause horrendous damage in civilian areas... :-(

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Oct 2016 18:33

iraqi army shoots a daesh rat hiding deep inside a chicken coop

https://twitter.com/Souria4Syrians/stat ... 9161715712

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Oct 2016 19:16

Another massacre by stay behind daesh force 40 executed
Cnn.
ISIS militants had been hiding in the village near Nimrud and returned after Iraqi forces left. They detained and killed people who had welcomed the troops, the Mosul official said.

.....

Also raiding forces tried to hit pmu convoy in western desert...6 daesh killed and iraqi helis called up to pursue raiders

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 23 Oct 2016 21:39

Singha wrote:iraqi army shoots a daesh rat hiding deep inside a chicken coop

https://twitter.com/Souria4Syrians/stat ... 9161715712

Quite Brutal to Watch , He is perhaps Shot on his back and being mercilessly dragged , Not sure he survived what followed but its very brutal to see some one treated like that by professional army

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 23 Oct 2016 21:39

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 24 Oct 2016 01:53

Fumes from retreating IS-torched sulphur plant near Mosul kills 2

US issues high grade alert for US citizens in Turkey http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 011939.cms

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 24 Oct 2016 01:59

Pentagon chief in Iraq for closer assessment of Mosul battle http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 014867.cms
100s of US special forces fighting along with Iraq regular army & Pehmerga forces.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 24 Oct 2016 02:17

Austin wrote:
Singha wrote:iraqi army shoots a daesh rat hiding deep inside a chicken coop

https://twitter.com/Souria4Syrians/stat ... 9161715712
Quite Brutal to Watch , He is perhaps Shot on his back and being mercilessly dragged , Not sure he survived what followed but its very brutal to see some one treated like that by professional army

better than being stuck with a bayonet to see if he is still alive.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 24 Oct 2016 02:23

IndraD wrote:Pentagon chief in Iraq for closer assessment of Mosul battle http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 014867.cms
100s of US special forces fighting along with Iraq regular army & Pehmerga forces.

if you're going to lead then get out front and lead.

nobody is going to fight, that is to say move out under fire and attack, when the leader is behind in a bunker.

that is for sure.

"follow me"

standard infantry doxology.

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 24 Oct 2016 02:28

Admiral Kuz fighter carrier mocked on social media by military enthusiasts http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10 ... -problems/

The ageing Russian aircraft carrier that sailed through the English Channel escorted by the Royal Navy has been plagued by years of technical problems and is accompanied everywhere by a tug in case it breaks down.

The plumbing is so bad on the 55,000 ton Admiral Kuznetsov that many of its toilets cannot be used, while it has had repeated problems with its power and a string of accidents, naval experts said.

The Soviet-era warship is leading a flotilla of eight naval vessels to the eastern Mediterranean, where its aircraft are expected to join a renewed assault on the rebel-held city of Aleppo.

Nato officials have said the Russian deployment is the largest of its kind since the Cold War and designed to demonstrate Moscow’s military might as well as blitz the only large rebel-held city in Syria.

We have had people on board Russian ships and it’s always a bit of a shock. The conditions inside are pretty manky
Royal Navy source
But as the ship sailed through the Channel, it was mocked on social media by maritime enthusiasts, for its notoriously poor state of repair.

One Royal Navy source said: “All their ships look shiny on the outside, but are pretty horrid on the inside. You only have to look at the smoke she’s belching out to see not all is well.

“We have had people on board Russian ships in the last 10 years or so and it’s always a bit of a shock. The conditions inside are pretty manky.”

Peter Roberts, naval expert at the Royal United Services Institute, said: “In naval folklore, there’s something called an unlucky ship and Kuznetsov is undoubtedly an unlucky ship.

“Kuznetsov is one of those that has things going wrong through design and just through luck.”

Work began on the Admiral Kuznetsov in 1982 and it was commissioned in 1990. Since then it has been plagued by technical problems, he said.

The vessel is powered by steam turbines and turbo-pressurized boilers that are so unreliable that it is accompanied by a large ocean-going tug whenever it deploys, in case it breaks down.

Flaws in the water piping system mean it freezes during winter. To prevent pipes bursting, the water is turned off to most of the cabins and half the latrines do no work.

Mr Roberts, a former Royal Navy officer, said: “There’s nothing more depressing for a naval captain when he leaves home waters than to be escorted by a tug because even your commander in chief thinks you are going to break down.”

One sailor was killed when a fire started on board the ship during a visit to Turkey in 2009. The ship also spilled hundreds of tons of oil in the Irish Sea during a refuelling accident the same year.
But Mr Roberts said despite the ship’s troubles, it could not be written off.

He said: “She’s a big, fast and impressive ship with capable jets and she’s going to war in Syria.”

Admiral Kuznetzov
The Admiral Kuznetzov passes through the English Channel near Kent CREDIT: JIM BENNETT
He said the Royal Navy still does not yet have any aircraft carriers of its own and Britain is a decade away from being able to carry out a similar deployment with its own warships and jets.

“The [Kutnetsov’s] power plant is bad, but I am not sure we in Britain should over criticise that given our recent history with the Type 45.”

The Navy announced earlier this year that all six of its Type 45 destroyers needed engine refits after troubles with power outages.

He went on: “It’s easy to be disparaging, she’s an unlucky ship and she has really basic errors in design, but she still represents an impressive capability.”

Rammpal · Post by **Rammpal** » 24 Oct 2016 04:06

The vessel is powered by steam turbines and turbo-pressurized boilers

that are so unreliable that it is accompanied by a large ocean-going tug whenever it deploys, in case it breaks down.

Turbo-pressurised ??

it's a turbo-feed pump.
It's simple and highly reliable.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 24 Oct 2016 08:19

I can't get over the videos of the Russian destroyer going through stormy waters. Read about such things in "HMS Ulysses" but never saw on video. How could they get such good video I wonder (yeah, from the aircraft carrier!) across a good distance in such a sea, and from such a height as to see the destroyer clearly from a bird's eye view.

So, the video must be fake: I mean, model ship in a bathtub. Otherwise, the Russian fleet is in very bad shape: Lots of broken bones and just exhausted, sea-sick, beaten-up crew. Lots of damage to equipment. The carrier cannot have fared so much better: those waves were bigger than aircraft carrier height.

Must be Russian Doctrine: Sea Dominance as some expert claimed. Sure, look how dominant the sea is!

But the more i think about it, the more convinced I am that the video is fake. Unless they could fly a drone in such weather to take the video.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 24 Oct 2016 08:43

UlanBatori wrote:I can't get over the videos of the Russian destroyer going through stormy waters. Read about such things in "HMS Ulysses" but never saw on video. How could they get such good video I wonder (yeah, from the aircraft carrier!) across a good distance in such a sea, and from such a height as to see the destroyer clearly from a bird's eye view.

So, the video must be fake: I mean, model ship in a bathtub. Otherwise, the Russian fleet is in very bad shape: Lots of broken bones and just exhausted, sea-sick, beaten-up crew. Lots of damage to equipment. The carrier cannot have fared so much better: those waves were bigger than aircraft carrier height.

Must be Russian Doctrine: Sea Dominance as some expert claimed. Sure, look how dominant the sea is!

But the more i think about it, the more convinced I am that the video is fake. Unless they could fly a drone in such weather to take the video.

I think you are being facetious. the video is real and the ship is indeed breaching high waves over the bow.

my step dad spent 4 years on a tin can and a LST in WW2. he went through a typhoon in one. he said it was similar to being on a submarine roller coaster where the tin can would come up through the wave and then "shake like a big dog side to side". quote - unquote.

they were searching for the battleship Yamato. Every sailor on board prayed that they wouldn't find it.
the destroyer's attack instructions were if the battleship was found was to fire port side torpedoes then starboard side torpedoes,,,,,then ram.

destroyers have the toughest job in the navy.

Rammpal · Post by **Rammpal** » 24 Oct 2016 09:36

^^ You reckon maybe he's being sarcastic.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 24 Oct 2016 09:45

Seems the same drama is back once again. Expect full war after the election date.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/intern ... cal_attack

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 24 Oct 2016 09:55

^^ They will likely be vetoed by Russia and Chinese , Chemical Attack are just some alibi by West to impose sanction on Syria

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 24 Oct 2016 09:58

IndraD wrote:Admiral Kuz fighter carrier mocked on social media by military enthusiasts http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10 ... -problems/

Just the Brits fretting and their colonial mindset.

I guess Brits are still regretting they could not colonise Russia and teach them Democracy

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 24 Oct 2016 13:38

Hizb versus Rebels in Southern Allepo

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 24 Oct 2016 13:46

Plans to send heavier weapons to CIA-backed rebels in Syria stall amid White House skepticism. Doubts surface and accusations fly in meetings of CIA & White House,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/na ... story.html

U.S. intelligence officials say that the rebels have proved to be effective street fighters but that they aren’t sure how long they will be able to hold out given the extensive damage inflicted from the air. Ekaidi said street fighting would favor the rebel side.

“They won’t be able to solve Aleppo by military means,” Ekaidi said. “The regime is weak when it comes to street warfare. The air bombardment won’t be effective enough.”

Obama was always lukewarm in his enthusiasm for CIA intervention. In 2012, he commissioned a classified study of other cases of the agency backing rebel forces. In an interview with the New Yorker magazine, Obama said that he wanted examples of when “that actually worked out well. And they couldn’t come up with much.”

When the deteriorating situation in Syria prompted Obama to authorize the CIA to begin vetting, training and arming moderate factions in 2013, he imposed constraints that frustrated agency operatives. Their goal in Syria would not be to enable rebels to win and seize power, according to officials’ accounts, but to push the conflict toward a stalemate and force various factions to negotiate Syria’s future after Assad.

The CIA set up jointly run compounds in Jordan and Turkey, where officials said more than 10,000 rebels have gotten training and equipment over the past three years. Those vetted units are part of a constellation of opposition groups with 50,000 or more fighters that have gotten money and weapons from the CIA and regional partners including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

The terms required the partners to keep certain classes of weapons out of Syria, particularly MANPADs, highly portable surface-to-air missiles that Washington worried would fall into the hands of terrorist groups and be used to target civilian aircraft.

Rebels chafed at the restriction, complaining that it left them vulnerable to air attack by Assad and, more recently, Russia. The Plan B proposal envisioned a compromise in which the CIA and its partners would deliver truck-mounted antiaircraft weapons that could help rebel units but would be difficult for a terrorist group to conceal and use against civilian aircraft.

Carter has for months favored a “doubling down” of the CIA program, officials said, to inflict higher costs on Moscow for its intervention, while opposing using U.S. military force out of worry that it would divert resources from the campaign against the Islamic State.

But he and Brennan have been outnumbered by skeptics. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough has been cautious about the operation from the outset. Kerry, a longtime supporter, has edged toward the camp of doubters, officials said, partly out of concern that any U.S. escalation at this time will only trigger an asymmetric response by Moscow.

“The Russians have seized the initiative,” said a second senior administration official involved in Syria discussions. “You can’t pretend you can go to war against Assad and not go to war against Russia.”

The CIA’s own assessments of the program have been viewed with suspicion by some at the White House, officials said. “Does it make any sense that the people who are totally invested in this program . . . are the same people who are writing analyses of the Syrian opposition on which decisions are based on the future of that program?” the first U.S. official said.

Amid the setbacks in Syria in recent months, key figures in the administration have advocated prioritizing the fight against the Islamic State, rather than against the Assad government. But agency officials disagree with this rationale, saying that the Islamic State can’t be eradicated until a new government emerges capable of controlling the terrorist group’s territory in Raqqa and elsewhere.

“You can’t defeat ISIL without removing Assad,” the second U.S. official said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State. “As long as there is a failed state in Syria, ISIL will have a homeland” [seriously is this the level of understanding?]

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Oct 2016 13:50

hey were searching for the battleship Yamato. Every sailor on board prayed that they wouldn't find it.
the destroyer's attack instructions were if the battleship was found was to fire port side torpedoes then starboard side torpedoes,,,,,then ram.
destroyers have the toughest job in the navy

^^ something similar happened in leyte gulf when a fleet of japani battleships led by the 18" gun musashi caught napping a formation of 15-20 light carriers with ground attack a/c tasked to support the invasion inland. they were protected by destroyers only. bull halsey had been decoyed off with his battleships and fleet carriers in another direction.

the carriers launched whatever a/c they could mostly with non-AP munitions who harassed the japani ships. the destroyers launched death defying torpedo and 5" gun attacks close to the japani heavy cruisers and battleships and many got badly damaged or sunk...but they bought some time for the carriers to escape. the japanese seeing the ferocity of resistance thought they had chanced upon some of the larger fleet carriers and withdrew after a while instead of destroying the invasion fleet of transport ships and mountains of supplies lined up for the taking.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 24 Oct 2016 13:51

You know I cannot understand the Brit. MOD who brutally retired all their excellent ASW/LRMP Nimrod aircraft,for budgetary reasons,and unlike Russia,or India,did not mothball these aircraft but in the most asinine manner chopped up tinto pieces these battleworthy aircraft costing over a couple of $$ billion! The UK now has no ASW/LRMP capability whatsoever,and wanted French and US aircraft to help them when Russia started regular long-range patrols with TU-142 Bear bombers last year after Britain began to assist the UKR and Baltic states militarily,send their troops into these regions for mil exercises behaving agressively, and denounced Putin and Russia. Both the RN's new DDGs and US littoral ships have experienced severe engine problems, These are supposed to be cutting edge warships not a Soviet era carrier which still has tremendous capability aboard.

Of course there was also no mention of the "smokeless" N-powered Kirov class battlecruiser,the largest surface warships afloat other than carriers,modernised and carrying hundreds of deadly missiles to hit any kind of target with some N-tipped too!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 76271.html

Heavy clashes resume as ceasefire ends and Russia steps up battle for Aleppo
Three-day Russian announced cessation in hostilities expires without any medical evacuations or aid deliveries as food, fuel and medical supplies drop to critical levels

A man walks past damaged buildings in the rebel held besieged al-Sukkari neighbourhood of Aleppo Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters
The battle for control of the divided Syrian city of Aleppo has intensified as fierce fighting broke out following the end of a Russian-proposed ceasefire.

Moscow-backed Syrian regime air strikes, ground offensives and shelling resumed on the front line between east and west Aleppo on Sunday morning after the three-day truce expired, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and activists in the opposition-held part of the city reported.

Fighting between the Syrian army and rebels occurred in east Aleppo’s Hamdaniya and Sheik Sayeed districts, and at least three people were injured by shelling, SOHR said.

The “humanitarian pause” during daylight hours announced by the Russian military on Tuesday was designed to allow medical evacuations as well as an opportunity for civilians and rebels who wished to leave the besieged area for neighbouring opposition-held Idlib province.

However, by the end of the 72 hours, the UN had not managed to evacuate any wounded civilians, citing a lack of security guarantees from both sides.

Very few civilians crossed over into west Aleppo, either through fear of what awaited them on the other side, or because of opposition attempts to stop any of the 250,000 strong population from leaving. News cameras at one of the eight corridors through the siege barricades showed rebel mortar fire hitting the checkpoint.

East Aleppo’s supply lines were cut when government forces managed to encircle the area in July, minus a brief breakthrough by rebels in August. Food, fuel and medical supplies are now running dangerously low.

Medical and other civilian infrastructure has been severely affected by the last month of bombing, some of the most intense of the six-year-old conflict, which began after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced a campaign to retake neighbourhoods which have been in rebel hands since 2012.

At least 500 people have died and 2,000 wounded in the offensive, which several governments and international bodies have labelled a war crime. Moscow and Damascus maintain that strikes do not target civilian buildings, and say rebels manipulate the besieged population as human shields.

Russia will be amplifying its air attacks on east Aleppo in the next two weeks, Nato intelligence believes: eight Russian warships and the country’s only aircraft carrier left Murmansk en route to Syria’s Mediterranean coastline on Wednesday.

Victory in Aleppo would be a significant boost for the Syrian regime, removing the last rebels from Syria’s urban centres.

Russia began lending its Damascus ally military support in September 2015. Retaking Aleppo would bolster Mr Assad enough to allow Moscow to start withdrawing its forces from the country, analysts believe.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Oct 2016 13:54

Iraqi PMU English ‏@pmu_english 1h
#BREAKING - #Iraqi forces will now wear gas masks, delivered by Coalition in support package for the Iraqi fight to defeat #ISIS in #Mosul

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Oct 2016 13:56

Haidar Sumeri ‏@IraqiSecurity 11h11 hours ago
More than 60 Da'ish terrorists were killed in today's failed assault on Rutbah in western #Iraq. More similar attacks to come.

Haidar Sumeri ‏@IraqiSecurity 12h12 hours ago
Most of the Da'ish attackers in Rutbah wore suicide vests. They barricaded themselves in houses and clashed with #Iraq's forces for hours.

Haidar Sumeri ‏@IraqiSecurity 12h12 hours ago
I said a major attack in Anbar was coming 2 days ago and today it came. Massive Da'ish assault on Rutbah earlier today from 3 fronts.
0 replies . 11 retweets 14 likes

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 24 Oct 2016 14:02

It seems rebels and army in ME have expertise in digging tunnels. Both Saddam and Gaddafi were discovered in tunnels :

maze of tunnels being discovered in Mosul http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -city.html

It is not clear how extensive the network of ISIS tunnels is, but there are fears it might allow ISIS fighters and even their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to wriggle free from the noose which is being slowly closed around Iraq's second city.
It is not clear whether Baghdadi, who is the head of the so-called 'caliphate' in northern Iraq and Syria, will risk death or capture in the fight for Mosul, which is home to more than 1.5 million people, most of them Sunni Muslims.
Kurdish defence minister Karim Sinjari said: 'According to unconfirmed reports Abu Bakr was in Mosul three days ago. People saw him visiting fighters and encouraging them. We are not sure he was present, but this is the information.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z4NzOlgleY

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 24 Oct 2016 14:09

clearing mosul is going to be a nasty job with plenty of casualties.

and I am afraid that what the US is fighting for is going to be temporary at best.

federalism is not a very strong concept in the ME.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Oct 2016 14:17

these are just camouflaged trenches with some sheltering chambers deeper down. the rats sleep in them when under air attack.

a grenade or blast from a flamethrower will smoke them out.

my prediction is most of the rats are in process of escaping to syria leaving maybe 1000 die hard foreign fighters .... the PMU has been unable to deploy fast enough to close the western sector, attack on Tal Afar not yet started, iraqi AF is tied up in CAS and ofcourse the coalition has no interest in hunting the rats going to syria across the desert...its probably dropped biryani and water packets to move them along

mosul is hence going to be relatively easy and bloodless once entry is done simultaneously from N number of points. unlike syria there is no lack of manpower or weapons in mosul ops.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 24 Oct 2016 15:15

I hope you are right but I am not sure.

it's a shame to die for what may be a hopeless cause.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 24 Oct 2016 15:48

I read the best use of trenches/tunnels was done by North Vietnamese during Vietnam war , Also I saw during Ghaza conflict the Palestanian used network of tunnel to transport goods etc

In a flat terraine like those in Gulf with not much vegatation/forest cover etc , I would think Tunnel and Trenches are the best option to play out asymmetrically