Levant crisis - III

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 13:35

a starved looking 10yo girl rescued by isof in some village...her father killed by isis..lot of kids kidnapped probably for brainwashing or menial work

https://twitter.com/MailOnline/status/7 ... 5912107008

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 25 Oct 2016 14:10

habal wrote:The IRA defeated the London bankers in the following manners:

IRA ANFO attack 1 (10 April 1992)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Ex ... (building)
IRA ANFO attack 2 (24 April 1993)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishopsgate_bombing
IRA ANFO attack 3 (9 February 1996)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Docklands_bombing
IRA ANFO attack 4 (15 June 1996)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Manchester_bombing

Piper Alpha destroyed by IRA saboteur.
https://youtu.be/Nwbw5PHZnqk
Piper Bravo and Soltar
https://youtu.be/JBAekRNY1cI

What does this have to do with Levant crisis?!
Wait. Putin is grand. Carry on.
Accept my apologies.

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 25 Oct 2016 14:15

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 78766.html

Antalya explosion: Turkey tourist resort hit by car blast 'injuring several'

Antalya was hit by rocket fire last week too. Whoever is doing this knows where the achilles heel of turkey lies. A couple more and Erdogan can wish tourists and billions of dollars bye bye.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 14:21

drone footage of iraqi brigade building a position near mosul

https://www.rt.com/news/363849-mosul-ir ... e-footage/

Bhurishravas · Post by **Bhurishravas** » 25 Oct 2016 14:23

http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/10/23/tur ... q-erdogan/

TURKEY’S NEW MAPS ARE RECLAIMING THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/2016 ... ria-kurds/

Ankara's Neo-Ottoman Ambition: A 'One-Sided Stance'

What is amusing about the sputnik article is that the writer is a turk and not a russian.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 25 Oct 2016 15:45

RuAF Mi-28N in Action assisting SAA recaptures IS-held territory near Homs

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 15:49

a sulphur mine set on fire south of mosul...creating a eerie Mordor like effect

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 15:50

all one needs is a skull enrusted and orc infested Dark Tower, with the "Eye" of Sauron launching radar sweeps off the top...and "staring" at any threat it detects, instantly launching the Nazgul off the steam cats to intercept.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 25 Oct 2016 17:34

Video of SAA repelled Jihadists armour attack in West Ghouta, one ATGM team scored 4 kills (2 tanks, 1 BMP, 1 technical) + other teams destroyed another 2 vehicles.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 17:58

Ghouta has been surrounded for years but not taken.
How are rebels able to maintain armour there and get diesel and ammo ?

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 25 Oct 2016 18:14

Turkey & Russia resuming ties, in a recent meeting they shared military intelligence http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/world ... -pmjd8bcs9

Turkey and Russia Work on Normalizing Relations, Sign Agreement on Scaled-Back Turkish Stream Pipeline http://moderntokyotimes.com/?p=5929

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 25 Oct 2016 18:49

nice to see an article like this

Compare the media coverage of Mosul and East Aleppo and it reveals a lot
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 024951.cms

habal · Post by **habal** » 25 Oct 2016 19:03

ghouta, haama, idlib, these are completely sunni opposition areas. West Aleppo, DeZ etc are also sunni areas but pro-govt.

Russian TV claims 32 US officers are in E.Aleppo working "against Russia", says US giving "terrorists" RPGs, like in Afghanistan in 1980s

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:16

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:20

Mordor and its shimmering orc-flame

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:28

Iraqi PMU English ‏@pmu_english 2h2 hours ago
#Iraqi #PMU Engineering now finihsing a 180KM barrier from #Qayarrah AB to #Baiji to prevent #ISIS suicide trucks from attacking supplies

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:28

sectors around mosul incl west are under news blackout mostly. a trickle of news coming out vs everyone broadcasting freely in week1.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:32

deir azzor - a little girl trying to gather up some cooking oil that spilled from a UN food airdrop

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:34

Elijah J. Magnier ‏@EjmAlrai 3h3 hours ago
Peshmerga stopping according to plans. Kurds reached their objective close to Bartella. Peshmergais not due to enter Mosul

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:35

turkish tank in bashiqa

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CvcQLrSXYAA0Bec.jpg

Hans Jaap Melissen ‏@HansJMelissen Oct 23
Turken willen meedoen in Irak. Zag o.a. deze Turkse tank + andere voertuigen bij Bashiqa, noord-oost van #Mosul.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:36

this the YPG enclave.

M Green ‏@MmaGreen 14h14 hours ago
The Russian military distributed 10 tons of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo (24/10/2016)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:38

Elijah J. Magnier ‏@EjmAlrai 5h5 hours ago
Turkey seems determine to take al-Bab and Manbij. Let's see the coming months, during (the vacuum of) US presidential election, @MoonofA

Elijah J. Magnier ‏@EjmAlrai 5h5 hours ago
YPG is already re-thinking its policy and re-joining Damascus, aware of Turkey long term plans in Syria. @TomKoohi

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:40

General John Nicholson tells NBC's Courtney Kube that ISIS is trying to establish a caliphate in Afghanistan.

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/us-general ... 1792707751

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:42

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:43

seems like 100s of villages still to liberate and arrange for displaced person camps before the city itself can be entered.

so far some 80 villages have been secured.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2016 20:48

imo time is right for a large combined arms force to surge forward to the airport on southern outskirt of city and boldly setup a base there and beat off all comers , this will induce some desertions in bypassed ISIS checkpoints and villages and make the task of cleaning up the swamp a little easier.

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 26 Oct 2016 05:09

The Hindu
IS barbaric executions:
IS has executed over 50 police officers near Mosul and killed 15 young men from a village simply because they belong to a particular tribe whose leader is fighting against IS.

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 26 Oct 2016 07:02

Allies Set Sights on Raqqa in Battle Against Islamic State

Coalition is preparing to launch invasion of group’s stronghold before Mosul operation is done, U.S. defense secretary says

PARIS—The U.S. and its allies are preparing to launch the invasion of Islamic State’s Raqqa stronghold before the recapture of Mosul in Iraq is complete, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday, signaling new urgency to prevent militants from regrouping in Syria...

Mr. Carter on Tuesday described the soldiers that he hopes will take Raqqa as “capable and motivated local forces that we identify and then enable. The lasting defeat of ISIL can’t be achieved by outsiders; it can only be achieved by Syrians enabled by us.” (who the hell is left to fight??) ISIL is one acronym for Islamic State.
...
The U.S. envisions Kurdish fighters playing a role in taking Raqqa—but only to “shape” and surround the Sunni city, not enter it, a senior U.S. military official said. The U.S. is now recruiting Sunni Arabs who would occupy the city itself after Islamic State is expelled, the official said....

The Awacs system won’t be used directly to target Islamic State. Instead, its powerful radar will be used to track the movement of coalition, Russian and Syrian aircraft inside Syria, providing the coalition air command in Qatar real-time information that can be used to deconflict operations or track the movements of war planes...

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2016 07:20

Assad would welcome the headache being off his task list. But he will need to retain deir azzor eastern homs and palmyra area for oil and gas fields.

Perhapa the arabi component of sdf called jaish al thuwar will be it.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2016 07:22

But usa has to get the fsa off sdf back in the north and let rojava link up in al bab...again good for assad to have a buffer zone

A couple of demo missions by b52 to strike fsa with 80 jdams each might do the trick.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2016 07:36

agitpapa ‏@agitpapa
BREAKING Turkish-backed rats attacking SDF @ Tal Malid s of Marea were bombed by RuAF. 3 rats KIA.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2016 07:37

Isis has released pix of kornet shooters playing havoc on exposed columns in open terrain incl bagging a abrams...no change in overall picture as iraqi forces too numerous

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 Oct 2016 08:55

Singha wrote:Isis has released pix of kornet shooters playing havoc on exposed columns in open terrain incl bagging a abrams...no change in overall picture as iraqi forces too numerous

Any pics ? How did IS get journey ?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2016 09:19

Haidar Sumeri ‏@IraqiSecurity 8h8 hours ago
According to both Iraqi & Kurdish troops, the coalition's air support for #MosulOp has been abysmal. Keep that in mind once the op is done.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2016 09:22

Haidar Sumeri
‏@IraqiSecurity
Reports that yesterday's Da'ish attack on Rutbah was a diversion for Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi's escape from #Mosul to the #Iraq-#Syria border.

Haidar Sumeri ‏@IraqiSecurity Oct 24
Reports that Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haqq will lead the liberation of Tal 'Afar district. One of the toughest #MosulOp battles.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2016 09:23

Iraqi PMU English ‏@pmu_english 4h
Over 3000 #Turkmen #Iraqi #PMU fighters from Tal Afar have been trained for the liberation of their city from the hands of #ISIS

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2016 09:31

Austin here

https://twitter.com/ARnews1936/status/7 ... 5356977152

older one
Beyond The Levant ‏@BeyondTheLevant Oct 21
#Iraq - Abrams tank hit by guided-missile in as-Safina Junction South of #Shora Village.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CvTWhm7WcAAT9pc.jpg

tahtakuslar ‏@taylieli Oct 19
An #Iraq-i Abrams tank hit with an isil ATGM, as @RudawEnglish lively covering the battle near Abbas Rajeb.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CvIuwyUWIAAsNJd.jpg

here a moving convoy being hit

https://twitter.com/Swedish_Falcon/stat ... 1211598848

another here
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CuopaE9WIAAFSt4.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CuopaFDWIAAoOY6.jpg

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2016 09:34

its quite clear missiles like metis , kornet, javelin can mission kill any tank from any angle and achieve deep penetration from all but the front of glacis or turret and even there the kornet boasts of 1300mm penetration behind ERA and the kornet-EM has 8000m range.

the reason ODS and OIF suffered relatively few tank losses to ATGMs was the constant support of helicopers , CAS a/c and artillery ahead of the advancing tanks to ferret out any ATGM shooters whether static or mobile, else atleast in OIF the iraqis had plenty of ATGMs and the "uday fidayeen" launched some suicidal attacks with kornets mounted on technicals.

food for thought as TSP border tracks offers plenty of woods , crops, embankments and built up cover and Tibet is dead flat in south ladakh....

turkiye armour in north syria have been run to ground by ISIS TOWs and kornets after a couple of bad incidents. they mainly depend now on indirect fire from the 155mm Firtina howitzers at secure locations on turkish side. these are directed by turkish SOF and drones

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2016 09:36

older one = massive IED under a road sends a M1 flying some 20 feet in the air

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SIBSGel314

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2016 09:43

iraq was given 80 abrams per reports ... a over strength regiment. more might have been given in the buidup to mosul. they are put in semi trailers and trucked up to where required. the pmu operates some T-series tanks and D-series howitzers probably as US eqpt is not available to them.