The Levant crisis.(Israel,SYRIA,Lebanon,etc) - II

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Mar 2016 11:19

Some videos of Palmyra battle and SyriaTel Hill, Palmyra castle

Video from RT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGaoqBvytJo

habal · Post by **habal** » 27 Mar 2016 11:37

suqqur al sahara

i think it is like an empowered rashtriya rifles. With some para training to add to their effectiveness. The desert falcons specialize in small teams ambush and sniper.

habal · Post by **habal** » 27 Mar 2016 11:47

deejay wrote:Some videos of Palmyra battle and SyriaTel Hill, Palmyra castle

Video from RT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGaoqBvytJo

ideally isis should never have managed to get into palmyra.
esp with military air base at tadmor, likely that this post was manned by some baaghi sunni type commander.

how has DeZ military AB resisted being run over despite proximity to raqqa, mosul etc.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Mar 2016 11:57

Found on a kurdish Twitter AC
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CefQcOoXIAQXsZL.jpg

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Mar 2016 12:03

Isis had control of deir azor oil wells and bypass highways so taking over the picket was not a life and death issue for them

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Mar 2016 12:16

UK Against Daesh ‏@UKagainstDaesh
This month has seen mass #Daesh defections in #DeirEzzor & in #Raqqah, where 200 fighters left in 1 week

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Mar 2016 12:34

I was expecting Qaryatayn to fall before Palmyra but that is not how the cookie crumbled. It seems SAA will target Qaryatayn before proceeding to Dier Ez Zor. Al Sukanah enroute is king of a Y-Fork to Dier or north east towards Raqqa for ISIS.

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha now1 minute ago
After capturing #Tadmor, #SAA will now focus on Al-Qaryatayn before starting operations to advance towards #DeirEzzor

habal · Post by **habal** » 27 Mar 2016 12:35

from BBC World Service
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35906568

It falls.
official.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Mar 2016 12:55

Qaraytyn has been a poisonous Isis area for quite some time now

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Mar 2016 13:15

SAA has published a list of 110 fatalities on both the Qaryatayn front and Palmyra front. This does not include fatalities from other groups. ISIS lost around 500 (initial estimates only) at Palmyra alone.

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha now52 seconds ago
An #SAA source says close to 500 #IS militants were killed by #SAA during operations to restore #Tadmor #Palmyra

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Mar 2016 15:27

Adam H. Johnson ‏@adamjohnsonNYC now3 hours ago
"Assad's troops" surround Palmyra
"The Syrian regime" enters it.
"The Syrian army" captures it.

habal · Post by **habal** » 27 Mar 2016 15:38

mainstreaming of terminology like 'syrian army' and 'syrian regime' is due to victory of diplomatic process and because 'ceasefire' offered USA a face-saving exit. Legitimization of assad is quid-pro-quo for Russia's gesture.

habal · Post by **habal** » 27 Mar 2016 15:43

deejay wrote:SAA has published a list of 110 fatalities on both the Qaryatayn front and Palmyra front. This does not include fatalities from other groups. ISIS lost around 500 (initial estimates only) at Palmyra alone.

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha now52 seconds ago
An #SAA source says close to 500 #IS militants were killed by #SAA during operations to restore #Tadmor #Palmyra

I wonder if SAA could have uses some kind of gas, not poison gas but tear gas or sleeping, in order to avoid street-to-street battle with isis and lower casualtiea even further. 180 casualties in 72 hour battle is still very high. i feel.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Mar 2016 15:50

Habal ji, the casualties are always expected specially since they are fighting against suicidal maniacs.

What next for SAA - @PetoLucem has a series of tweets:

Peto Lucem ‏@PetoLucem now2 hours ago
What can we expect next following the liberation of #Palmyra by the #SAA and this crushing defeat for #ISIS? 1/+

Peto Lucem ‏@PetoLucem now2 hours ago
First of all, #SAA will consolidate positions at #Palmyra and make sure it's airport is ready-to use again soon.2/+

Peto Lucem ‏@PetoLucem now2 hours ago
#SAA's next objective will be capture of #Qaryatayn.With the fall of #Palmyra, SAA is now able to advance SW+capture #Busayri crossroads 3/+

Peto Lucem ‏@PetoLucem now2 hours ago
and other areas east of #Qaryatayn. #ISIS remnants SW of #Palmyra are now in an untenable position. Qaryatayn will prob. fall swiftly. 4/+

Peto Lucem ‏@PetoLucem now2 hours ago
Following the liberation of more areas near #Palmyra, #SAA will prob. continue its advance towards #DeirEzzor Governorate. 5/5 #Syria

habal · Post by **habal** » 27 Mar 2016 16:17

only saving grace is palmyra is only one exception where russia can't use it's ZAB-500 and thermobarics and solve problem of street-to-street fighting before it materializes. Only issue then for incoming engineers and technicals disposing booby traps and IEDs and disposing bodies for health and hygienic reasons.

updates:
Palmyra battle is over, Al Qaryatayn battle is heating up this morning, heavy artillery and bombing this morning. This new battle may be linked to the allied forces advance toward Der ez Zor, since flanks will be very exposed in the narrow M20 corridor with ISIS in both sides.

https://twitter.com/sayed_ridha/status/ ... 3075861508

2,500 IEDs already dismantled in Palmyra, many thousands to go. ISIS rigged the whole city, some IEDs had timer on it.

https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1/stat ... 7871108097

Special announcement by the Desert Falcon leader, after spearheading the attack to Palmyra, they now will move back to Lattakia to resume the offensive there in 48 hrs.

https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1/stat ... 9368402944

No announcement so far from the Tiger forces, rumors of a clean up of eastern Hama from ISIS as well as rumors of advancing toward As Sukhar, 1/3 of the way to Der ez Zor, this is now full of ISIS terrorists that fled Palmyra, and to capture the many oil & gas fields that are close to Palmyra.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Mar 2016 18:37

CIA-armed militias are shooting at Pentagon-armed ones in Syria - from Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... story.html

Syrian militias armed by different parts of the U.S. war machine have begun to fight each other on the plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, highlighting how little control U.S. intelligence officers and military planners have over the groups they have financed and trained in the bitter 5-year-old civil war. ($500 million mein itna hi milta hai Ceasefire with SAA has got the goons to kill each other. Work expands to fill time.)

The fighting has intensified over the past two months, as CIA-armed units and Pentagon-armed ones have repeatedly shot at each other as they have maneuvered through contested territory on the northern outskirts of Aleppo, U.S. officials and rebel leaders have confirmed.

In mid-February, a CIA-armed militia called Fursan al Haq, or Knights of Righteousness, was run out of the town of Marea, about 20 miles north of Aleppo, by Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces moving in from Kurdish-controlled areas to the east.

"Any faction that attacks us, regardless from where it gets its support, we will fight it," said Maj. Fares Bayoush, a leader of Fursan al Haq.

Rebel fighters described similar clashes in the town of Azaz, a key transit point for fighters and supplies between Aleppo and the Turkish border, and March 3 in the Aleppo neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsud.

The attacks come amid continued heavy fighting in Syria and illustrate the difficulty facing U.S. efforts to coordinate among dozens of armed groups that are trying to overthrow the government of President Bashar Assad, fight the Islamic State militant group and battle one another all at the same time.

"It is an enormous challenge," said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who described the clashes between U.S.-supported groups as "a fairly new phenomenon."

"It is part of the three-dimensional chess that is the Syrian battlefield," he said.

The area in northern Syria around Aleppo, the country's second-largest city, features not only a war between the Assad government and its opponents, but also periodic battles against Islamic State militants, who control much of eastern Syria and also some territory to the northwest of the city, and long-standing tensions among the ethnic groups that inhabit the area, Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen.

Once they cross the border into Syria, you lose a substantial amount of control or ability to control their actions.
— Jeffrey White, former Defense Intelligence Agency official
"This is a complicated, multisided war where our options are severely limited," said a U.S. official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter. "We know we need a partner on the ground. We can't defeat ISIL without that part of the equation, so we keep trying to forge those relationships." ISIL is an acronym for the Islamic State.

President Barack Obama recently authorized a new Pentagon plan to train and arm Syrian rebel fighters, relaunching a program that was suspended in the fall after a string of embarrassing setbacks, which included recruits being ambushed and handing over much of their U.S.-issued ammunition and trucks to an al-Qaida affiliate. (Another $500 mil down the drain of blood and gore)

Amid the setbacks, the Pentagon late last year deployed about 50 special operations forces to Kurdish-held areas in northeastern Syria to better coordinate with local militias and help ensure U.S.-backed rebel groups aren't fighting one another.

But such skirmishes have become routine.

Last year, the Pentagon helped create a new military coalition, the Syrian Democratic Forces. The goal was to arm the group and prepare it to take territory away from Islamic State in eastern Syria and to provide information for U.S. airstrikes.

The group is dominated by Kurdish outfits known as the People's Protection Units, or YPG. A few Arab units have joined the force in order to prevent it from looking like an invading Kurdish army, and it has received airdrops of weapons and supplies and assistance from U.S. Special Forces.

Gen. Joseph Votel, now commander of U.S. Special Operations Command and the incoming head of Central Command, said this month that about 80 percent of the fighters in the Syrian Democratic Forces were Kurdish.

The U.S. backing for a heavily Kurdish armed force has been a point of tension with the Turkish government, which has a long history of crushing Kurdish rebellions and doesn't want to see Kurdish units control more of its southern border.

The CIA, meanwhile, has its own operations center inside Turkey from which it has been directing aid to rebel groups in Syria, providing them with TOW antitank missiles from Saudi Arabian weapons stockpiles.

While the Pentagon's actions are part of an overt effort by the U.S. and its allies against the Islamic State, the CIA's backing of militias is part of a separate covert U.S. effort aimed at keeping pressure on the Assad government in hopes of prodding the Syrian leader to the negotiating table.

At first, the two different sets of fighters were primarily operating in widely separated areas of Syria — the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeastern part of the country and the CIA-backed groups further west.

But, over the past several months, Russian airstrikes against anti-Assad fighters in northwestern Syria have weakened them.

That created an opening that allowed the Kurdish-led groups to expand their zone of control to the outskirts of Aleppo, bringing them into more frequent conflict with the CIA-backed outfits.

We'll fight all who aim to divide Syria or harm its people.
— Suqour Al-Jabal Brigade fighter
"Fighting over territory in Aleppo demonstrates how difficult it is for the U.S. to manage these really localized and, in some cases, entrenched conflicts," said Nicholas Heras, an expert on the Syrian civil war at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank in Washington. "Preventing clashes is one of the constant topics in the joint operations room with Turkey."

Over the course of the Syrian civil war, the town of Marea has been on the front line of the Islamic State's attempts to advance across Aleppo province toward the rest of northern Syria.

On Feb. 18, the Syrian Democratic Forces attacked the town.

A fighter with the Suqour Al-Jabal Brigade, a group with links to the CIA, said intelligence officers of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State know their group has clashed with the Pentagon-trained militias.

"The MOM knows we fight them," he said, referring to the joint operations center in southern Turkey, which is known as MOM from the acronym of its name in Turkish, Musterek Operasyon Merkezi.

"We'll fight all who aim to divide Syria or harm its people," said the fighter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Marea is home to many of the original Islamist fighters (So US acknowledges that they are supplying Islamists a.k.a moderate rebels) who took up arms against Assad during the Arab Spring in 2011. It has long been a critical way station for supplies and fighters coming from Turkey into Aleppo.

"Attempts by Syrian Democratic Forces to take Marea was a great betrayal and was viewed as a further example of a Kurdish conspiracy to force them from Arab and Turkmen lands," Heras said.

The clashes brought the U.S. and Turkish officials to "loggerheads," he added.

After diplomatic pressure from the U.S., the militia withdrew to the outskirts of the town as a sign of good faith, he said.

But continued fighting among different U.S.-backed groups may be inevitable, experts on the region said.

"Once they cross the border into Syria, you lose a substantial amount of control or ability to control their actions," said Jeffrey White, a former Defense Intelligence Agency official. "You certainly have the potential for it becoming a larger problem as people fight for territory and control of the northern border area in Aleppo."

W.J. Hennigan and Brian Bennett reported from Washington and special correspondent Nabih Bulos from Amman.

Text in blue are my comments. Also kindly add "Three dimensional Chess" to the vocabulary for discussing US moves in Syria.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 27 Mar 2016 18:51

Assad: Palmyra achievement proves army strategy more effective than US-led coalition efforts

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/as ... n-efforts/

and some tweets:

Zulfiqar ‏@Jnoubiii12 now1 minute ago
FSA supporters are more hurt about Palmyra than Daesh

The 'Nimr' Tiger ‏@Souria4Syrians now5 minutes ago
What is it that draws some people to fiction? Like lord of the rings, Star wars, Harry potter, the free Syrian Army etc

Max Abrahms ‏@MaxAbrahms now35 minutes ago
The problem with Western media reporting on conflicts like Syria is its driven by ideologue think tank pundits whose lies help them prosper.

Max Abrahms ‏@MaxAbrahms now2 hours ago
For years Western pundits duped the media into misreporting the basic facts on the Syria conflict. #Palmyra crushes the whole narrative.

Dr Shahid ‏@DR_SHAHID Mar 22
More than 800,000 refugees RETURNING to Syria as Putin OBLITERATES Islamic State http://shr.gs/0ctmFjP
______________

For the refugee return news: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/615 ... shar-Assad

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Mar 2016 05:49

Robert Fisk hits out:

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/why ... 55406.html

Why is David Cameron so silent on the recapture of Palmyra from the clutches of Isis?
In the end, it was the Syrian army - and its Hizballah chums from Lebanon, and the Iranians, and the Russians - who drove the Isis murderers out of Palmyra.

The biggest military defeat that isis has suffered in more than two years. The recapture of Palmyra, the Roman city of the Empress Zenobia. And we are silent. Yes, folks, the bad guys won, didn't they? Otherwise, we would all be celebrating, wouldn't we?

Less than a week after the lost souls of the 'Islamic Caliphate' destroyed the lives of more than 30 innocent human beings in Brussels, we should - should we not? - have been clapping our hands at the most crushing military reverse in the history of Isis. But no. As the black masters of execution fled Palmyra this weekend, Messers Obama and Cameron were as silent as the grave to which Isis have dispatched so many of their victims. He who lowered our national flag in honour of the head-chopping king of Arabia (I'm talking about Dave, of course) said not a word.

As my long-dead colleague on the Sunday Express, John Gordon, used to say, makes you sit up a bit, doesn't it? Here are the Syrian army, backed, of course, by Vladimir Putin's Russkies, chucking the clowns of Isis out of town, and we daren't utter a single word to say well done.

When Palmyra fell last year, we predicted the fall of Bashar al-Assad. We ignored, were silent on, the Syrian army's big question: why, if the Americans hated Isis so much, didn't they bomb the suicide convoys that broke through the Syrian army's front lines? Why didn't they attack Isis?

“If the Americans wanted to destroy Isis, why didn't they bomb them when they saw them?” a Syrian army general asked me, after his soldiers' defeat His son had been killed defending Homs. His men had been captured and head-chopped in the Roman ruins. The Syrian official in charge of the Roman ruins (of which we cared so much, remember?) was himself beheaded. Isis even put his spectacles back on top of his decapitated head, for fun. And we were silent then.

Putin noticed this, and talked about it, and accurately predicted the retaking of Palmyra. His aircraft attacked Isis - as US planes did not - in advance of the Syrian army's conquest. I could not help but smile when I read that the US command claimed two air strikes against Isis around Palmyra in the days leading up to its recapture by the regime. That really did tell you all you needed to know about the American "war on terror". They wanted to destroy Isis, but not that much.

So in the end, it was the Syrian army and its Hizballah chums from Lebanon and the Iranians and the Russians who drove the Isis murderers out of Palmyra, and who may - heavens preserve us from such a success - even storm the Isis Syrian 'capital' of Raqqa. I have written many times that the Syrian army will decide the future of Syria. If they grab back Raqqa - and Deir el-Zour, where the Nusrah front destroyed the church of the Armenian genocide and threw the bones of the long-dead 1915 Christian victims into the streets - I promise you we will be silent again.

Aren't we supposed to be destroying Isis? Forget it. That's Putin's job. And Assad's. Pray for peace, folks. That's what it's about, isn't it? And Geneva. Where is that, exactly?

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 28 Mar 2016 07:08

Another video of around 06 mins showing the battle of Palmyra. Not garphic but mostly arty and big guns. Birds eye view while perched on a branch -

[youtube]Lcwnmyjogws&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 28 Mar 2016 07:25

The link below has a video of ISIS advertising benefits of being an ISIS Jihadi fighter. Its stupid, comic but its NSFW.

Haidar Sumeri‏@IraqiSecurity
"The Sexy State of #Iraq and the Levant

https://twitter.com/IraqiSecurity/statu ... 2509952000

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Mar 2016 07:39

From Robert fisk article
and Deir el-Zour, where the Nusrah front destroyed the church of the Armenian genocide and threw the bones of the long-dead 1915 Christian victims into the streets -

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Mar 2016 07:45

Shades of Eastern front. Isis like Hitler wants to hold entire river from jarablous to qaim. This leaves him little in reserve as he has to defend both sides of river plus Mosul.

Assad like Zhukov can hold the line with second rung forces like ndf, SAA tier2, Iraqi militias and shift around his strike units magaweer bahr, desert falcons, tiger force, hezbollah, Republican guard behind the line to where he needs a breakthrough and job done, shift them again.

Also he seems to have formed his limited tube and rocket artillery into corps HQ and army HQ massed units led by very senior major general rank officers and helped by rus army trainers and gru SF spotters. One major gen was Kia in Isis shelling last week. This is good use of limited nos and the hinds also do their share of the Lord's work.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Mar 2016 07:51

He has also demoed ability to control these ten disparate units from all over with their own charismatic leaders and launch a brigade size battle to win Palmyra. It's a big thing and he will repeat it now from quraytyn onward.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Mar 2016 07:53

The black serpent is finally caught between the two mongoose and taking sharp painful bites on its long body.
Head is intact in raqqa for now.

habal · Post by **habal** » 28 Mar 2016 08:41

russian spotter's diary.

from Saker;
http://thesaker.is/

it's the last com from the Russian spotter to base:

Officer: command I am compromised, repeat I am compromised.
Command: please repeat and confirm
Officer: They have spotted me, there are shooting everywhere, i am pinned, request evacuation immediately
Command: evacuation request acknowledged
Officer: please hurry I am low on ammo, they seem to everywhere, I can’t hold them for too long please hurry
Command: Confirmed, hold them off, continue return of fire, go to safe position, air support is monitoring,state coordinates
Officer: gives coordinates which are blurred in the translation
Command: command repeats coordinates which are blurred. Confirm
Officer: confirmed, please hurry I am low on ammo, they are surrounding me, ********
Command: 12 minutes until evacuation, return to safe line, I repeat return to safe line
Officer: they are close, i am surrounded, this may be the end, tell my family i love them dearly
Command: return to green line, continue return of fire, help is on the way, followed by air support
Officer: negative, I am surrounded, they are so many of these ********
Command: 10 minutes, return to green line
Officer: I can’t they have surrounded me and are closing in, please hurry
Command: move to green line, repeat move to green line
Officer: they are outside, conduct the airstrike now please hurry, this is the end, tell my family i love them and i died fighting for my motherland.
Command: negative return to green line
Officer: i cant command, i am surrounded, they are outside, i don’t want them to take me and parade me, conduct the airstrike, they will make a mockery of me and this uniform. I want to die with dignity and take all these ******** with me. please my last wish, conduct the airstrike, they will kill me either way.
Command: please confirm your request
Officer: they out outside, this is the end commander, thank you, tell my family and my country i love them. Tell them i was brave and i fought until i could no longer. Please take care of my family, avenge my death,good bye commander, tell my family I love them
Command: no response, orders the airstrike

habal · Post by **habal** » 28 Mar 2016 08:47

Usually a Spotter is at least 2 Kilometers away and uses small telescope to spot the enemy, and he uses satellite communication to talk with the command center, the only way to locate the person by an outfit like ISIL/ISIS is through intercepting communication for which they don't have the equipment, and the ones that handle that for Syria and the isis/isil rats are the NATO electronics interception using E3C, the genuine sons of whores at sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, british bases in Jordan, they even have been recording communication between tank crews in Syria.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 28 Mar 2016 08:48

deejay wrote:Another video of around 06 mins showing the battle of Palmyra. Not garphic but mostly arty and big guns. Birds eye view while perched on a branch -

The first half is a slick propaganda video with steady cameras and good res. The second half is on the battlefront. At 1:57 the sound of the rockets being launched is a devilish musical note - which is why Russian MBRLs in WW2 were called "Stalin organs"

habal · Post by **habal** » 28 Mar 2016 09:45

Quite sizable amount of weapons and ammo found by the allied forces at the Palmyra airport, see one of the 1st video to be out from the airbase. Col. Suheil inspecting the the weapon cache in person.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Mar 2016 10:02

Mil Airbase had secure bunkers and hard shelters. Ideal for storing, IED making and logistics.

Baikul · Post by **Baikul** » 28 Mar 2016 10:03

This caught my eye.

habal wrote:....it's the last com from the Russian spotter to base:

..................Officer: i cant command, i am surrounded, they are outside, ............................

I know 'outside' could mean anything, but keeping aside issues with translation, stress experienced by the actors and general veracity of the exchange, do we know if he was trapped in some building, farmhouse etc?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Mar 2016 10:06

Elijah J. Magnier ‏@EjmAlrai
#SAA imposed a total Electromagnetic interference (signal disturbance) on #Palmyra to prevent #ISIS #IEDs from exploding in #Palmyra.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Mar 2016 10:07

Kind of area denial radio jammer scaled up from.vvip model I think

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Mar 2016 10:08

Building on edge of town, farm, cave...there are caves in the hills, some historical ruin...

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Mar 2016 10:10

Isis last victory was Palmyra itself I think in june2015.

For the nusra their last major victory was jisr AL shugour.
Desert Hawks might be heading back there now

habal · Post by **habal** » 28 Mar 2016 11:03

pakistan & syria are on the same page now,
only 2 countries in whole world were christians were attacked on easter.

Explosion at Orthodox Church in Ras Al-‘Ayn, Syria

On Sunday evening, a female terrorist suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt in front of the St. George Orthodox Church in the city of Ras Al-‘Ayn, killing and wounding several civilians.

According to local activists, the terrorist was reportedly a displaced Syrian from the provincial capital of the Al-Raqqa Governorate – her identity was not revealed.

Ras Al-‘Ayn is currently under the control of the predominately Syrian Kurdish “People’s Protection Units” (YPG) and their political wing “Democratic Union Party” (PYD); this city has been the target of several attacks by Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) terrorists and the Turkish regime.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 28 Mar 2016 11:07

What comes after Palmyra? Another analysis from Al Masdar

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/wh ... r-palmyra/

The liberation of Palmyra (Tadmur) by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has opened the door to a long list of options for the government forces, including a possible offensive to liberate the Al-Raqqa Governorate. However, the odds of the Syrian Arab Army pushing north towards Raqqa City is very unlikely at this stage of the war, given the fact that their forces are currently besieged by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) inside the Deir Ezzor Governorate.

The Syrian Arab Army’s Central Command has already announced their intentions to liberate the Palmyra-Deir Ezzor Highway in order to lift the 10 month long siege of Deir Ezzor; and while this may see like the government’s main priority at this time, it is truly just a small part of their military contingency after Palmyra.

Optimized by Komoona The Syrian Armed Forces can liberate the main highway that leads to the Deir Ezzor Governorate; however, in the long-run, if they do not clear the mountains of northeastern Homs, they could see another push by ISIS to retake Palmyra. As we have seen time and time again, ISIS has been able to infiltrate several sites along the Al-Sha’ar and Jazal mountains of northeastern Homs; this has made it incredibly difficult to maintain a steady flow of electricity to the province because of the terrorist group’s attacks on the government’s electrical grids.

In reality, Northeastern Homs can be dealt with in time; it is currently not an immediate concern for the government because most of southeastern Homs is under ISIS’ control. Currently, the Syrian Armed Forces do no control the Tanf border-crossing that links the Homs Governorate with the Iraqi province of Al-‘Anbar. Why is this important? Well, as long as ISIS controls southeastern Homs and its border with Al-Anbar, the Syrian Armed Forces will always find themselves in danger along this vast desert front.

The only way for the Syrian Armed Forces to secure this part of Homs is to retake the strategic city of Quraytayn. Before the Syrian Armed Forces can even consider conducting their Deir Ezzor offensive, they must retake Quraytayn from ISIS. Following Palmyra’s liberation on Sunday, a large force from the Syrian Arab Army made their way to Quraytayn in order to help the 67th, 81st, and 120th brigades.

Luckily, the battle for Quraytayn is almost over, thanks in large part to the Russian Air Force’s integral aerial campaign over the vast Syrian Desert and the Syrian ground forces that have inched their way through this rugged wasteland. In the coming days, the battle for Quraytayn will intensify as the Syrian Armed Forces launch a Palmyra-like assault on ISIS’ defenses in order to recapture this ancient Assyrian city.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/wh ... r-palmyra/ | Al-Masdar News

habal · Post by **habal** » 28 Mar 2016 11:19

Deir-ez-Zor, Raqqa, Quryatayn, Sukana, are all going to be different from Palmyra. Atleast there are no priceless artifacts to save there.

would be interested to know the coalition strategy in this light. They are not going to risk any troops on these for sure. & Raqqa doesn't have any 'friendlies' amongst the civvies either. Whoever stays there are sitting targets and Russia can test out some of it's larger yield explosives if they care to.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 28 Mar 2016 11:20

Interview with Gregory R Copley with his opinion. Interesting that more and more the linkages of Erdogan's survival and ISIS survival are becoming accepted: ‘For ISIS to survive, it needs support from allies: Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the US’

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/337351-isis- ... terrorism/

Reports that Syrian government forces have retaken the city of Palmyra from ISIS forces prove that the terrorist group is incapable of withstanding a conventional assault, Gregory R Copley, strategic analyst and editor of Defense & Foreign Affairs told RT.
A commander of the Desert Falcons unit of the Syrian army told RT that the "military operation to retake Palmyra lasted three days," adding that the "main difficulty was that there were a lot of mines along the roads."

Before news of the retaking of Palmyra had been confirmed, Copley told RT that the Syrian Army’s successes in the ancient city, which fell under control of ISIS last year, demonstrates that it is able “to move in a conventional, combined operations attack against a conventional target.”

He compared those military capabilities to that of ISIS forces, which he said “are not really able to withstand a conventional assault against a major organized air-ground operation by a force such as the Syrians, supported by Russian and Syrian airpower.”

The Russian military on September 30, 2015 opened a fierce aerial assault against ISIS positions in Syria, hitting command and control centers and oil facilities with equal ferocity, following an official request by the Syrian government for military assistance against the jihadist group.

On March 14, President Putin, saying the objectives in Syria had been successfully reached, ordered the withdrawal of the "main part" of the Russian forces from Syria.

Speaking on the possible defeat of ISIS by Syria’s conventional forces, Copley called such a scenario “very significant” in that it not only demonstrates that “the Syrian Armed Forces – supported by the Russians – are back in business,” it also sends an unmistakable message to Ankara that “now it’s going to be serious if Turkey tries its own intervention into Syria or Iraqi territory.”

The recapture of Palmyra is significant both symbolically and strategically. This is a 2,000-year-old city at the heart of many civilizations in the Levant. The destruction of it was done to great fanfare as we watched ISIS march in to Palmyra with no accompanying US airstrikes to thwart it... It is also symbolic because the ground forces that fought against ISIS in Palmyra were all Syrian. - Sharmine Narwani, political analyst on Middle East affairs, to RT

The strategic analyst then said a mouthful when he predicted that in order for ‘Daesh’ [a term for Islamic State that is considered derogatory] to “survive” it will need “a lot of support from its allies.” Copley went on to list those allied countries as “Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the US.”

However, with respect to the United States reportedly offering assistance to the group, Copley admitted, without elaborating, that some people in the United States are beginning to have “second thoughts” about the idea.

Finally, with the world still shaken from the fresh terrorist attacks in Brussels, which left over 30 people dead and scores injured, Copley’s next statement resonated with the prospects of future atrocities, assisted, it would seem, by a NATO member: “I think we’ll start to see Daesh react to this, again with help from Turkey’s MIT [Turkish Intelligence Organization] by going into stronger operations into Europe and into Libya.”

He emphasized, however, that Islamic State is on the defensive, not just in Syria, but in Libya as well. But apparently being weakened will only make the group more dangerous and unpredictable.

Since the Russians and Syrians... began dealing with this issue, we see success after success. It shows the international community that there has to be an effective, local coalition... and sooner or later we hope to see the end of Islamic State in the region altogether. - Massoud Shadjareh, Chair of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, to RT

“[Islamic State] forces are starting to come against real opposition from the Libyan military and from movements around the tribes, which are coalescing towards getting the monarchy back into play to galvanize the country against Daesh. So basically Daesh is now on the defensive; it’s going to require a lot more support from Turkey if it’s to succeed.”

Copley concluded with the rather disturbing observation that the Turkish government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “cannot afford to let Daesh fail at this stage because if it does then the war gets carried back into Turkey and the civil war which it is now waging against the Kurds will expand terrifically.”

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 28 Mar 2016 11:24

Dedicated and sustained air support of equally determined ground troops has been the key to the recent successes of the Syrian led army alliance. In contrast,the "kabuki" air campaign conducted by the US and West actually helped ISIS and the anti-Assad factions previously. Regime change at any cost was the policy of the US,West and Saudi led Arab coalition. Just one man,Putin,called their bluff,sent in his air force- a few sqds,a small part of his huge resources,and demonstrated to the world how to stand by your ally,and really hand it out to the enemy. He lost just one aircraft,shot down by a back-stabbing "ally",Turkey,which went berserk as its shady deals with ISIS all came unstuck.

Pres. Assad too must be given praise for staying the course over the last few years ,waging a war with few loyal friends,up and against the raving monsters of ISIS,whose atrocities rank amongst the worst ever that humanity has recorded. What Syria and friends need to do now is to swiftly build upon the victory at Palmyra and use max. force to drive ISISD out of as much of Syrian territory as possible. This may halt the flow of refugees to Europe and strengthen the anti-Wahaabi forces in the region. Tony Blair's cry for Western ground troops (posted in the EU security td) is also a plea for the West to make a mil stakeout in the region to prevent the Russians and Iranians from cementing their positions.

PS:I endorse Habal's strategy.Time to use the really big bombers in saturation attacks reducing ISIS to desert dust.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 28 Mar 2016 11:35

^^^Phillip Sir, the Ruskis have heeded your advice and Al MAsdar has posted on your cue:

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/ru ... east-homs/

The Russian Air Force launched a powerful series of airstrikes over the southeastern countryside of the Homs Governorate on Sunday, targeting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) positions around the strategic city of Quraytayn. Among the many targets for the Russian Air Force on Sunday was ISIL’s primary fuel depot that is located near the city of Quraytayn.

According to a military source from the Syrian Air Defense, the Russian Air Force flattened the entire fuel depot, destroying all of ISIL’s fuel transport vehicles while also killing several terrorists that were present at the site.

Optimized by Komoona Recently, the Russian Air Force has increased the frequency of their airstrikes over the Homs Governorate; this influx of aerial attacks coincides with the Syrian Arab Army’s ground offensives against ISIL.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/ru ... east-homs/ | Al-Masdar News