Bharat Rakshak

UlanBatori wrote:OTOH, there is another way to look at this. Note about the Turkey-Azeri Mutual Defense treaty etc. So if Azeris get into a bissing contest, that catches Erdogan by his VIPs and gets them into a twist, hain? Suddenly he is in a 3-front war: Syria- Latakia with YPG, other Kurdistan pleasantries, and then Azeris with well-armed, Russian-backed Armenia bissed off. Its a whole lot easier for the Su-24s and Backfires to hit Turkish forces in Azerbaijan than inside Turkey or Syria. The Black Sea fleet can just come over and shower goodies on both Azerbaijan and Turkey, and there's not a whole lot that either can do about it.

Can Erdogan really fight a 3-front war, esp with vacuum bursts going on in Ankara every couple of days? And Kurds in an existential battle against him? Why would be go and start this now? It's like inviting the Bear to claw his backside. And if Turkey goes and meddles in an Azeri-Armenia lovefest, NATO is **NOT** going to get drawn into that if they have any idea what is good for them. They will discover various clauses getting them out of any commitment.

So I think there are some chess moves behind this latest flare-up, and they are not necessarily by Erdogan or NATO.

This was my earlier thinking also, that Putin could somehow maneuver Azerbaijan into attacking Armenia, then he backs up Armenians with Russian firepower causing collapse of Azeri forces followed by Armenian\Russian couterattack (maybe seize even more Azeri territory than in 1994). This forces Erdogan to send in the Turkish military into Azerbaijan, which the Russians would then pound the hell out of (along with high-value targets in Turkey proper). Basically this would be Russia using this war to give Erdogan and Turkey a big fat bloody nose. I'm probably giving Putin too much credit here; it's as likely the Turks instigated this whole thing.

kurds & yezidis seem united with the armenians in their hatred of the turks. some armenians christian volunteers even fight with YPG.
kurd settled region and armenia share a common border in the east.

another question is will the Alevis remain loyal to the sunni fascism that is dominating the turkiye state rule now?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alevism
they are shia and do not control their women as much if you read above link.

70% are sunni, but 20% are alevi..which is not a small number

could be a opening for Iran to work things around...

@Raqqa_SL Apr 3
#Raqqa #ISIS executed and crucified 10 people in 2 Days in #Raqqa city #Syria #ISIL

ISIS blew up the st.elaine a old monastery in al quraytyn a year ago, scattering the bones from sarcophagus and ossuraies. so much for tolerating other men of the book

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfNOtLLW4AAncKm.jpg

One of tiger force leader namid Ali who will lead March on sukanah..looks like another shabiha enforcer

Rudaw.net
Ankara’s preconditions for Manbij show its obsession with containing Kurds
By Paul Iddon 20 hours ago
2957 Views

Ankara’s preconditions for Manbij show its obsession with containing Kurds
Syrian soldiers during clashes with ISIS in Palmyra on May 17, 2015. AFP Photo.
Turkey has called on the US to meet two preconditions in return for its participation in the liberation from Islamic State (ISIS) of the northwestern Syrian town of Manbij. The two proposals put forward aptly demonstrate how the Turkish government’s monomaniacal obsession with containing the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) invariably renders it incapable of offering logical solutions for combating ISIS.

Their demands – put forward by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to Washington last week – basically boil down to the US having the SDF halt its current advance on Manbij and calling on the non-Kurdish Arabs and Turkmen split from the group, which would effectively break it up.

Then, it would provide support, including direct air support, to some of the questionable groups Turkey has been backing in Syria’s northwest against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. A border area occupied by Islamists which include Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS, the two most infamous and notorious Islamist groups in Syria. Which would essentially pit the US directly against that regime and risk a clash with its Kremlin supporter while possibly even enabling jihadis in that area to gain more ground.

Since they were formed in October 2015, the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have successfully merged with local tribesmen and representatives from various different non-Kurdish communities in northeastern Syria. Dismantling the SDF and undoing these successful endeavors ahead of an upcoming offensive against Manbij would be the equivalent of demanding an army to shoot itself in the foot before marching forward into battle.

Manbij is located on the west side of the Euphrates River south of the Jarablus-Azaz line, which Turkey has declared its “red line” in Syria. The SDF has a presence in that area since crossing from the Tishreen Dam last December. Capturing Manbij would give it a greater foothold in that area and would further cut off ISIS from the outside world.

If the US abides by Turkey’s preconditions it will more or less guarantee that Syria’s northwest border remains open and that many Islamist groups can still funnel in recruits and weapons. Doing this while simultaneously handicapping a force as effective as the SDF at this stage in the counter-ISIS campaign would be far too costly and recklessly risky.

Even if Turkey agrees to assist the coalition’s anti-ISIS efforts after its preconditions vis-à-vis the SDF are met in good faith there is little it can do apart from close its own side of the border. It is unlikely to send its ground forces into Jarablus to clear out ISIS or Nusra from elsewhere in that strip of border territory, never mind Manbij. It is also unlikely to even contribute additional airpower against ISIS since Ankara clearly doesn’t want to risk sending its jets into Syrian airspace in case the Russians avenge the downing of their warplane last November by shooting down a Turkish F-16 or two.

So, fundamentally, not only is Turkey’s willingness to contribute substantial resources to the fight against ISIS in question, its very capability to do so is also in question.

The SDF remains the US’s most concrete and reliable ally on the ground in Syria. Instead of continuously placating Turkey the US should remain firm that its own red-line in Syria are firmly denying a foothold anywhere in that war-torn country to either ISIS or Nusra, which would require their removal from the northwest. Something the SDF can do much more effectively than if the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) had done so itself.

Washington could placate the Turks by setting preconditions for the SDF. Namely that its incursion into the northwest is an ad-hoc one aimed at removing ISIS and Nusra and not an endeavor, however tempting, to link up the remaining disjointed canton of Afrin to Kobani through the Jarablus-Azaz line.

That’s a solution which has a chance of succeeding: The SDF is a tried and tested battle-hardened force with the resolve and the capability to neutralize these jihadis. Its continued contributions to this essential fight should not be taken for granted or, even worse, compromised.


Paul Iddon is a Rudaw reporter based in Erbil, Kurdistan Region.
- See more at: http://rudaw.net/mobile/english/middlee ... WB6Ah.dpuf

Iraqi Mi-35 crashed @ low altitude.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/sy ... eir-ezzor/

Same old Isis deir azor swarm attack

Same outcome

One syaf su22 went down or shot down near El eis supporting the SAA attack

Wave of suicide bombings all over Iraq most svest some svbied...atleast 20 Kia

Battle for hit town continues

Haidar Sumeri ‏@IraqiSecurity
Da'ish attacked #Iraq's army around Al-Baghdadi today with 100 gunmen (~30 dead), 9 VBIEDs (4 destroyed) + 7 suicide bombers (all killed).

Must read on.nusra
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... syria.html

The manpad genie is out of the bottle.

Ballistics typically follow.

Good. Old scud and tochkas must have been taken out of storage.

The Dier Ez Zor attack has been repelled - Again.

In the mean time, Southern Aleppo has begun to heat up. Latest reports confirm that El Eis has been recaptured in a night raid by Iranian troops. Ivan Sidorenko reports that even Zorbah / Zorbeh has fallen. Next target is ICARDA area east of the M5 highway to Aleppo.

van Sidorenko ‏@IvanSidorenko1 now55 seconds ago
#Syria #Aleppo #SouthernAleppo CONFIRMED - Militant Activist says #Zorbah #Zorbeh is under #SAA & ALLIE CONTROL.

The Su 22 was shot down by SAMs yesterday in Southern Aleppo. It had two pilots. One pilot is dead and the other is alive and in captivity.

RuAF paid special attention to these militants in Southern Aleppo yesterday.

Near Pamyra - Quaryatayn battle front, some places between these two towns south of the main highway still under ISIS are being attacked by SAA.

Bheeshma wrote:Good. Old scud and tochkas must have been taken out of storage.

Dont take this lightly, this is an unpredictable escalatory step. There is nothing after ballistics short of open war involving turkey, which will instantaneously draw in iran and armenia. Iran is pretty much next door.

The other *highly* dangerous side effect of any and all non state actors walking around with manpads will be on a. civilian traffic, b. in the immediate western slum actors.

Even the dirtiest in the west held off the saudis for a while to keep it short of manpads. This totally doesnt bode well. This is not your token picture opportunity scale exercise, these things have been doled out both north and south in numbers. along with huge number of technicals, brand new rifles, the lot. turkey is getting its buffer zone as is conveniently recedes south.

Just like this, a larger development will surprise us sooner rather than later. there isnt any winding down happening here anytime soon. lives are cheap all around.

Iranian special forces in al-hadher, south aleppo

yuck

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfTJD46WQAA0Sxi.jpg

ka-52 alligator over quratayn

Whatever gifts turkey had given its proxies will eventually leak into black market and seek out the tail end EU assets.

Syria is already hell. One more demon to add to hundred.

Look where the US drone is, West of aleppo state
Green lemon ‏@green_lemonnn
#Syria US renewed anti-AQ strikes in Syria. 5 JN/AQ militants killed in a car hit by a drone in #Idlib.

irani advisers of the 65th para brigade

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

Russian Kamov Ka-52 'Alligator' Sees Combat Debut in Syria - Vladimir Karnozov

https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news ... ebut-syria

When I first saw the Alligator,some two decades ago at the very first BLore Air Show,it was a stomach churning feeling.What a beast! We could've easily picked up the 50+ naval KA-52s which are going to Egypt now,but this is a beast that would do very well in IA colours,to complement the lighter armed and armoured LCHs. Who knows,it may happen one day.

The DIRCM we saw on Ka-52/Mi-8/Mi-28 President-S in Syria is something we are buying too

looks like we are buying President-S DIRCM for our choppers

President-S DIRCM : https://russianmilitaryphotos.wordpress ... res-suite/
OEM info but in Russian: http://niiekran.ru/prod_president.php

http://ria.ru/defense_safety/20160406/1403353967.html

KAZAN, Apr 6 -. RIA Novosti Russia will supply the latest on-board systems to protect aircraft "President-C" not only in Egypt but also in Algeria, India and Belarus, told reporters on Wednesday the general director of Concern "Radio-electronic technology" (Developer complexes) Nikolai Kolesov .

"The president-C" is designed for individual protection of military and civilian aircraft and helicopters from hitting aircraft and anti-aircraft missile systems and anti-aircraft artillery of enemy air defense systems onshore and offshore.

"We supply the" President-C "not only in Egypt We have contracts with India, Algeria, Belarus This long-term agreement, part of the complex will be delivered later this year, part of the -.. In 2017 and 2018," - Kolesov said, without specifying the details of the other arrangements.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/04/r ... 42969.html

Report: Russia forces rarely targeted ISIL in Syria
US-based Atlantic Council releases report that says Russia's claim to have mainly targeted ISIL in Syria was false.

So curious same news has surfaced in BBC, The Guardian at same time.

IS using mustard gas on Assad troops http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35968604

Wikileaks tweeting few mins back

https://twitter.com/wikileaks?ref_src=t ... wgr^author

WikiLeaks ‏@wikileaks 13m13 minutes ago

US govt funded #PanamaPapers attack story on Putin via USAID. Some good journalists but no model for integrity.

The US OCCRP can do good work, but for the US govt to directly fund the #PanamaPapers attack on Putin seriously undermines its integrity.

WikiLeaks ‏@wikileaks 14h14 hours ago

#PanamaPapers Putin attack was produced by OCCRP which targets Russia & former USSR and was funded by USAID & Soros.

Looks like US Gobermand is now using Journos and Panama Papers Leak to attack Putin , Russia and CIS State

We stay in interesting times , Soft Power Rulez

Israeli strike unmanned aerial vehicles and missile complexes Spike in Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/1833545.html

Check the video in the link of Narop Drone and Spike missile hitting T-72

If israel is complicit in this adventure, russia will return the favour with interest by providing all sorts of stuff to hezbollah from the stuff already being sent to SAA.

What exactly will Israel threaten Russia with? Jericho's and Popeye turbo are not going to hack it..not vs a continent sized country packing a broad spectrum package upto ss18.

As for turkey they continue to be the Anatolian Pakistan but economic realities might slow them soon with civil war along the kurdish belt

18 civilians drowed or beheaded in Mosul by daesh per reports, for being pro regime.

Haidar Sumeri ‏@IraqiSecurity
Heroic story from yesterday. An Iraqi policeman embraced the suicide bomber near a bridge in N. Baghdad as he detonated, saving many lives

Iraqi cop like our own late tukaram ombale rip

The town of hit just captured was where 100s of albu nimr tribe where executed by Isis. In various places atleast 1000 men and 150 women were executed, some pregnant. The women refused to join the daesh harem. It's a small trube of 12000 per wiki

Israel won't be stupid enough to enter this fray. They have sold the slimeball azeris kit in the past but no way they will take on the bear by themselves or for sultan turdogan.

tens of thousands of troops pouring into aleppo from Iran, russia, chechnya, hezbollah.

Syrian army, allies to unleash wide-scale offensive in Aleppo

DAMASCUS - The Joint Operation Room in the northern province of Aleppo said on Tuesday that the Syrian forces and allied fighters will unleash a "destructive campaign" against the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

In a statement aired on some Arab TVs, the Joint Operation Room said the next few days will witness a crushing campaign against the Nusra Front and other radical groups, which recently broke the truce by attacking government forces' positions and civilian areas in Aleppo.

The room comprises of Syrian officers, members of the Lebanese Hezbollah group along with Shiite fighters from Iran as well as Russian military advisers.

A day earlier, the Nusra Front and allied militant groups attempted to attack military positions in the southern countryside of Aleppo, as well as firing rockets on the Sheikh Maksud district in Aleppo, killing 20 civilians and injuring 55 others.

"The responsibility of breaching the truce lies on the terrorist groups," said the statement, referring that some groups attacked military positions south of Aleppo along with the Nusra Front.

The Joint Operation Room, commanding the military operations in Aleppo, said the Syrian army committed itself to the truce, stressing that "the civilians are the most affected by the battles."

The statement said the Syrian army and its allies will open hell gates for the armed groups on all the fronts in Aleppo, and this time nothing will stop the battles against the terrorists.

Meanwhile, the statement urged the civilians who live in the rebel-held areas in Aleppo to stay away from the rebel positions because "the next days will carry destructive battles."

It said that all the forces have arrived in Aleppo to wage the battle, including Special Units of the Syrian army, Russian experts and fighters from Hezbollah and Iran.

The internationally-backed truce has been held in Syria for over a month, despite the battles against the Nusra Front and the Islamic State (IS) group, as both are designated as terrorist groups by the UN.

The frontline in Aleppo has witnessed a relative calm before the Nusra Front and other groups unleashed their attacks on Monday, forcing the government to threaten a tough response.

The General Command of the Syrian army said on Monday that it will strike with an "iron fist" to those who had attacked the army and civilians in Aleppo.
.

East Hama spring cleaning started..petolucem has been ranting for it

The Russian and Syrian air forces are concentrating their efforts on Wednesday to halting the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s (ISIS) continued use of the Hama-Palmyra Highway (Highway 45). According to a source from the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF), Russian and Syrian fighter jets are hunting ISIS terrorists along this 110 km long stretch of highway that leads from ‘Aqayrbat to the northeastern countryside of Palmyra. While the Syrian and Russian air forces tackle ISIS from the air, the Syrian Arab Army’s infantry units are pushing east towards the strategic villages of Abu Hanaya and ‘Aqayrbat, where the terrorist group enjoys control over a wide stretch of land.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/sy ... a-highway/ | Al-Masdar News

How would you like to meet up with this gang of haystacks?

Ruaf is dropping magnesium filled.burning cluster bombs on el.eis hill area

why not nerve gas ?
isis/nusra/turks are best opportunity to test out unconventional weapons.

Russian Mi-28 destroys ISIS terrorist vehicles in East Homs

bbc psy-op refuted.
media wing of isis trying new tricks after aleppo offensive busted.

Alawite Clergy Slams BBC Claim That Sect Is 'Distancing Itself' From Assad

On Sunday, the BBC ran a story about a 'secret document' which claimed that Syrian Alawite leaders were looking to 'distance themselves' from President Bashar Assad. Speaking to Sputnik, Akhmed Bilal, a representative of the Syrian Alawite clergy, said that the BBC's story is false, and a part of the campaign of information warfare against Syria.

The original story, published over the weekend, pointed to a mysterious eight-page document "obtained by the BBC," claiming that Alawite clergy leaders were looking to "distance themselves from Assad," and "outlin[ing] what kind of future they wish for the country after five years of civil war."

The significance of the document, BBC reported, lay in the fact that the Alawites, including Assad and most of his family, had "dominated Syria's government and security services…for more than four decades." The break with the government, therefore, was thus characterized as "cut[ting] the link or 'umbilical cord' between the Alawites and the Assad regime."

Jumping on the BBC story, Arab media including Al-Jazeera spread it across the Arab world, citing British sources, without seeing the original of the document on which the BBC report was based.

Seeking to find out whether there was any truth in the rumors about Alawite community and religious leaders' shifting political affiliations, Sputnik Arabic spoke to Sheikh Ahmad Bilal, an official representative of the clergy of Syrian Alawites, and director of the Syrian Institute of Theology.

To begin with, Bilal suggested, there could be no secret document on the Alawites' rejection of Assad. "None of our scholars or sheikhs have spoken of any renunciation. Our country has united within it all religious denominations, and Bashar Assad is a symbol of Arab resistance [to imperialism and Zionism]."

All adherents to the Alawite faith, Bilal added, must call for an immediate halt to the publishing of such unfounded news stories, adding that those who might spread such insinuations "should apologize immediately for spreading lies."

"We are looking at this as another failed attempt in their [Syria's enemies' ed.] plotting against our country. Once again they try to divide our country. After all, Salih al-Ali [prominent Syrian Alawite leader] was once offered an Alawite state. But nothing came of it, because Damascus for us comes before Latakia" (the latter is the historic home region of the Alawites).

"We are one country, and have common blood. Let them first prove that such a document exists. This is just another attack in the information warfare being waged against Syria," Bilal concluded.

In the postscript to the interview, Sputnik Arabic emphasized that in order for the Alawite clergy to denounce any one person, group of persons, or organization, the clergy must first hold a conciliar meeting and issue an official (i.e. not a secret) document notifying all representatives of the confession via the responsible religious leaders of their decision.