Bharat Rakshak

The 9K33 Osa short-range air defense launcher was destroyed by a Sukhoi Su-34 bomber in Eastern Douma near Damascus, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told the media in his Thursday daily briefing.

by Ramana
Jordan is Sunni.
On NPR an expert was saying King is a descendant of prophet !

SBajwa wrote:

by Ramana
Jordan is Sunni.
On NPR an expert was saying King is a descendant of prophet !

most of the people who are Descendant of the prophet are Shias (Descendant from Fatima (daughter of Prophet) and Ali (found of Shia Islam Cousin of Prophet). Sunnis start from Ayesha (youngest wife of Prophet) and Abu Bakr (friend of Prophet)

Singha wrote:Wiki entry claims 7 children and 13 wives

SBajwa wrote:

by Ramana
Jordan is Sunni.
On NPR an expert was saying King is a descendant of prophet !

most of the people who are Descendant of the prophet are Shias (Descendant from Fatima (daughter of Prophet) and Ali (found of Shia Islam Cousin of Prophet). Sunnis start from Ayesha (youngest wife of Prophet) and Abu Bakr (friend of Prophet)

U.S. military pilots carrying out the air war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are voicing growing discontent over what they say are heavy-handed rules of engagement hindering them from striking targets.They blame a bureaucracy that does not allow for quick decision-making. One Navy F-18 pilot who has flown missions against ISIS voiced his frustration to Fox News, saying: “There were times I had groups of ISIS fighters in my sights, but couldn’t get clearance to engage.”He added, “They probably killed innocent people and spread evil because of my inability to kill them. It was frustrating.”Sources close to the air war against ISIS told Fox News that strike missions take, on average, just under an hour, from a pilot requesting permission to strike an ISIS target to a weapon leaving the wing -

just under an hour, from a pilot requesting permission to strike an ISIS target to a weapon leaving the wing -

ISIS has executed Qasim Hilal, 36, on charges of using the group’s power “for personal interests”, and Mohammed Jurouh, another ISIS loyalist, on charges of communicating with an American journalist.

Speaking to ARA News in Deir ez-Zor, media activist Saray ad-Din said that ISIS has put Qasim Hilal in a cage after crucifying him in the city of Mayadeen in Deir ez-Zor province.

“However, local residents explained that Hilal was punished after defending his wife when the ISIS-linked security force of al-Hisba tried to arrest her for violating the legitimate dress,” he added, pointing out that the victim was crucified for three days in public.

Speaking to ARA News, media activist Bashir Abbad said that fighting between ISIS and pro-Assad forces in the vicinity of the Military Airport of Deir ez-Zor has stopped since Sunday.

“The pro-regime forces are currently fortifying the military airport with high earth mounds and deep defensive trenches,” Abbad reported.

Y. Kanan wrote:Still seeing too many misses on these strike videos. Time and again, you can tell the bombs aren't hitting where they're supposed to. I'm aware the drone crosshair isn't always going to be on the target, but unless the Russians are deliberately targeting empty fields close to buildings, these are misses. Watch these strike videos more closely and rewind to just before the impact. Again and again, you'll see the bomb striking dirt, usually close to a building but not directly hitting it. In most cases it looks like the occupants would have survived, though shaken, because the blast wave isn't enough to knock down the structure.

Could the US be jamming or interfering with their GLONASS signals? I wonder if the Russians could use laser guidance instead?

Singha wrote:does anyone know how having more ground stations boosts the accuracy as this article claims?

Singha wrote:does anyone know how having more ground stations boosts the accuracy as this article claims?

http://www.liveviewgps.com/blog/russias ... s-compare/

Accuracy The first major difference between GPS and GLONASS is that GPS has a higher accuracy rate. Tests conducted to look at how accurate the data and information is for each type of satellite navigation system have revealed, at least so far, GPS is still coming out ahead. The last series of tests showed GLONASS being accurate from 10 feet, while GPS was ahead at 6 feet.

Iran ramps up troop deployment in Syria in run-up to ‘anti-rebel offensive’

Iran’s role in war has been relatively low-key so far, but deployment and dispatch of famous commander reinforce perception of new stage in support for Assad

Ian Black and Saeed Kamali Dehghan

Wednesday 14 October 2015 20.24 BST
Iran is escalating its role in the war in Syria, sending hundreds of men from its elite forces to support Bashar al-Assad and dispatching its most celebrated Revolutionary Guards commander to an area where an anti-rebel offensive is expected shortly.

Arab diplomats and analysts said on Wednesday that Iran had already sent hundreds of troops to northern and central Syria, after reports that up to 2,000 are to be deployed alongside fighters from Tehran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah and foreign Shia militia units under the cover of Russian airstrikes.

Iran has backed the Assad regime from the start of the war four and half years ago, but its role so far has been relatively low-profile. Pictures of Gen Qassem Suleimani, commander of the al-Quds force of the Revolutionary Guards, addressing fighters in Syria, reinforce the perception that a new stage of deeper Iranian involvement may be beginning.

Diplomats say Iran urged Russia to intervene militarily in support of Assad after serious losses of territory and manpower this year. Suleimani visited Moscow in July, reportedly to make that point. But some experts also see a degree of competition between Moscow and Tehran for influence in Damascus.

Suleimani was pictured addressing unidentified fighters in the Latakia area. The image was distributed on Tuesday by al-Mayadeen, a Lebanese TV channel that is close to Iran and Hezbollah. This generated intense attention on social media. The channel linked his presence to a forthcoming offensive against anti-Assad rebels.

Iran has advised the Syrian army and trained Shia militia units from Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai reported that Tehran would send 2,000 troops to Syria, along with 5,000 Iraqi and Afghan Shia fighters.

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Iranian fighters began arriving two weeks ago, after Russian airstrikes began, and have accelerated in recent days, an unnamed regional official told the Associated Press. The Iranians flew into Damascus airport and were transported to a base in Latakia from where they were deploying in Hama and Aleppo provinces.

“We have seen received confirmed reports of Revolutionary Guards being deployed in the hundreds in an attempt to regain territory recently lost in Aleppo by Assad,” a senior Arab diplomat told the Guardian. Another Arab source warned, however, that information about the Iranians could be deliberately misleading propaganda.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Wednesday that Iranian troops were continuing to arrive and being sent to a base in Jableh, near Latakia.

“There is no doubt an Iranian escalation [is being] coordinated with the Russian intervention,” said Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). “There is an operational and territorial division of labour, whereby Iran contributes skilled manpower and Russia air power, probably increasingly in the form of close air support.”

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Iran’s huge underground missile depot shown on state TV

Iran’s enhanced role is a risky one, as shown by the rising number of funerals held for members of the Revolutionary Guards killed in Syria in recent months. The Syrian conflict has cost the lives of more senior Iranian guards than any other conflict apart from the eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s.

Members of the guards killed in Syria are referred to as “defenders of the holy shrine” by Iranian media. “In Qom, people are seeing such funerals almost on daily basis,” one source said. “This shows that they are sending soldiers to fight in Syria.”

Last week a senior guards commander, Hossein Hamedani, was killed near Aleppo. It emerged on Wednesday that two other senior members were killed this week: they were named as Farshad Hasonizadeh and Hamid Mokhtarband. The Isna news agency said they were helping the Syrian army and “Islamic resistance fighters”.
Senior Iranian commander killed in Syria
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Hasonizadeh was a former commander of the guards special forces unit, Tip-e-Saberin. Morad Veisi, an expert on Iran’s armed forces who works with Radio Farda in Prague, said more Saberin personnel appear to have been sent to Syria.

“It is no coincidence that three Iranian generals have been killed in just a week,” said Hokayem of the IISS. “The planning and operations of ambitious campaigns require senior oversight so more risk-taking by Iranian generals.”

On Monday two funerals were held in south Tehran for guards from Iran’s Fatemiyoun brigade, composed of Iran-based Afghan expatriates.

Following the rising Iranian death toll in Syria, Iranian officials have become vocal in vowing to crush “takfiri terrorists”. Mohsen Rezaee, a former guards commander, said: “We will bury takfiris in Syria and Iraq and we will prove to the world that conspiracy and deception has no place in Islam.” A takfiri is a Sunni Muslim who believes it is legitimate to kill Muslim apostates, and is Iran’s terminology when referring to Islamic State (Isis).

Ali Akbar Velayati, a foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said this week that maintaining Assad in power remained Tehran’s red line. “Russia’s presence in Syria is important and effective,” he said. “We’ve supported Bashar al-Assad for more than four years and we will continue to do so.”

Spencer Ackerman in New York and Shaun Walker in Moscow

Wednesday 14 October 2015 20.48 BST
The US defense chief has vowed to take “all necessary steps” against a resurgent Russia which is challenging a frustrated Washington in eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Ash Carter, the US defense secretary, said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had wrapped his country in a “shroud of isolation” which only a drastic change in policy could reverse.

“We will take all necessary steps to deter Russia’s malign and destabilising influence, coercion and aggression,” Carter said, attacking Russian military intervention in Ukraine and Syria.

The speech at a US army convention on Wednesday included some of the strongest language yet by the Obama administration, which came into office determined to “reset” relations with Russia and move them in a more cooperative direction.

Carter said that as long as Russia pursued a “misguided strategy” in Syria to bolster its client Bashar al-Assad, “we have not, and will not, agree to cooperate with Russia”.

Meanwhile, Russia claimed that the United States snubbed its overtures for high-level consultations on Syria, refusing to send a delegation to Moscow or receive a high-ranking Russian delegation.

On Tuesday, Putin said he wanted to send a delegation led by the Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, to the US. Moscow said the suggestion was first raised during a meeting between Putin and Barack Obama on the sidelines of the UN general assembly last month.
Who backs whom in the Syrian conflict
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“Literally today, we got an official reply,” the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said on Wednesday. “We have been told that they can’t send a delegation to Moscow and they can’t host a delegation in Washington either.”

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Wednesday evening: “Given the current situation in Syria, refusing dialogue does not help to save the country and region from the Islamic State.”

There was no immediate response to the claim from US officials, though the accusation stands in contrast to two weeks of unresolved requests from the Pentagon to the Russian defence ministry for a clear procedure to avoid midair conflict.

While the US Defense Department last week held out hope for “deconfliction”, three rounds of talks have yet to result in clear rules for US and Russian pilots and their commanders, despite a series of undisclosed proposals and counterproposals. A third video conference made “progress” on Wednesday, and was described as “focused narrowly on the implementation of specific safety procedures” by a Pentagon spokesman, Captain Jeff Davis.

Lavrov said on Wednesday that agreement was close and procedures “should become operational any day now”.

The diplomatic disagreement over the international community’s response to the Syrian war reflects the positions of two distinct coalitions with divergent goals. Russia, Iran and the Syrian regime of the dictator Assad have accelerated a military offensive against Assad’s Syrian enemies.

The pro-Assad coalition is reportedly aiming to retake Aleppo in the coming days, with Russian warplanes supporting Iranian ground forces.

The US and much of the west are focused instead on a relatively slower campaign against the Islamic State, which formally opposes Assad but has turned its attention to consolidating its hold on eastern Syria and north-western Iraq.
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On the one hand, Russia has been using its entrance into the Syria theatre to regain diplomatic clout after isolation following its actions in Ukraine, with Putin meeting with Obama in New York on the sidelines of the UN general assembly meeting, and the latest attempt to send a negotiating group to Washington.

On the other hand, when the strategy has failed, Putin has not shied from going it alone, launching the air campaign in Syria just two days after his speech at the UN calling for a coalition, and giving the US just an hour’s notice, via diplomats in Baghdad.
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“I believe some of our partners simply have mush for brains,” Putin said, complaining that the US did not appear to have a firm set of goals in Syria.

In the balance for the US is the Iraqi government, which pivots between US and Iranian sponsorship. The Iraqi government of Haider Abadi, installed with the aid of the US last year, has begun flirting with the Russian-Iranian-Assad coalition in frustration with what it considers insufficient US support against Isis.

Iraq now hosts an intelligence fusion centre with Russian, Syrian and Iranian liaisons and reportedly has begun using situational awareness generated from the centre to bomb Isis positions.

Russia has said it would be willing to consider expanding its airstrikes to Iraq but only if it was asked to do so by Iraqi authorities.

The US has made clear it will not participate in the intelligence centre, out of concern that its Russian and Iranian adversaries would gain access to US information; the US maintains its own independent intelligence cell with the Iraqis. The Iraqi defence ministry has provided “assurances that our information will be appropriately protected”, Warren said on 1 October.

Meanwhile Carter said that he did not know if Putin would take “the opportunity to change course”.

“From the Kamchatka peninsula through south Asia, into the Caucasus and around to the Baltics, Russia has continued to wrap itself in a shroud of isolation. And only the Kremlin can decide to change that.”