Levant crisis - III

habal · Post by **habal** » 14 Jun 2016 08:51

South Front - US soldier found dead in Turkey's Adana

Thaddeus Mithcheel Berkowitz may have fallen or jumped from the 10th floor.

habal · Post by **habal** » 14 Jun 2016 08:52

Saudis Reportedly Funding 20% of Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign

by Stephen Lendman

Deep pockets buy enormous influence, Saudi ones among the deepest - used for fostering and proliferating state terrorism along with committing other high crimes.

According to a Middle East Eye (MEE) report, citing Jordan’s official Petra News Agency (PNA), based on comments attributable to Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, Riyadh is providing “20 percent of the total funding to the prospective Democratic (sic) candidate’s campaign.”

Saudis also donate generously to the Clinton Foundation, a racketeering operation masquerading as a charitable NGO, accepting tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments, organizations and individuals, benefitting greatly by selling influence.

US law prohibits foreign interests from funding US elections at the federal, state and local levels. Yet it’s done anyway covertly through shell companies and other devious means.

Jordan’s PNA report quoted prince Mohammed saying Riyadh provided an undisclosed amount of funding to the Clinton campaign.

“Saudi Arabia always has sponsored both the Republican and Democratic Party of America and in (the) current (US electoral campaign) provide(s) with full enthusiasm 20 percent of the cost of Hillary Clinton’s election even though some events in the country don’t have a positive look to support…a woman for presiden(t),” he reportedly said.

The PNA report was published on the eve of his official visit to Washington, the Saudi Press Agency saying he’s staying until June 16.

According to the Saudi Gazette, his schedule includes meetings in New York with Wall Street firms. Saudi ties to the Clinton are longstanding.

Read More Here:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2016/06/s ... 20-of.html

habal · Post by **habal** » 14 Jun 2016 08:57

Battle for Kabaneh

This is the 3rd day that the SAA and allies are storming Kabanah (Kabani) in Lattakia, after some pusj back yesterday by nusrats, the allies have double down and pushed further, they now control key hills such as 1154, 1112, jabal Zuwayqat and Juwayqat village. Could not locate the Syriatel hill though.

https://twitter.com/watanisy/status/742429989577035776

http://wikimapia.org/#lang=pt&lat=35.71 ... 2&z=16&m=b

The current position is very strong, though the allies have held them in the past and lost during a counter attack, should they hold strong overnight, they could storm Kabanah as early as tomorrow. The issue in battling Kabanah is the higher Jabal Barzah, it holds a very fortified position, overlooking all hills below it and the city itself, a sitting duck type of situation for the advancing troop.

A very strong coordination of CAS on Jabal Barzah and vicinity hills, coupled with artillery hell fire and ground advance is the only way forward, hopefully this time the allies will break through this terrorist deffenses, keep in mind, when Kabanah is liberated, the al Ghab will be at serious risk for all the rats, mostly Jisr, Frikka and all the villages nearby the Turkish border, this is a vital battle to hurt nusrats where it matters.

More confirmation on the very important advance in Kabanah, Lattakia. This report shows the SAA has 80% fire control of the city after the hills west and south of it are under completely control.
Gentle forumites, one can not stress more the importance of Kabanah, its liberation will have shock waves in the border with Turkey, most of Al Ghab plains and the Idlib Province corner that holds Jisr-Frikka-Areeha.

https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1/stat ... 2168742912

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Jun 2016 09:05

a Tu160 flyby to drop off a single glonass guided FOAB on the kabaneh city after a day of flyers warning everyone to leave or face the heat would be nice. its a fairly small place.

this must be the 9th or 10th attack and no conventional means has made a lasting impression. the marine commandos and mahgawir al bahr who won back most of Latakia are deployed for the tabqah offensive and their replacement NDF are greenhorn recruits in late teens with no combat exp...fit for light duty garrison , logistics, protecting rear areas....I am not very hopeful of these latest events.

its time to call in the big daddy.

habal · Post by **habal** » 14 Jun 2016 09:13

russians are for some reason dragging their feet in Aleppo. They are refusing to give proper CAS there, else this would have been solved a while back.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Jun 2016 09:21

+72 sir. they still hold out some hope the rest of rebels will separate from JN and arrive at some peaceful settlement in aleppo. or maybe a quid pro quo with the US to be quiet in aleppo not to interfere as the SAA retakes the vital oil and gas regions in the east. they however nightly burn villages in west and south aleppo with fire bombs to what effect is not sure - most are abandoned ruins.

aint gonna happen. rebels are attacking south aleppo jointly and so called "FSA" shells sheik maqsood kurds with hell cannons daily.
if anything they are morphing into new united formations like jaish al fatah and some caucasus emirate type coalition in Idlib which has sworn allegiance to the king of the hill - JN

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Jun 2016 09:27

its probably too big for the pencil slim fuselage of the bears though not in weight, so only the blackjack can haul it all the way out and drop off.

the bear is the one which dropped off the tsar bomba , so huge it hung half outside the fuselage...I can imagine the pilots' heartbeats after the drop....climbing hard, full throttle and uttering a prayer to the lord the blast is not unexpectedly large and engulfs them

Cthulhu arising from the depths...

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Jun 2016 11:17

as expected, the rodents have emerged from caves and outposts in East homs jub al arrah mountains and started to stir up trouble in the hilly area between the lines of advance to tabqah and palmyra.

https://media.almasdarnews.com/wp-conte ... 6/Jubb.jpg

time is running out for them to hike it back to Sukhnah or risk getting isolated and left behind. must be real die hards to be sitting on those bare mountains for months, surviving on rice, goats and lizard meat.

habal · Post by **habal** » 14 Jun 2016 11:32

maybe stirring out after confused signals from isis high command.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 14 Jun 2016 11:34

http://www.india.com/news/world/isis-ch ... a-1258158/

So Al-Baghdadi is dead now?

habal · Post by **habal** » 14 Jun 2016 11:48

so says syrian air force & SAA military intelligence.

RuAF striking Kafr hamra
https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1/stat ... 8372235265

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 14 Jun 2016 11:51

Singha wrote:must be real die hards to be sitting on those bare mountains for months, surviving on rice, goats and lizard meat.

why would they leave jannat?

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 14 Jun 2016 11:52

Yagnasri wrote:http://www.india.com/news/world/isis-ch ... a-1258158/

So Al-Baghdadi is dead now?

the guy has been killed many times but so far has managed to resurrect himself, without the cross.

Have to wait for some independent confirmation, like russian intelligence, perhaps??

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 14 Jun 2016 11:59

If this report is true, the timing is interesting. It might have been done to help HC to win in November.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Jun 2016 13:06

baghdadi cannot be dead - would be all over CNN and NYT by now if US intel had confirmed news.

habal · Post by **habal** » 14 Jun 2016 14:19

it can also then mean that russians could have killed him because then USA/NATO cannot claim credit for it. So if they are quiet then ..

also bagdaddy is well a NATO asset, by corollary isis is a culinary creation. Until now they were just claiming credit after taking out his doubles. And then isis brings out a video showing bagdaddy eating kababs in mosul, all izz well. Their interest lies in creating larger than life figures out of ordinary isis charsis. How can they claim credit if their asset is killed ? ofcourse they can, but first they have to overcome their setback first.

habal · Post by **habal** » 14 Jun 2016 14:45

Al-Amaq has just confirmed that bagdaddy has been killed. Al-Amaq is affiliated to ISIS.
but it has claimed that USA airstrike was the cause.

Do a google search now, the news is slowly breaking out.

Atulya P · Post by **Atulya P** » 14 Jun 2016 15:12

Yes, its spreading. Couldn't see any US links yet. Conflicting reports - Killed in Raqqa/Mosul/en-route Karbala; Killed by US strike/Iraqi Air strike/RAF? Nothing on RT as well.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 15 Jun 2016 00:21

BagDaddy seems to have more lives than Al Qaeda #3 and St. Thomas and a cat put together.

habal · Post by **habal** » 15 Jun 2016 06:49

btw russians have hacked into clinton's email private servers and are threatening to release them to public if she doesn't release it first.

gakakkad · Post by **gakakkad** » 15 Jun 2016 07:30

habal wrote:Al-Amaq has just confirmed that bagdaddy has been killed. Al-Amaq is affiliated to ISIS.
but it has claimed that USA airstrike was the cause.

Do a google search now, the news is slowly breaking out.

how does he know whether a rossie or a yanky bum killed bag-daddy?

habal · Post by **habal** » 15 Jun 2016 07:36

because syrian af and ruaf were doing bombing runs over raqqa. usaf is supposed to be bombing isis hubcaps in aleppo.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Jun 2016 08:39

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha 18h18 hours ago
According to al-Mayadeen, German Special Forces units are assisting #SDF at #Manbij, US & French advisors are already deployed there

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Jun 2016 08:40

iraq continues massing army units near mosul, another brigade moves north
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ck5zCglUgAEimKa.jpg

PMU has also confirmed some of their units will be taking part in the upcoming liberation of mosul

problem is the civilians of mosul were very IS-pasand and loudly cheered the takeover, so many might take up arms to aid ISIS and cause a bloodbath

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Jun 2016 08:51

FSA/nusra captagon candies seized by govt on homs damascus highway -
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ck6qPB7WYAACLmM.jpg

habal · Post by **habal** » 15 Jun 2016 09:35

an article that analyses obama's support for soft islamism and up's and down's of his relationship with turdogan

Obama’s Muslim Brotherhood Strategy, the ‘War’ Against Jihadism, and Russia’s Syria Intervention,

Part 3: Obama’s America and Erdogan’s Turkey

https://gordonhahn.com/2016/04/03/obama ... ns-turkey/

U.S.-Turkish relations in the Obama and Erdogan eras got off to a good start. The two were characterized to be on “friendly” terms. Again, this was likely a function of, or at least facilitated by Obama’s sympathy for moderate Islamic elements. In 2011—the year of Egypt’s MB-led January revolution—Obama spoke to Erdogan by phone at least nine times – more than with any national leader other than those of the United Kingdom and Germany. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2 ... /16244155/). In November of that year, The Washington Post called the Obama-Erdogan relationship “the best relationship between a U.S. president and a Turkish prime minister in decades” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ ... story.html).

By 2013, with the MB regime’s demise, U.S.-Turkish relations were on the skids. However, with the deepening of the Syrian civil war and IS crises in Iraq, Turkey moved to the vanguard in Obama’s policy of supporting the MB and other Islamists’ and jihadists’ opposition to Assad. To be sure, the relationship felt strain over issues related to Turkey’s increasingly dysfunctional democracy and domestic politics, including by Erdogan’s crackdowns on freedom of speech and media and the U.S. refusal to extradite opposition religious leader Fetullah Gulen wanted to stand trial in Turkey. According to some, Turkey’s antagonism of Israel in the form of ‘humanitarian’ flotillas to the Palestinians also contributed to tensions, but the Obama administration itself has been no laggard in antagonizing Israel not least by backing the MB revolution in Egypt. Relations deteriorated further when in October 2014 a divergence of interests emerged over strategy in fighting the Islamic State (ISIS or IS or Daesh), which now threatened to seize the northern Iraqi city of Kobani. Washington flew in supplies to the Kurdish PYD defending the city—an action strongly condemned by Ankara. In response, Washington complained that the supply of the PYD would not have been necessary if Turkish forces granted the Kurdish peshmerga free passage to Kobani to reinforce anti-IS forces. Nevertheless, Erdogan was able to trade on Turkey’s overall highly supportive role in Syria against Assad and Washington’s failure in Egypt and keep relations stable. if not garner concessions by Washington regarding its domestic dilemmas. In short, Erdogan’s strong efforts in support of the Syrian MB and against Assad kept the relationship afloat despite disagreements over the Kurds. What was the nature of Erdogan’s efforts that so endeared him to the Obama administration? How central were they to the Obama administration’s foreign policy objectives?

Turkey and the MB

The answer is simple: Turkey became pivotal for the Obama administration’s ‘Arab Spring’ policy and MB strategy. As the Washington Post noted. According to a Washington Post account, except for a dustup over a 2010 Turkish vote in the UN against US-backed sanctions against Iran, Obama and Erdogan “frequently agree on policy” and enjoy a “consensus on the Arab Spring,” adding: “Turkey’s statements on the uprisings in Middle Eastern and North African nations pushed Obama to appreciate Turkey — a large, Muslim NATO member that uniquely satisfies Obama’s quest to find powerful allies that have a majority-Muslim population and are happy to work with the United States.” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ ... story.html). Obama’s quest for powerful Muslim allies through his MB strategy could be advanced by Ankara’s long-standing ties to the MB. As a result, Washington and Ankara would cooperate closely in Syria until IS, Iraq, and Russia threw a monkey wrench into the operations.

The MB’s association with Turkey started in the 1960s, when it developed ties with Necmettin Erbakan, who laid out his ideology in 1969 booklet ‘Milli Gorus’ (The National View) proposing the idea of a pan-Muslim unity. In thus way, Erbakan’s view resembled the MB’s orientation around the idea of an ‘Islamic nation.’ Erbakan founded an eponymous organization, which de facto was the MB’s Turkish branch and had today’s president Erdogan as a member. After the 1980 coup, the military banned Erbakan and his party from politics, but he subsequently created a series of Islamic parties.

As Prime Minister in 1996-97, Erbakan initiated creation of the ‘D-8’ group of developing countries; all of them majority Islamic, including the MB’s homeland of Egypt. Erbakan backed a growing Islamization of Turkey and thus in 1997 was forced to resign from the premiership under pressure from the military. Throughout this period, Erbakan and others developed close ties with the MB in Egypt and Syria, and Turkey took in hundreds of Egyptian and Syrian MB members seeking refuge from the Mubarak and Assad regimes, respectively. At the same time, his successors would gradually improve relations with those same regimes. In 1998, Erbakan’s Welfare Party was banned by the constitutional court for violating the principle of the separation of religion and state.

Erdogan, an Erbakan follower, has followed his path of leading Islamic parties. Given their close relations and the compatibility between their ideologies and strategies, Erdogan’s JDP is considered by many to be a Muslim Brotherhood faction. The JDP ideology’s main tenets are explicitly secular, but its policy preferences play into certain aspects of an implicit Islamic, even Islamist orientation. The fact is that Turkey’s constitutional secularism requires any Islamic or Islamist parties to avoid crossing the threshold of perception that its agenda is more religious than secular. The JDP is seen by one analyst as a more successful effort to not cross that line in the wake of the four failed attempts by Erbakan, Erdogan’s mentor (http://www.brookings.edu/research/paper ... l-taspinar).

Whether the party is predominantly Islamist or secular has been a central debate in Turkish politics since the JDP’s founding in August 2001. The party consists of a coaltion of socially conservative factions in Turkish society, including Islamists and reform Islamists as well as more secular conservatives, nationalists, and business interests. The policies of Eerdogan and the JDP when in power began to fuel charges that the JDP has a hidden Islamist agenda. Erdoğan’sill-fated, short-lived attempt to criminalize adultery in 2004 and subsequent efforts to discourage the sale of alcohol did more than raise eyebrows. His appointment of religious conservatives to the bureaucracy raised more concerns. In 2006-2008, the AKP sought to desecularize certain aspects of education, pushing an end to the ban on women wearing the Islamic headscarves (hijab) in universities and terminating special requirements for graduation exams in Islamic high schools. When in 2007 Erdoğan announced his plan to nominate his equally Islamic-oreinted Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül to the presidency, the military stepped in on behalf of the secularist opposition threatening a coup by way of an ‘e-coup’ or warning on its website that it took seriously its constitutional role as “the absolute defenders of secularism.” Erdogan called the generals’ bluff, called new elections, and won a near JDP majority (47 percent compared with 34 percent in the previous elections). Forming a coalition easily, Erdogan appointed Gul to the presidency. Turkey’s economic boom led to further electoral victories. In 2008, the state prosecutor nearly succeeded in getting the high court to ban the JDP. When faced with mass resignations in by the military’s high command in 2011, Edogan carried out mass arrests of generals on charges of planning a coup and dozens of top generals were imprisoned. The main guarantor of the separation of Islam and state had been sidelined as a force in Turkish politics, permitting Erdogan to implement many of his Islamic policies (such as the hijab ban) and develop closer ties to the MB.

Read More Here:
https://gordonhahn.com/2016/04/03/obama ... ns-turkey/

habal · Post by **habal** » 15 Jun 2016 09:53

the flow of refugees heading out of raqqa is now turning into a deluge.

5000 people have just left raqqa, headed towards Al-Mawsil in northern Iraq.

head of ISIS treasury, a saudi named hatim al-utaybi has flown out of raqqa with the treasure of gold, payroll monies & loot.

the news of the caliph's death has left many terrorists with sour stomach and convoys of trucks have been seen carrying stolen furniture, mattresses, collectibles, suitcases leaving the western side of the city.

outside the tabqa airbase, isis defenders have been spotted packing up and seen leaving across the river using row boats and rafts.

news of baghdadi's death and no possible remuneration in future has knocked the wind out of the sails of these charsis, and numerous communications intercepts have been shown them to be totally demoralized. incapable of mounting a defense or even damaging airbase infra.

SAA will assault the base today and they will hardly meet with any resistance.

habal · Post by **habal** » 15 Jun 2016 10:11

after France, UK, USA, now Germany is going to set up a platoon-level base in Northern Syria.

the gameplan here is clear. They want to create an independent Northern Syria and prevent takeover of Northern Syria by SAA.

" Germany Deploys Troops in Northern Syria "

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950325001339

USA/UK/NATO/Israel axis of evil will now shortly declare a de-facto partition of the northern syria into an independent kurdistan and maybe even declare a 'no-fly-zone' over it.

russians are complicit in this.

So SAA & Syrians do all the fighting, and the Kurds just walk away with a good chunk of Syria and take that wealth with them. And these Kurds are not even proper residents, they are just refugees flitting between their lands in Iraq and Eastern Turkey.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Jun 2016 10:39

looking at the map there are however, not many oil-gas fields in rojava areas except some small ones near hasakah town.

the meat of it is in eastern homs (palmyra) , western raqqa (which SAA tabqa offensive will soon secure) and around deir azzor (which perhaps explains why SAA is defending it at all costs + shia crescent linkage to iraq avoiding rojava)

Assad , even with rojava formation will end up with 90% of syrian oil and gas to pay for the reconstruction.
perhaps the Russians see more value in a rojava to function as a "pakistan" of sorts for the PKK to operate inside turkey then slip back across the open borders....and turkey will not be able to attack rojava the way they can assad due to nato munna protective shield ? (hence this might explain the desperation to hold on and expand the azaz pocket using its green army the JN and Shams front) . from russian pov, assad / alawis / coastal syrians in control of 90% of the populated areas, 90% of the oil and gas, secure naval and air base for themselves and a permanent monkey (rojava) on turkeys back might look a better option than another civil war between rojava vs SAA. they are still holding out hope the Idlib and aleppo countryside militias might agree to stop the war after the ISIS defeat, negotiate some power sharing and co-exist with the regime rather than carrying on the endless civil war.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Jun 2016 10:46

while kirkuk-erbil region offers NATO a strategic base to "keep an eye on iran" and "control the shia baghdad regime" , the rojava imo offers no great additional benefit they do not already have in iraq, if they are quietly supporting the idea, can only mean its going to be a lever to control turkey from meddling again south of its border. so in that sense Rus-Amrika could be very much aligned in their assessment of the value proposition and ROI. and assad alone can never pursue another civil war with the kurds next - he will be dethroned by his elites and army who are already exhausted from years of brutal civil war. so he can rant from the pulpit about taking back every inch of syria, but imo that bird has flown the coop and is not returning. he would be well advised to recognize rojava and pursue cordial relations on all fronts. this will also be his ultimate revenge on erdogan and at very low cost to himself.

Rus is probably in process or has already convinced iran and assad to take whats on the table as a good deal and not push into another cycle of civil war. the YPG kurds already have a consulate in moscow , so their track2 is surely on.

habal · Post by **habal** » 15 Jun 2016 10:52

ok, then what is the russian excuse in southern aleppo,
totally absent from the theatre.

Minutes ago, the jihadist rebels from J.A.N and their Islamist allies captured the village of Zeitan in southern Aleppo after short battle with the pro-government forces. In addition to capturing Zeitan in southern Aleppo, the jihadist rebels are also advancing inside the village of Khalsah, where they are currently involved in a fierce battle with the National Defense Forces (NDF), IRGC, and Iraqi paramilitaries.

According to a local source, the Russian Air Force is once again absent from the battle in southern Aleppo, despite the latest meeting between the latter’s defense minister and his Iranian counterpart.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/ji ... rn-aleppo/

habal · Post by **habal** » 15 Jun 2016 10:57

East Ghouta saw again some large scale battles today, the allied forces advanced deep inside Jisreen, still not clear whether all of the city was liberated or not, we will know more tomorrow.

http://wikimapia.org/#lang=pt&lat=33.50 ... 32/Jisreen

On the same day, NE of East Ghouta, the fight was on west of Hash al Farah. With the may road cut off, Mayda'a will be in a very delicate position for the terrorists to defend, expect action there very soon.

https://twitter.com/islamicworldupd/sta ... 0892197890

http://wikimapia.org/#lang=pt&lat=33.56 ... 6&z=14&m=b

Another area that will suffer consequences due to the liberation of most of the farmlands west of Hash al Farah is Tall Kurdi, this is a vital terrorist held area, its position on the top of the hill controls a lot of strategic points in that part of the northern section of east Ghouta, bringing terrorist attacks to the main Damasus-Homs highway, to Adra etc...all the roads going up to tal Kurdi are under fire control or about to be, so this is going to be a hot spot for battles in the up coming weeks. Worth recalling that Tal Kurdi has seen very ugly scenes in the past few months, one of them was that poorly prepared offensive by NDF that sent some 40 soldiers to their death due to poor leadership decisions, the terrorists filmed it all bragging for weeks on this unfortunate event. Any battle to take Tell Kurdi will be ugly, it is getting near to happen.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 15 Jun 2016 11:10

Then the killing of top boss done is to complete the "win" on ISIS and "Mission Accomplished" drama for Obomber with HC joining him in taking the glory.

As I posted before the killing of the top boss was timed well to get domestic political mileage. "Wag the dog" in reverse.

habal · Post by **habal** » 15 Jun 2016 11:21

but he was not killed by USA/NATO/Obomber/Hillary. They managed to do a bombing injuring him in mosul, and he barely managed to escape to syria and was recuperating in raqqa where he was supposed to be finally killed in a SyAF air strike.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Jun 2016 12:54

31km from sukhanah through mostly empty desert...all a matter of finding the people and logistics ...
if sukhanah falls, not only will the oil and gas fields be secure in that region, but the road to deir azzor will finally be open..albeit still 150km out (it really is in middle of nowhere)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Jun 2016 12:59

turks have taken to shooting dead horses and mules in kurdish villages to deprive villagers of transport and draught animals
ie depopulate and resettle some uighurs and other jihadi homeless probably

https://twitter.com/Furiouskurd/status/ ... 4795500544

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 15 Jun 2016 16:36

Kerry said that the US patience with Syria ends

MOSCOW, June 15 -. RIA Novosti US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Russia that the US patience with the Syrian conflict and President Bashar al-Assad is over, the agency France Presse .

"Russia needs to understand that our patience is not infinite, in fact it is very limited to whether Assad brought to justice", - quotes agency the words of Kerry.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 15 Jun 2016 16:51

Lavrov: Russian operation in Syria ruined extremists’ plans to create foothold in region

More:
http://tass.ru/en/politics/882079

MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. The Russian Aerospace Forces by their operation in Syria frustrated the extremists’ plans to create a foothold in the Middle East, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday at the government hour at the State Duma lower house of parliament.

According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin put forward an initiative at the UN in September 2015 to create a broad antiterrorist front based on international law under the UN aegis. "In support of this initiative, our Aerospace Forces present in Syria at the request of the country’s authorities, together with the Syrian government troops and militias frustrated the extremists’ designs to create footholds in the strategically important Middle East region," Lavrov said.

According to him, "It took the Western partners some time to realize the seriousness of challenges of the Islamic State (IS) Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations (outlawed in Russia) and the need to coordinate their efforts with us. "Nevertheless, we have managed to advance in organizing the practical work," the Russian foreign minister said. "Russia and the United States have formed the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the United Nations have made decisions to approve a comprehensive plan that includes the tasks to stop hostilities, ensure humanitarian access to the suffering population in blocked areas, promote the political settlement process without preconditions and without any outside interference."

"Russia will continue to pursue proactive, independent, responsible policies, based on the rule of international law and collective methods of solving international problems with the central role of the UN.".

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Jun 2016 20:09

the small russian air detachment in syria cannot cover aleppo much beyond what they are doing. mostly they are busy in the east in day. At night they bomb jn towns near allepo but rats have good tunnels so cluster and incendiary have no effect

the iranians need to bring in one of their own squadrons and make a play

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Jun 2016 20:56

Issam zahreddine was shot in shoulder. He is recovering. Family member visited him and writes...

https://mobile.twitter.com/IvanSidorenk ... 28/photo/1