Syrian War: News #17

SeigSoloyvov wrote:Tisk tisk Assad allowing the turks to dig in and set up checks points along Idlib, now anymore advances in that area will have to be over dead turkish soldiers.

JohninMK wrote:Chain of events by the look of it


After looting machinery from Aleppo's industries, archaeological treasures, even railway tracks,  HTS (al-Nusra/Al-Qaida) fighters now steal damaged aircraft from #Taftanaz base #Idlib for sale in Turkey.

#Breaking

Russian/Saa jets hit Taftanaz airport which is said to be new observation point for Turkish army.[/i]

GunshipDemocracy wrote:

JohninMK wrote:.............
#Breaking

Russian/Saa jets hit Taftanaz airport which is said to be new observation point for Turkish army.[/i]

There is no way Russians targeted Turks if it was official location  not "white helmets" or "civilian opposition"

PapaDragon wrote:

GunshipDemocracy wrote:

JohninMK wrote:.............
#Breaking

Russian/Saa jets hit Taftanaz airport which is said to be new observation point for Turkish army.[/i]

There is no way Russians targeted Turks if it was official location  not "white helmets" or "civilian opposition"

Turks either left or never bothered unpacking

kvs wrote:

par far wrote:This article will shed some light on why Israel is bombing "Iranian targets in Syria"(at least one of the reasons why Israel is doing it) and this article also explains why Russia will be heavily involved in Lebanon(Russia needs to be in on this.)

I did not know that there was so much oil and gas in Lebanon's waters.

"Will Lebanon be the Next Energy War?"

https://www.globalresearch.ca/will-lebanon-be-the-next-energy-war/5629332


What I found the most interesting thing in the article.


"The dramatic escalation of Israeli attacks on Damascus and the Syrian shooting down of an Israeli F-16 jet, the first since 1982, and the disproportionate Israeli response against Syrian targets suggest how explosive the entire region is. As Ghassan Kadi writing for the Saker Blog recently notes in an excellent analysis of the situation in the region,

“The recent escalation between Syria and Israel is not a prelude for a bigger war. Nobody wants a war; not right now, as they are all aware of the damage that can be inflicted upon them. Israel keeps testing the waters, testing Syria’s air defense capabilities, and above all, testing Russia’s resolve and determination to create a true balance of power in the Middle East.”

As of this writing it appears as if Israel used the pretext of alleged Iranian drone incursion and the shooting of an Israeli F-16, something denied by Syria, to launch test probes of possible Russian and Iranian response going forward.

If Russia is able to contain these forces from an all-out war is not yet clear. The Russian decision to sign a military cooperation agreement with Lebanon at the same time a leading Russian energy company wins rights to drill for oil and gas offshore Lebanon is no spur-of-the-moment decision. It is a calculated chess move in one of the most entangled lands of the world. For the good of mankind let us hope it succeeds in restraining the war interests."

The bombing in Deir ez-Zor is probably to test Russian response going forward.

I don't know what these idiots are expecting.   They are totally clueless about Russia's true military capacity (thanks to their rabid wishful
thinking and projection).   If Syria can shoot down an Israeli jet with ancient Soviet equipment, Russia's forces in Syria can clean the sky of all American invader aviation.

As for Lebanon, it is a vital component the shield Russia is helping establish against the Wahabbi hordes being raised by the Saudis.   Lebanon-Syria-Iraq-Iran and eventually Afghanistan will crimp the Wahabbi attempts to penetrate north into Central Asia and into Russia.

par far wrote:

This article will shed some light on why Israel is bombing "Iranian targets in Syria"(at least one of the reasons why Israel is doing it) and this article also explains why Russia will be heavily involved in Lebanon(Russia needs to be in on this.)


As of this writing it appears as if Israel used the pretext of alleged Iranian drone incursion and the shooting of an Israeli F-16, something denied by Syria, to launch test probes of possible Russian and Iranian response going forward.

.

and the shooting of an Israeli F-16, something denied by Syria,

A Briton defending the Syrian Kurdish city of Afrin has told how he survived two weeks of bombardment by Turkish forces but admitted that his comrades have little hope of final victory.

Huang Lei, a British-Chinese fighter in the Kurdish YPG militia, is one of five Britons who volunteered to defend the Afrin pocket against the Turks and their Arab allies.

He said that all escaped the first round of fighting unscathed along with 15 other “foreign fighters”. He admitted, however, that they were doomed due to the overwhelming strength of the Turkish army against the few thousand Kurdish and allied defenders.

During a three-day break he said: “Right now the tactic is just to keep bombing us daily . . . night-time bombing too.

“I really doubt we can hold off the Turkish troops. They have tanks, they have APCs [armoured personnel carriers]. They have jets, they have satellites. They are a big country, a war machine. In time, slowly, they will definitely win one day . . . but me and my group will hold our ground.”

The Syrian war has become a multi-sided conflict after starting as a battle between the Assad regime and a coalition of liberal protesters, defected soldiers and Islamists. Foreign forces have been sucked in, along with volunteers from around the world.

The emergence of Islamic State attracted fighters from the West, both to fight for its extremist cause and to fight against it.

Mr Huang, 24, is one of a score of British fighters in the ranks of the YPG and the umbrella group it leads, the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is being supported against Isis by British and American special forces and air power.

The YPG is also fighting Turkey. It is the Syrian branch of the PKK, the Kurdish guerrilla force that has waged an insurgency against Turkey for four decades. Ankara is determined to prevent it setting up an autonomous semi-state on the border and is furious that it is receiving finance and weapons from Turkey’s Nato allies.

Nurettin Canikli, the Turkish defence minister, met James Mattis, his US counterpart, and other Nato leaders yesterday. After the meeting Mr Canikli said: “We demanded this relationship be ended. We want them to end all the support.”

In Afrin, however, Mr Huang insisted that the Turks, not the YPG, were the terrorists. He repeated claims that the Turks’ local allies contained former fighters for Isis, also known as Da’esh. “They have all got Da’esh beards, even if they wear Turkish uniforms,” he said.

Mr Huang said the YPG were a match for the Turks’ Free Syrian Army allies but the Arab fighters had been trained to call in strikes for Turkish artillery. “We get a lot of mortars, artillery, aircraft strikes,” he said. “Sometimes the infantry comes over the mountain to observe the city, call in artillery.”

Mr Huang was born in China but moved to Britain as a teenager and studied in Manchester. He said he had been fighting in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria for three years.

He said he was proud to be helping to keep Britain safe from terrorism and was baffled why people referred to the Kurds as the terrorists. “A few days ago we were ready to go to Deir Ezzor to fight against Da’esh,” he said. “Then the Turks invaded and called us terrorists! What the hell? We were fighting terrorists.”

Mr Huang said he was preparing to return to the front. “We can’t win this war,” he said. “But at least we want to do as much as we can to stop this war . . . to stop the bombing at least.”

PapaDragon wrote:
Kurds and their fanboys tasting bitter fruits of reality

Big_Gazza wrote:

PapaDragon wrote:
I need another bowl of popcorn...

whaaa?  you meant Foster right?

It is necessary to agree on this issue, stressed the head of the Duma committee on defense

MOSCOW, February 16. / TASS /. The city of Afrin, the entry of troops into which the Syrian government had previously declared, is in the sphere of Turkey's interests, which must be taken into account.

This opinion was voiced on Friday by the head of the State Duma Defense Committee, former commander of the Airborne Forces Vladimir Shamanov.
"This is the responsibility of Turkey: in such situations, it is necessary to connect the mechanism of co-beneficiaries: it's Russia and Iran, we need to sit down and negotiate," he said. "It's impossible not to recognize Turkish interests in Africa, they really exist, so we need to negotiate," Shamanov is sure.

Earlier, Al Maydeen reported that the Syrian government and the Kurdish forces of the "People's Self-Defense Forces" (SNA) have reached an agreement on the deployment of military units of the republic in the Afrin region. According to the sources of the channel, Damascus agreed with the SNA on the introduction of Syrian troops to repel an attack by Turkey in the area of ​​Afrina. Official comment from Damascus has not yet been received.

The General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces announced on January 20 the launch of Operation Olive Branch against the SNA troops (part of the armed forces of the Forces of Democratic Syria) and the Democratic Union in Africa, home to about 1.5 million Kurds and refugees from other areas of Syria . These organizations Ankara considers terrorist.

Подробнее на ТАСС:
http://tass.ru/politika/4964853

Walther von Oldenburg wrote:The convoy heading to East Famascus is reported as the largest SAA convoy ever assembled - hundreds of vehicles including at least several dozen tanks.

Hannibal Barca wrote:Reality check for the Turks. Big mouth, but fighting performance very mediocre. Many foreign capitals took notice, including Moscow. It is the second biggest standing army of NATO after all.

GunshipDemocracy wrote:Well now we can see that Vova and Recep already set the course now is just business as usual.

Shamanov: it's impossible not to recognize Turkish interests in Afrin

It is necessary to agree on this issue, stressed the head of the Duma committee on defense

MOSCOW, February 16. / TASS /. The city of Afrin, the entry of troops into which the Syrian government had previously declared, is in the sphere of Turkey's interests, which must be taken into account.

This opinion was voiced on Friday by the head of the State Duma Defense Committee, former commander of the Airborne Forces Vladimir Shamanov.
"This is the responsibility of Turkey: in such situations, it is necessary to connect the mechanism of co-beneficiaries: it's Russia and Iran, we need to sit down and negotiate," he said. "It's impossible not to recognize Turkish interests in Africa, they really exist, so we need to negotiate," Shamanov is sure.

Earlier, Al Maydeen reported that the Syrian government and the Kurdish forces of the "People's Self-Defense Forces" (SNA) have reached an agreement on the deployment of military units of the republic in the Afrin region. According to the sources of the channel, Damascus agreed with the SNA on the introduction of Syrian troops to repel an attack by Turkey in the area of ​​Afrina. Official comment from Damascus has not yet been received.

The General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces announced on January 20 the launch of Operation Olive Branch against the SNA troops (part of the armed forces of the Forces of Democratic Syria) and the Democratic Union in Africa, home to about 1.5 million Kurds and refugees from other areas of Syria . These organizations Ankara considers terrorist.

Подробнее на ТАСС:
http://tass.ru/politika/4964853

JohninMK wrote:

Walther von Oldenburg wrote:The convoy heading to East Famascus is reported as the largest SAA convoy ever assembled - hundreds of vehicles including at least several dozen tanks.

Yes, someone has decided that enough is enough. Idlib can wait.