Iraq & Syrian Civil Wars - Page 369

On August 07 2016 02:32 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
How do you lose a damn air Base that is located on hilltops overlooking then rebel positions. The SAA didn't dig in or even fortify positions. Which I guarantee Al-Nusra is doing right now.

The Syrian army recaptured military positions the rebels had stormed earlier on Saturday in southern Aleppo province in northern Syria, according to pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV and a military source.

pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV cited its reporter in Aleppo as confirming that the rebel were no longer in control of any part of the military colleges.

The TV also stated that the rebels could not take control over the al-Ramuseh town, whose control would enable them to break the government forces' siege on the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo.

Still, battles are still raging back and forth and the decisive results are yet to appear clearly.

On August 07 2016 02:54 xM(Z wrote:
- it's not an air base it's an artillery one: mortars, tanks, machine guns ... etc.
- allegedly, it started with some rebel suicide bombers exploding SAA checkpoints, then some tunnel collapses(no idea where but at check points/inside the base most likely).
- the rebels can cross over because there's a road there and it takes under 1 min to go from one rebel side to the other; the road is being sniped(snipers, shelling) by pro regime fighters.
- SOHR(occasionally biased) denies claims of siege being broken; claims heavy fighting going on.
- according to Lebanon's al-Mayadeen TV
- rebels claim they've broken the siege and there are people in Aleppo in the streets, celebrating.

i'd wait until the dust settles.

Edit: pro-rebel map/news
http://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2016/6-august-rebels-capture-ramoussah-cutting-off-west-aleppos
they need to do more to 'break it'.

On August 07 2016 05:18 RvB wrote:
Would the rebels be able to use the artillery if it didn't get destroyed or do you need special training to operate it? I can imagine artillery would be a huge asset in coming battles.

On August 07 2016 05:24 ImFromPortugal wrote:


The rebels are capable of operating different artillery systems

On August 07 2016 06:47 ggrrg wrote:


Which is probably irrelevant to the Aleppo situation, since the Russian bombers can destroy anything worthwhile in a matter of hours.

On August 07 2016 07:08 ImFromPortugal wrote:


if they could the siege would still be standing

On August 09 2016 23:59 WhiteDog wrote:
Possible picture of british special forces in Syrian frontline :

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/aug/09/pictures-appear-to-show-british-special-forces-on-syrian-front-line?CMP=fb_gu

According to a hard-hitting government task force report released Thursday, intelligence generated by the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) was manipulated to paint a rosier picture of the U.S. effort to combat ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

The report finds that, beginning in mid-2014, final intelligence reports issued by CENTCOM contradicted the initial internal assessments made by its own analysts, reports CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod.

"The facts on the ground didn't match what the intelligence was saying out of the United States Central Command," said Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., a member of the task force.

The task force stemmed from a whistleblower complaint from a senior analyst at CENTCOM alleging that intel had been manipulated. The complaint is under active investigation by the Defense Department inspector general.

"There's enormous evidence about how this information from talented career professionals inside the analytic arm at CENTCOM did their job and accurately depicted what was going on on the ground, but when it got to very senior levels, that information was changed," Pompeo said.

But it wasn't just classified intelligence. The task force also found that CENTCOM's public statements were far more positive than events on the ground warranted -- such as in March 2015 when CENTCOM Commander Gen. Lloyd Austin testified to Congress.

"The fact is that he [ISIS] can no longer do what he did at the outset, which is to seize and hold new territory. He has assumed a defensive crouch in Iraq," Gen. Austin said.

While the report found intelligence was in fact manipulated by CENTCOM, the task force found no evidence that orders for those changes came from the White House.

The German government believes that Turkey finances terrorist organisations such as Hamas and armed Islamist groups in Syria, a leaked document shows.

"The many expressions of solidarity and support actions by the ruling AKP and President Erdogan for the Egyptian MB (Muslim Brotherhood), Hamas and groups of armed Islamist opposition in Syria emphasise their ideological affinity with the (broader) Muslim Brotherhood,” the ministry of interior wrote in reply to a question by left-wing party Die Linke,

Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamic organisation in Egypt, which came to power following the Egyptian revolution in 2012 but was removed in a coup a year later.

It is considered a terrorist organisation by Egypt, but not by the EU and US.

Hamas is an Islamist militant group controlling the Gaza Strip, a section of Palestinian territory which lies between Israel and Egypt. It is considered a terrorist organisation by the EU and the United States.

The document also reportedly claims that Ankara has recently deepened its links with these groups, up to becoming "the central hub for Islamist groups in the Middle East region as a result of the gradually Islamicised domestic and foreign policy of Ankara since 2011”.

It also said that a fourth of German nationals who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State or other jihadist groups, the so-called foreign fighters, were of Turkish origin.

The ministry of interior had asked to keep the document secret.

Syrian regime jets pounded US-backed Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria for a second day on Friday, even after the US-led coalition scrambled jets to protect its military advisers working on the ground.

In another escalation of Syria’s conflict, warplanes from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime were bombarding the city of Hasakeh — targeting Kurdish forces that for months have worked closely with coalition military advisers helping local fighters combat the Islamic State group.

On Thursday, the US sent fighter jets to head off airstrikes conducted by regime planes and to protect coalition advisers, but the Syrian planes had left by the time they arrived.

It was apparently the first time the coalition had scrambled jets in response to a regime action and possibly the closest call yet in terms of Syrian forces coming close to killing US or coalition advisers.

“This was done as a measure to protect coalition forces,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said. “We will ensure their safety and the Syrian regime would be well advised not to do things that place them at risk... We view instances that place the coalition at risk with the utmost seriousness and we do have the inherent right of self-defense.”

However, the Pentagon warning appeared to fall on deaf ears.

Two Syrian regime warplanes attempted to fly to the area again on Friday, but were met by coalition aircraft, a US defense official said in a statement.

“The presence of the coalition aircraft encouraged the Syrian aircraft to depart the airspace without further incident,” he said.

“No weapons were fired by the coalition fighters,” the official added.

Most of Hasakeh city is controlled by Kurdish forces, while the rest is held by fighters loyal to al-Assad.

QAMISHLO, Syrian Kurdistan,— Syrian Kurdish militia have seized several positions from Assad government forces in the divided Kurdish city of Hasaka in Syrian Kurdistan [Rojava], a Kurdish official said on Friday, expanding their control in one of the heaviest clashes yet between Kurdish groups and the government.

The fighting this week led to the first use of Syrian air force jets against Kurdish groups that are a crucial ally of the United States in its fight against Islamic State insurgents. The government has not commented on the fighting.