Syria in 2016 (January-March)

[OUTLAW 09]

Palmyra Update..............

IS has completely withdrawn from Palmyra.....Assad/Hezballoh/IRGC now control the remaining ruins.....

تنسيقية مدينة تدمر
‏@PalmyraRev1
#هام #تدمر #Palmyra ::
العصابات الشيعية والروسية والإيرانية تسيطر الآن على المدينة بالكامل بعد انسحاب تنظيم داعش منها.


Not so sure that Assad and Putin realized that IS has sucked them into a war of attrition........

Several of the regime forces and militias including 3 officers, were killed at the outskirts of Tadmur archeological site by Daesh rocket shellings after withdrawing fromthe town towards Sakhne, Tybe, Al Kowm and AlHyl oild field.

Daesh destroyed as well 3 regime military engines with guided missiles in Jabal Tar neighborhood at the west of Tadmur as 2 regime spots with two carbombs, according to Amaq.

Clashes happened at the eastern entrance in the town, along with russian air attacks on the 3rd plants, on Sakhne and outskirts.

Daesh is mostly based in the orchard area, the military airport and town jail, northern Jamiya and the eastern entrance of the town.

[OUTLAW 09]

Israel former intelligence chief: SAA is no more a threat to us because he used 90% of this missiles against opposition
http://fb.me/7PrD9stpf



[OUTLAW 09]

National Ideological Resistance (#Syria-n Hezbollah) among the forces that have taken Palmyra
https://justpaste.it/muqawamawataniyatadmur27march …

Russian airstrikes vs. IS. Remains true most airstrikes against rebels. Once just north of Aleppo city,IS thus gained ground from rebels

But Russian-backed campaign to break siege of Kweiris airbase inadvertently took pressure off rebels in far north Aleppo countryside vs.IS

This is why IS didn't really gain ground after sieges of Nubl and Zahara' broken while SDF took ground west and south of Azaz.

Meanwhile since 'withdrawal', Palmyra subjected to huge bombardment campaign over some weeks. Combined w/ ground manpower, Palmyra retaken.

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.....what do you think???

Assad already has no real interest in Geneva talks & transition. His victory in Palmyra removes any reason for him to discuss political change.

If Geneva fails & even if ISIS faces more defeats, a 100,000 strong opposition + Al-Qaeda (c. 10,000) will remain & they’ll fight for yrs.

So in fact Putin has allowed himself to be boxed in by both Assad and Iran....as Putin has now gone on recorded that he will not physically throw out Assad for at least 18 months...Assad says he will stay though....

Assad defeat of ISIS in Palmyra is a two-fold victory:
- Justifies regime CT role
- Weaken political process (0 appetite for transition)

Russia will now work to have it appear that the so called victory was all the doing of Assad....not the RuAF and the Shia mercenaries.....

Putin congratulates Assad on liberating Palmyra
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/world/Putin-congratulates-Assad-on-liberating-Palmyra/shdaily.shtml …?

What an interesting turn of events......

[OUTLAW 09]

Dmitri Smirnov: Putin orders Shoigu to help to de-mine Palmyra: i.e. our troops will be legally at a strategic point https://twitter.com/dimsmirnov175/status/714124162823008256 …

Battle for Palmyra was all about the war of position in Syria, not fighting ISIS.

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad army drop leaflets on north #Homs villages: join Assad army or go to jail for 15 yrs.
https://youtu.be/PcSxjrXZ9qk

Aftermath car-bomb targeted #Samada #Idlib.

At least 5 dead & many wounded in a car bomb explosion in Sarmada near the Turkish border in rural #Idlib, #Syria
http://youtu.be/ADH77BiSexk

Again today several Assad airstrikes targeted Uqayribat in north rural #Hama, #Syria

ISIS offshoot Harakat al-Muthana commander Abu Omar Mandi has been killed by rebels during clashes in west rural #Daraa, #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad’s #Palmyra strategy: Give town to #ISIS for a year, call in Russian airstrikes & Iranian terrorists, retake destroyed town. Victory!

[OUTLAW 09]

Palmyra Update........

PalmyraRev1
Syrian regime forces and militias sustain at least 30 deaths after A car bomb hit a convoy on the outskirts of #Palmyra Airbase. 18:00

The deaths of more than fifty Shiite guerrilla element due to the
Daash organization blew up three booby-trapped cars, ...

[OUTLAW 09]

Vesti.Ru: Zakharova: Diplomacy in combination with bombing works miracles.
https://twitter.com/vesti_news/status/714124918561107968 …

Queue for the Kremlin" RUS TV boasts that so many "high profile guests" come to meet Putin (eg Kerry, Steinmeier)

Russian info war hard at work.......

RUS TV. "Terror in Europe". Anchor: "1st Paris. Now Brussels. How many more before we work together to change world"

[OUTLAW 09]

After #BrusselsAttacks (and now #Palmyra), don't forget Assad's role in building the Islamic State up this far.
http://mme.cm/Q3AW00

[OUTLAW 09]

In Bala, E Ghouta clashes continue bet. JaI rebels & Assad forces/militias who almost everyday are trying to advance

Amazing Stamina by #JaI..
Assad is throwing wave after wave of shia mercs at #Ghouta.

Russian TOS-1A, Palmyra :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbDITajGEk …

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/27/syrian-regime-forces-retake-all-of-palmyra-from-isis

Assad hails Syrian regime's capture of Palmyra from Isis


The Syrian and Russian governments have hailed their recapture of the ancient oasis city of Palmyra from Islamic State, ending a 10-month ordeal that saw the destruction of some of the historic site’s most famed monuments.

The battle for the city is the latest in a string of defeats for Isis, now in retreat across Syria and Iraq, where it once controlled vast tracts of territory: nearly half of Syria and the desert plains of Nineveh and most of Anbar in Iraq.

Palmyra’s reclamation by Assad’s army, after weeks of intense combat, was aided by some of the heaviest Russian airstrikes since Moscow launched its military intervention last autumn. It is also a significant morale boost for the embattled Syrian strongman as well as the Kremlin.

“The liberation of the historic city of Tadmur (Palmyra) today is an important achievement and is evidence of the efficacy of the strategy adopted by the Syrian army and its allies in the war on terrorism,” Assad told a French delegation in Damascus.

A televised statement by the Syrian military said it had established full control over Palmyra, which was conquered by Isis last May. “We have restored security and stability to the city of Palmyra, and established full control on the surrounding, commanding hills,” the Syrian military said in its statement.

State TV said troops were working on clearing mines from the town and its monuments, where numerous booby traps were laid down by the militants before their retreat.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, congratulated Assad on the victory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Sunday. “Assad highly valued the help Russian air forces have provided and underlined that such successes as regaining Palmyra would have been impossible without Russia’s support,” he told the Tass news agency.

Russia has long insisted that it sought to fight terrorist groups through its intervention in Syria, when in reality its attacks have predominantly targeted mainstream opposition groups battling to overthrow the Syrian president.

But the victory in Palmyra is likely to boost the Kremlin’s campaign, which has always portrayed the Syrian leader, whose violent response to protests sparked the creation of an armed opposition, as an effective force in fighting terrorism.

“Our army, in cooperation with its friends, is the only effective force able to fight and eliminate terrorism,” the Syrian military said in its statement after securing Palmyra.

The fall of the city to Isis gained worldwide attention as it hosts some of the most well-preserved ruins of antiquity. Isis destroyed the iconic temples of Bel and Baalshamin as well as the Arch of Triumph, looting graves and using the amphitheatre to stage executions.

Palmyra’s contemporary strategic importance lies in its location in central Syria; while under Isis’s control, it was a gateway to threaten the more densely populated government-held provinces to the west, including Homs and Damascus.

Its recapture means Assad’s forces can use Palmyra as a stepping stone for offensives against Isis-held territory in Syria’s eastern desert, where the militants are entrenched in Deir ez-Zor, as well as the self-proclaimed caliphate’s de facto capital in Raqqa.

The Syrian military said it would use Palmyra as the staging ground for just such a campaign, but it remains to be seen whether it has the manpower to attempt such a large-scale effort, debilitated as it is by five years of civil conflict.

The defeat is a remarkable turn of fortunes for Isis, which has seen its territory in Syria and Iraq recede under disparate offensives throughout the two collapsing nation-states. The group has turned instead to attacks abroad to bolster its faltering morale.

Less than a year ago, in May 2015, the group had conquered Palmyra and Ramadi west of Baghdad, and established control over approximately half of Syria’s landmass.

But last November it lost Sinjar, the ancestral homeland of the Yazidi community, to a US-backed Kurdish offensive. Ramadi was liberated by Iraqi counter-terrorism troops, and the group has continued to lose territory in northern Syria, including its strategic hub in the town of Shaddadi, to Kurdish forces.

Continued.....

NOTE: the French delegation Assad is referring to is a French right wing nationalist/fascist group.

[OUTLAW 09]

FRANCE 24
✔ ‎@FRANCE24 Putin hails Palmyra recapture, trumpets Russian role
http://f24.my/1UVd5r0


MOSCOW (AFP) -
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hailed Syria's recapture of the ancient city of Palmyra, while stressing the role of Moscow's military in reversing the Islamic State tide.

The recapture of the ancient city represents a major victory over the Islamic State group, whose fighters had destroyed many monuments at the UNESCO world heritage site since they overran it in May last year.

Putin phoned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to personally congratulate him Sunday, the Kremlin said.

"Putin congratulated Assad on Syrian forces successfully completing a large-scale operation to liberate Palmyra with the support of Russian air and space forces," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Assad in turn "expressed gratitude for the effective help given by the Russian ... air forces to Syrian forces," the Kremlin said.

The Syrian leader told Putin "successes such as the liberation of Palmyra would be impossible without Russia's support," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti state news agency.

Backed by a barrage of Russian air strikes, Syrian troops and allied militia launched a major offensive to retake the desert city earlier this month.

Moscow pledged its full support despite announcing on March 14 a surprise order from Putin to start withdrawing armed forces from Syria.

Russian state television on Sunday emphasised that its troops played a key role in the liberation of Palmyra.

"The support of Russian aviation helped to fully push out terrorists from ancient Palmyra," reported state-controlled Channel One television.

The Rossiya-1 channel has repeatedly aired spectacular aerial footage obtained from a drone it sent up over Palmyra, showing the colossal damage wreaked by IS to the historic monuments.

"What the rebel fighters did not have time to destroy while they controlled Palmyra, the Syrian army has saved, with support from the Russian air and space forces," reported Rossiya-1's war correspondent from Palmyra on Sunday.

Putin has ordered the defence ministry to provide "maximum assistance to the Syrian side in clearing mines in the liberated territories, taking into account their significance for world culture," the Kremlin said.

Putin told Assad he hoped "international experts will be able to start work on preserving and restoring the historic appearance of ancient Palmyra immediately after the mine-clearing operation finishes," the Kremlin said.

Putin earlier Sunday spoke by telephone with UNESCO chief Irina Bokova about the fate of Palmyra.

Putin and Bokova agreed that UNESCO, along with Russia and Syria, will soon be able to assess "the damage caused by terrorists to Palmyra and also develop a plan to restore what can still be restored," Peskov said.

Assad described the conflict in Syria, now in its sixth year as a "struggle for oil" to Putin, while adding: "There is a lot of oil everywhere but there is only one Palmyra", Peskov said.

The Syrian leader praised "Russia's political and diplomatic efforts" in resolving the conflict, the Kremlin said.

Russian armed forces will continue to help the Syrian regime to "fight terrorism and rid their land of extremist groups" Putin was quoted as saying by Peskov.

Both Assad and Putin expressed "hope for progress to be reached in dialogue between the Syrian sides and in promoting constitutional reforms," the Kremlin said.


The Russian "narrative" is that now both Assad and his SAA are to be considered by the West as reliable partners in the war on terrorism and that the West should be helping Assad not wanting to remove him......this "narrative" is will be fleshed out more by the Russians over the next few days.....

[CrowBat]

Vesti.Ru: Zakharova: Diplomacy in combination with bombing works miracles.
https://twitter.com/vesti_news/status/714124918561107968 …Sure, Mrs. Zakharova, especially the latter part: what the Daesh didn't destroy in Palmyra Museum in 10 months, was destroyed by a single Russian bomb (note the hole in the roof: since Daesh operates no air force... well, guess you know what I mean):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q16IRoWln9o

So, seems the Soviets have liberated Warsaw... erm... sorry: IRGC, Russians, Hezbollah and... nah... man, this is so hard to formulate because nothing of the news we're getting these days resembles reality and there are such strong historic parallels.... but let me try it again (this is really hard): the 'SAA claims to have liberated Palmyra'.

Got it.

That is:
- 1 brigade of Hezbollah + 'Jalil Force' (new formation?) + Tiger Force + SSNP ('Hurricane Eagles') attacked directly from the north
- 1 brigade IRGC + BPM from the west
- Liwa Fatimiyoun, Desert Falcons, Maghaweer al-Bahr Regiment (now 'advanced' in status to 'Navy Seals'... :lol: ) + 1 Tiger Force and few other of Syrian PCMs from the south (they captured the air base).

Seems that Daesh largely run away. Guess, their gang in Palmyra haven't heard about their Iraqi Emirs beheading anybody who abandons position...

Well, with exception of one idiot, who hit a convoy of one of IRGC's gangs of Iraqi Shi'a Jihadists near Palmyra air base with a car-bomb, killing about 50.

In words of Assadists, 'no problem: we have thousands of them'...

But of course, official Damascus already claimed '400 Daesh KIA in Palmyra (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-palmyra-idUSKCN0WT04R)'. Heaven only knows... nah: they're laicists and know no God... OK, Assad's pockets only know how they came out with that number by now? Perhaps gauging by their own...?

And of course, nobody can care less about whatever happened to the local population. Majority seems to have fled, but there are already reports about arrest of at least 40 - by 'victorious SAA'. The notorious Palmyra Prison was blown up by the Daesh, but somebody has to construct a new one, and then fill it too...

That said: FSyA sources in Turkey report that thousands fled to Raqqa (yup, Daesh held area), from where the Daesh lets them cross to FSyA held Azaz-pocket, in northern Syria...

Just the end of another Syrian city/town, like it happened already dozens of times before. How many to go...?

[OUTLAW 09]

Today's K.Pravda on Syrian army retaking Palmyra: "Without Russia's support this victory would have been impossible"

Notice the not so subtle Russian "narrative" of we alone are the only ones from the West actively fighting IS so join our "anti-IS group" as the one led by the US is not achieving anything.

AND all must now support Assad as he is really fighting IS.

Kommersant: "Orders for RU weapons that surged as result of Syria showcase exceed several times the cost of the Syrian operation"

[OUTLAW 09]

Foreign fighters from Europe to ISIS
1 Russia 2400
2 France 1700
3 UK 760
3 Germany 760
5 Belgium 470

Russia has the same goal as IS. Both terror organisations needs to be dealt with very seriously to protect democracy http://www.sydsvenskan.se/opinion/per-t-ohlsson/det-nya-kriget …

Europe suffers an onslaught of terrorism now but the 70s and 80s were way worse.
https://www.statista.com/chart/4093/people-killed-by-terrorist-attacks-in-western-europe-since-1970/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Yury Barmin ‎@yurybarmin
They won't be manually demining Palmyra. Like 2 y/ago in Damascus, Russian UR-77 mine cleaning vehicles will be used https://twitter.com/NoahSneider/status/714134265768898560 …

Russian commenter outside of Russia with good contacts inside Moscow......

[OUTLAW 09]

This is ridiculous, even by Fisk's standards. He wants Assad, a man responsible for mass atrocities, to be thanked!

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/why-is-david-cameron-so-silent-on-the-recapture-of-palmyra-from-the-clutches-of-isis-a6955406.html …

Western MSM writers that support Assad is an interesting field of research when one attempts to ask the question...Why??

Even more interesting is why they would allow themselves to be tied into Russain info warfare knowingly...

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad tells French MPs Kurds can have some sort of "decentralised region" via @hxhassan PYD killed the baby https://twitter.com/hxhassan/statuses/714243708074467328 …

These French MPs referred to are from the French right wing populist Front National.....Le Pen's group.

Reference the Kurds....

PYD accused of inciting to assassinate by the KNC


The Kurdish National Council (KNC) who is participating to the Geneva peace talk, accused in a statement released today PYD of inciting to assassinate the KNC president and members involved in Geneva peace talks.

“The Democratic Union Party (PYD) trumped-up with fabricated and misleading charges, in a play as usual, to prepare a complaint on behalf of the families of martyrs, an introduction to the so-called (Court of Justice) in al-Qamishli, against “Ibrahim Berro” “President of the Kurdish National Council in Syria, “Abdul Hakim Bashar, and Fuad Aliko the Kurdish member of delegation negotiating in Geneva -3 “.

The statement pointed out that PYD is paving the way to legalize political assassinations and a way to ban democracy activities or values.

“… a way to gagging, preventing freedom of expression through the threat, we hold the PYD responsibility of being exposed to any risks that may occur against the council members inside the country or abroad .”

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria, Aleppo Nth rif, rebels thwarted Daesh attempt to infiltrate Mare

Syria, Aleppo Nth rif, rebels have thwarted Daesh attempt to infiltrate Azaz

Interesting, some members of Harakat al-Muthana have allegedly defected & formed Katibat al-Murabitoun

Casualties reported in a bomb explosion near the St Georges Assyrian Church in Ras al-Ayn, #Hasaka, #Syria

A 13 year old girl was killed today & several others wounded in Maysar district, #Aleppo by Assad artillery shelling from al-Nayrab airbase

Syria clashes between rebels and #ISIS in Marea in #Aleppo countryside while Coalition jets targeted IS HQ in #Jarablus near Turkish border

Only 896 breaches in Syria since cessation of hostilities agreement

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA in battle with #IslamicState in desert of eastern #Qalamoun south of #Palmyra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE7L87F0xmc …

Suqur al-Sahara / Russian Army, February 2016.

Heavy night clashes in #DeirEzzor now
#IS launched assault on several frontlines
(before #Assad-forces break the siege on city?!)

Footage
The #FSA defends the front in #Latakia where #Assad forces never ceased fire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDkrjq9MMOQ …

[OUTLAW 09]

4 Syrian ISIS members caught (thanks to tip off) on Karkamış road, Gaziantep with interesting mix of equipment
http://www.dha.com.tr/gaziantepte-4-isidli-termal-durbunlerle-yakalandi_1179019.html …

Something to think about.......
In EU the liberal values people say they support are in direct conflict with the tribal mentality most citizens have a secret passion for.

We have to choose. Either we belong to a tribe based on language, religion, geography, culture and history or a community based on values.

[OUTLAW 09]

NewsMap
Rebels fended off another #ISIS attempt to storm #Marea last night, pushed terrorists back to #Harbul.

First picture of an SyAA soldier with a VSS Vintorez in the entire conflict, I think.

[OUTLAW 09]

From an anti Assad commenter......

Homs E. rif, Suhail Al Hussein who run away in Hama sahl Al Ghab, trumpets in Tadmur

Videos:
the speaker speaks about Daesh bodies : none seen in the video.
Tadmur airport : only one barrack
Suheil Al Hussein is trumpetting. He has forgotten that his troops run away in Hama sahl Al Ghab
Besides, I am trying to understand how on earth Daesh could leave a city almost sealed off according to regime propaganda ? How is that possible in military strategy ? I admit to have no expertise in military strategy. Can someone enlighten me ?

The videos :
http://fb.me/3JlBQYhLr

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus rif, from frontline in Bala

1. Jaish Al Islam : at the beginning regime attacked and we have inflicted important losses. But the frontline held and is still holding despite the air attacks and the ground shelling.
2. Civilians suffered losses.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian MoD still talks about aid shipments but nothing gets delivered to the estimated 500K in besieged towns and hard to get to locations. AS Assad does not approve the so called Russian aid deliveries........so again the Russian Mod is all propaganda nothing more....

OCHA Syria 
‏@OCHA_Syria
23 trucks full of humanitarian assistance for 3 towns in #Kafr_Batna, #East_Ghouta #Syria with @UN @SYRedCrescent

[OUTLAW 09]

All I can say is "typical" and that is coming from....someone who fully understands the intel analysis cycle....and all the social media open source has been there confirming just the opposite...

Western spy assessments for months misjudged ISIS's ambition to export violence
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/20152f82-f35c-11e5-96db-fc683b5e52db.html#axzz44Bh8jOog …

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria #IS attack regime checkpoints at Tiyas Airbase at road Homs - #Palmyra

BUT WAIT just how can that be since the Assad regime "claims they are on a campaign against IS".....????

Syrian forces pursue campaign against Islamic State after retaking Palmyra
http://reut.rs/22H3fiP

Not much of a campaign if they cannot even leave the areas they control and or maybe not control...ie their own checkpoints....

[OUTLAW 09]

This is ridiculous, even by Fisk's standards. He wants Assad, a man responsible for mass atrocities, to be thanked!

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/why-is-david-cameron-so-silent-on-the-recapture-of-palmyra-from-the-clutches-of-isis-a6955406.html …

Western MSM writers that support Assad is an interesting field of research when one attempts to ask the question...Why??

Even more interesting is why they would allow themselves to be tied into Russain info warfare knowingly...

Another UK writer joins the Assad bandwagon after being against him...why is that?

Boris, Sept 2013: Assad like Hitler & we must punish him http://metro.co.uk/2013/09/03/boris-johnson-in-adolf-hitler-warning-over-syria-we-didnt-stand-up-to-him-early-enough-either-3947902/ …
Boris, March 2015: Bravo for Assad http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/12205262/Bravo-for-Assad-he-is-a-vile-tyrant-but-he-has-saved-Palmyra-from-Isil.html …

NOTE: while IS damaged some of Palmyra....much more damage to Palmyra occurred under Russian air strikes....we should not forget that simple fact of life.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Following its #Syria campaign, #Russia secured #military hardware sales for $$6-7 billion:
http://newsru.com/russia/28mar2016/dealings.html …

Nothing like two provoked wars to boost arms sales......

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat.....what do you think about this......

FSA 13th Division Ahmad al-Saoud says now decided to "end Nusra in Syria" after recent clashes in Maarat al-Numan.

[OUTLAW 09]

"1st Archologist / Tourist back in Palmyra Museum" ?...)
RuAF TsSN / CCO

Worldwide Russian SF hard at work in a country that Russian claims their troops are not fighting in...just as they claim they have no troops in eastern Ukraine ...all 11,000 of them....

Chief of Staff of Russian Armed Forces: Palmyra liberated with participation of Spetsnaz and military advisors

Syria Artillery from #Assad-forces destroyed Hassan mosque in #Damascus Qaboun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXICHWAa8-A …

News
#Zamalka, east of #Damascus, was shelled by #Assad regime artillery today.

Damascus Clashes in Jobar bet. rebels & Assad forces/militias trying to advance under heavy tank shelling + Mt. Qasioun arty pounding away

[davidbfpo]

A simple explanation after recent Tweets and reports that "CIA-backed Kyrds are fighting DoD-backed Kurds in Syria". Hat tip to WoTR:http://warontherocks.com/2016/03/are-cia-backed-syrian-rebels-really-fighting-pentagon-backed-syrian-rebels/

http://warontherocks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Heller-1.jpg

[OUTLAW 09]

REMEMBER both Kerry and the UN stated that it was acritical part of the CoH that humanitarian aid be delivered to the estimated 500,000 in besieged and hard to get to locations.....

REMEMBER even Kerry initially stated SEVEN deliveries were going out that never occurred...all propaganda it appears from the US side....

REMEMBER the Russian MoD announces daily from their Coordination Center aid is being delivered...BUT to exactly where is never mentioned in their statements....Or they are talking to Assad about deliveries.....

The regime counties to refuse aid into starving #Daraya. No aid has reached be city for over 2 years. Only #FSA brigades are in the city

Report on the shortage of medicine & use of life expired medicine after 3 years of siege in #Daraya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvwlvLq5HLY …

[OUTLAW 09]

FactsPalmyraCantErase: Assad bet his survival on making #Syria a binary choice—him or the terrorists. #Palmyra is part of the accompanying messaging.

In eastern Syria a network of safehouses and training camps for IS's predecessor was run by Assad's military-intel

Jihadis injured fighting for IS's predecessor were given medical treatment by Assad at least as late as 2010.

Assad was found liable in U.S. district court for IS's Amman bombing in 2005 + the beheading of two Americans in '04

In eastern Syria a network of safehouses and training camps for IS's predecessor was run by Assad's military-intel.

Badran al-Mazidi (Abu Sayyaf), an IS facilitator for FF, was killed in safehouse in eastern Syria overseen by Assad.

Documents uncovered showing 700 FF entering Iraq, AUG 2006-AUG 2007, show all of them coming through Syria.

Fatah al-Islam, a jihadi group which started a small war in Lebanon in 2007, was an instrument of Assad's FP.

At the outset of the uprising, when Assad was killing peaceful protesters, he released senior IS leader Amr al-Absi.

When the rebels fought IS in JAN-MAR 2014 and in Aleppo in JUN 2015, Assad bombed the rebels.

[OUTLAW 09]

IS's foreign attacks are in-built evolution, not response to losses. But foreign/domestic IS networks are separating
http://bit.ly/1TcZbAJ

Really worth reading.....
Good argument by @hxhassan : ISIL has come of age
http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/isil-has-its-eyes-on-al-qaedas-global-network …

"ISIL is clearly trying to appeal to Al Qaeda’s sleeper cells and sympathizers" in Africa and Europe.

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria #Assad-forces used Gazelle-attack-helicopters from #France during
assault on #IS in #Palmyra

Russia'n airstrikes on #IS in T3 Pumping station 30km east of #Palmyra
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=34.530884&lon=38.727322&z=14&m=b …

Syria 30+ #Assad-forces killed by #IS attacks in eastern rural #Homs today

This is an important KIA for the anti-Assad forces compliments of the IS.....
Syria Commander of #Assad's -beheader special unit "Suqur al-Sahara"
Abu Youssef Raad Mohsen killed in #Palmyra

Billboards of Bashar Al Assad and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Yemen ✌️

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia'n ground-forces in battle of #Palmyra in central #Syria
https://vid.me/nqXQ

Russia'n ground-forces during battle of #Palmyra in desert of central #Syria
thx2 @IvanSidorenko1
From a proAssad/Putin commenter...

First airpower, then trainers, then special forces, then bomb disposal, then infantry for 'combat support', then...

[OUTLAW 09]

Shia cleric calling for the genocide of Sunni's by Iraqi Shia militias.....

An Iraqi Shia leader calls on Iraqi Shia militants to "turn their cities to rubbles & behead the old and children among them".

[OUTLAW 09]

A simple explanation after recent Tweets and reports that "CIA-backed Kyrds are fighting DoD-backed Kurds in Syria". Hat tip to WoTR:http://warontherocks.com/2016/03/are-cia-backed-syrian-rebels-really-fighting-pentagon-backed-syrian-rebels/

http://warontherocks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Heller-1.jpg

Ever wonder just why the US did not attempt to clear this up in a direct response to the media but rather via warontherocks.....

This comment for this writer should have alerted him to the fact that in fact there is aid going to both sides and yes they are fighting each other..also notice the writers keeps using the term rebels instead of the term FSA....which is the larger grouping that the US until just a few days ago was not "officially" supporting until a video was posted here showing A10s and Reaper UAVs supporting a FSA led attack series on IS.....

If one is willing to accept statements from the ground in Syria by those involved in the fighting then the article is in fact wrong...after five years of slugging it out with Assad and IS I am fairly sure FSA knows who is who and who is receiving what from whom as the author did not mention arms and funding being funneled into Syria via the US paid for by Qatar and KSA.via both the CIA and CENTCOM....that is exactly why the TOWs are under such tight control even though supplied by KSA and or why the Southern Army is under such tight Jordanian MOC control......


Obviously, this is not an easy thing to explain properly, but I hold the U.S. government responsible for doing a poor job making these politically salient distinctions between its various proxies. I hope this doesn’t prejudice my access to various U.S. government spokespeople, but the official comment I’ve gotten to date on, for example, which section of the SDF receives Pentagon support has typically been muddled and unhelpful.

The facts here actually mean the fighting in northern Aleppo is not the absurd intra-U.S. government bloodletting it initially appears to be. But U.S. messaging on this has been sloppy, so you’d never know.

Anyone working around DoD will recognize this as a deliberate attempt at avoiding having to confirm something they really do not want confirmed.....AND clearly indicates that DoD and CIA have both been playing loose and hazy with the truth....it is in the end all about denialability.....AND about hedging one's bets......

By the way the YPG attack group of intiially over 1000 fighters broke out of the Euphrates Zone under full media coverage and were in violation of a private Turkish US Agreement that the YPG would not move out of the Euphrates Zone..and here is the catch...SDF is in fact part and parcel of the "Arab" contingent inside YPG......inside the Euphrates Zone and the same YPG involved in fighting against FSA and in fact received RuAF CAS and they did in fact link into the Efrin YPG and SDF elements to continue theri attacks on FSA.

The author did not mention the DoS comments made directly aimed at SDF and YPG to go no further in their attacks on FSA....largely ignored BTW.

Example
Минобороны России
✔ ‎@mod_russia #SYRIA Militants tried to carry out offensive from #Hraitan on positions of Kurdish units in Sheikh Maqsood after conducting mortar shelling
THAT Kurdish unit is YPG with a SDF Sub unit with them......

Sheikh Maqsood was taken by the YPG with Russian CAS and they have directly attacked FSA and not IS which is located not far from them....

[OUTLAW 09]

"@Ukr_Che: ОТРК "Искандер" ВС РФ на Хмеймиме " Russian Iskander missile system spotted in Syria.

BTW...nuclear capable......

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference the posted here video of the T90 being hit by a TOW......
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/03/28/heres-what-an-advanced-russian-tank-looks-like-after-getting-hit-with-a-u-s-made-missile/?utm_content=bufferc5a22&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer


Last a month, a video surfaced online of one of Russia’s more advanced tanks facing off against a small team of Syrian rebels armed with a U.S.-made anti-tank missile in the suburbs of Aleppo.

Such short videos have become common in the nearly five-year-old conflict, where the absence of media on the ground has given birth to a view of the war stitched together by YouTube videos. The Feb. 26 footage of the Syrians aiming at the Russian tank stands out, however, because it is likely one of the first instances of a Russian T-90 tank encountering a U.S. anti-tank missile in combat.

Now a photo has emerged of what happened after the Syrian rebels fired. The BGM-71 TOW missile appears to hit the right side of the tank’s turret, and as the smoke clears a crew member — likely a Syrian soldier — bails out.

According to a post on the site War is Boring, the above image was circulated on Russian military forums before getting picked up by the Research Institute of Steel, a company that makes specialized armor for Russian tanks. The picture shows the tank from the right side, and the missile impacted the left side of the turret. The only thing that appears broken from this angle is the Shtora counter-measure system beneath the tank’s main gun.

The Shtora is a system that is designed to electronically disrupt missiles like the TOW. The two boxes affixed to the turret glow red when active, but in the February video it appears that the system is either turned off or not working. In the case of this strike, however, the tank’s crew was saved by the tank’s armored plating — known as Kontakt-5 reactive armor. The oddly shaped square panels are meant to defeat incoming projectiles by actually counter-detonating and disrupting the missile’s main charge from penetrating into the tank.

The T-90 is one of Russia’s most advanced tanks, although the version in the video is an older variant from the early 1990s, according to War is Boring. The T-90 started to appear in Syria shortly after Russian forces arrived in northern Syria in September alongside a sizable detachment of aircraft. In November, the tanks debuted on the front lines around Aleppo after a small number of the vehicles were handed over to a Syrian armor unit. The Syrian Army also operates a wide array of older Russian tanks, including the T-72, T-62 and T-55.

BTW...that T90 did not reenter combat serivce and never did show the right side of the turret that took the hit......the recently posted here single photo seems to indicate the tank was not moved from the position where it was hit...

[OUTLAW 09]

http://thefederalist.com/2016/03/28/how-president-obama-made-syria-an-unfixable-quagmire/

BTW...this article is far harsher than what I post here if you ask me as he has at least a reputation to defend in his articles...I just sit in Berlin and watch the ground reality tell me what reality is these days and ask the simple question WHY....again the Obama WH is a bunch of cats being herded towards 2017 and his legacy....AND Obama simply has again and I will repeat it...not a single coherent strategy for anything......

How President Obama Made Syria An Unfixable Quagmire
With nearly half a million dead and U.S. proxies fighting each other, Syria represents a failure of U.S. strategy and a lack of presidential leadership.

Tom Nichols
By Tom Nichols
March 28, 2016


It didn’t have to be like this.

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that Syrian opposition forces backed by the CIA and the Pentagon are now fighting each other. (Buzzfeed’s Mike Giglio actually wrote this story more than a month ago, with the simple but true headline: “America Is In A Proxy War With Itself In Syria.”) The Syrian conflagration has entered the phase where pretty much everyone shoots at everyone else: “Any faction that attacks us,” an officer from the one of the CIA-supported groups told the LA Times, “regardless from where it gets its support, we will fight it.”

Well, of course they will. Every group in Syria is now in a Hobbesian free-for-all. The death toll is now climbing toward the half-million mark. No one has any incentive to do anything but kill or be killed.

[B]There will be no settlement. The recent “cease-fire” is the Russian variant of that term—used the same way by the Russians in Ukraine these days—meaning “a period of combat in which the Russians help the Americans pretend that no one is fighting.” The Russians, of course, claim they’ve left Syria, when they mean they’ve flexed enough muscle and killed enough of Bashar Assad’s enemies that they can now leave a smaller force in place. Assad remains in power, and likely will stay there.

It’s easy to read about this situation—best described by a compound noun that includes the word “cluster”—and reach the conclusion that the U.S. intelligence and military establishments have no idea what they’re doing. The problem, however, is not with American tactical and operational excellence: we have that in abundance. Rather, Syria represents a failure of U.S. strategy and a lack of presidential leadership.

Failing to Act Is to Act

Of course, this kind of story fuels the critics who believe President Obama made the right decision to stay out of the Syrian conflict. This, however, represents a fundamental error of logic. The situation in Syria today is not a vindication of President Obama’s decision, it is the result of that decision.

The situation in Syria today is not a vindication of President Obama’s decision, it is the result of that decision.

Or, more accurately, it is the result of the president’s lack of a decision. Remember, Syria looks as it does in 2016 because the Obama administration’s response to the use of chemical weapons was to outsource U.S. security management to Vladimir Putin. We will never know if Assad could have been toppled, or by whom; the Russians rendered those questions moot when they intervened.

They continue to do so at will, and Assad will now exterminate every rebel of any stripe. (Killing anyone involved in ISIS is just a coincidence at this point, at least for Assad and the Russians.)

Meanwhile, in the absence of a clear strategy, U.S. national security institutions are doing what they think they’re supposed to be doing. What we’re seeing in Syria is what happens when large organizations, lacking direction from a strategic center, continue with their organizational priorities. They will do what they’re good at, whether it makes strategic sense or not. Without coordination and an imposed strategy, they will default to trying to keep alive the people they know and to protect the assets they have in place.

This is what happens in a strategic vacuum: operations take the place of strategy.

We’ll Allow a Disaster, Then Use It to Justify Our Inaction

Critics of any proposed intervention ask: “Well, what would you do now,” always posing the question as if the previous three years didn’t happen. As I note regularly, this is like driving a car off a cliff and then handing the steering wheel to your screaming passenger and saying: “Fine, you drive.”

It’s too late for a coherent strategy of intervention, but it is the zenith of hypocrisy to allow a situation to deteriorate into utter disaster and then to point to that same disaster as the justification for never intervening. It is not only circular logic, it is dishonest and intentionally so.

A wiser policy three or four years ago might have averted this mess. I count how I and so many others called for a better U.S. policy not in months or years, but in deaths. By that measure, I was arguing for a more active approach to Syria more than 450,000 deaths ago. Among the measures that should have been taken: creating safe havens, no-fly zones, and destroying Syrian air assets and airfields.

Had these actions been taken with strategic clarity—that is, with the clear intention of destroying the Assad regime’s ability to commit mass murder and averting the opening for a Russian intervention—I do not believe a ground invasion would have been necessary (or wise).

But we’ll never know. Syria is a charnel house now, and Russia is ascendant in the Middle East (as John Schindler and I predicted three years ago), precisely because the White House refused to make any substantive decision at all. Mostly, our policy in Syria seems aimed at protecting the president’s legacy: perhaps his future library will have a display of the Syrian catastrophe with a plaque assuring visitors that Barack Obama, for eight years, held firm to a course of “not being George Bush,” or “not doing stupid ####” or some of the other deep thoughts that have emanated from the Obama foreign policy shop.

Now It’s Too Late to Do Much of Anything

These quips might be good guidance for the team worried about the president’s standing on the bookshelves of academic historians, but they aren’t much help for soldiers and intelligence operatives trying to keep people alive in a country undergoing a savage meltdown.

No campaign can or should promise to fix Syria: that time was hundreds of thousands of deaths and a million refugees ago.

Speaking of books, the administration’s United Nations ambassador, Samantha Power, wrote an entire volume—an excellent one that I assign in my classes at Harvard—about crises like this one. It had lots of helpful advice about how to see such catastrophes coming and how to respond to them.

Apparently, no one listens to her, including the president. She did try, apparently, to raise such issues with Obama. The president’s response, according to Jeffrey Goldberg? “Samantha, enough. I’ve read your book.”

So, without a strategy, Power does what UN ambassadors do. She goes to New York and makes speeches. The rest of the government, likewise set on autopilot, does whatever it can do. The various groups of the Syrian opposition, facing annihilation, do whatever they can do.

Things might have been different had a more engaged chief executive been in charge of an actual policy. But that time has passed. Worse, there is no hope for the next president, almost certain to be Hillary Clinton at this point, to rescue any of this, no matter what she says on the trail. No campaign can or should promise to fix Syria: that time was hundreds of thousands of deaths and a million refugees ago.

We can all disagree on what to do next. Whatever it is, it won’t be enough; this is foreign policy as triage, not elective surgery. But we should never let the blame shift away from where it belongs, from a president and a national security team who refused to create a strategy, and left everyone else—in Washington and in Syria—with no option but to improvise in a situation that should never have been allowed to get this bad.

For over two years I used a HP video "Herding Cats" in order to depict the decision making processes inside a BCT Staff and it is no different inside the Obama WH right now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_MaJDK3VNE

[OUTLAW 09]

More confirmation of Russian troops involved in the ground fighting.....in Russian.

Герой Пальмиры. Сириец из Латакии по имени Гайдар. Родился в России. Воюет в "Ястребах Пустыни".
#Сирия #Пальмира

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus: Heavy fighting between #ISIS and #Nusra in Palestine #Yarmouk Camp ongoing. Many killed, most from Nusra.

Russia|ns dropped 4 weapons parachutes over #Assad's controlled areas in #DeirEzzor; #ISIS got 2 of them..

[OUTLAW 09]

"@Ukr_Che: ОТРК "Искандер" ВС РФ на Хмеймиме " Russian Iskander missile system spotted in Syria.

BTW...nuclear and chemical capable......

CrowBat..anything on this on your end......??

This has been now photo confirmed and a serious threat to Israel......and Turkey and the US and NATO pulled out their Patriots.......

So now there are reports confirming that Assad received loads of Iskander-E 300 km range missiles from Russia

QUESTION..Erdogan is visiting now Obama and this just "leaked out".....??

[OUTLAW 09]

BreakingNews A very recent photo for #ISIS prominent leader al-Shishani who was reportedly killed by #USA weeks ago

Homs FSA Jaish al-Tawhid statement of merging with Jabhat al-Asala wa al-Tanmiya (Authenticity & Developmet Front)

Reports that Jabal Turkman & Jabal Akrad in rural #Latakia, #Syria is under Assad heavy artillery & MLRS attack

Weapons & ammo seized by #ISIS at the captured Assad Tank Battalion near T4 airbase in east rural #Homs, #Syria

ISIS captures Assad’s Tank Battalion NW of T4 airbase in east rural #Homs, #Syria following clashes & VBIED attack against Assad Forces
Heavy US Coalition Air Strikes over Manbij City and its surroundings in its preparations for the YPG Offensive on it,to soften the ground

[CrowBat]

CrowBat..anything on this on your end......??

This has been now photo confirmed and a serious threat to Israel......and Turkey and the US and NATO pulled out their Patriots.......

So now there are reports confirming that Assad received loads of Iskander-E 300 km range missiles from Russia

SS-26 (export variant)...? That is news.

Aside of the usual explanation ('combat testing'), it points in direction of their air strikes not being precise enough (i.e. they need precise SSMs for such purposes).

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat............

It is in fact the Syrian SS-26. Russia reportedly sold Assad 26 units of the Iskander-E variant
http://www.military-today.com/missiles/iskander.htm …

[OUTLAW 09]

Looting is a wide spread phenomenon in #Syria. That's what happens when militias and corruption are dominant.
https://twitter.com/palmyrapioneer/status/714652002958065665 …

North #Aleppo updates:
-#FSA lost Tuqali again.
-Turkish artillery attacks on #ISIS-held Tal Battal.
-Failed attempt to storm Azaz by #YPG.

If you were also looking for the "liberated" ppl of #Palmyra.
Here they are (fled via Raqqa to ISIS/Assad-free land)
https://twitter.com/khalidi_4_sham/status/714683203227938816 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Two mountain peaks facing each other, regime controlled Nabi Yunis, & opposition controlled Kbanah. Who ever controls both controls all.

Syrian regime seeks symbolic victory in Palmyra @AJENews
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/syrian-regime-seeks-symbolic-victory-palmyra-160326091927305.html …

The Daily Star ‎@DailyStarLeb
West puzzled by Russia game plan in Syria
http://bit.ly/22Vr9DT

Beyond The Levant ‎@TheRealBTL
Russian SF w/Iranian Revolutionary Guard Persian license plated Saffir 4x4 with in #Syria.

[OUTLAW 09]

بصمت
✔ ‎@Raqqa_SL #Raqqa big Military Reinforcement for #YPG enter #TalAbyad city north of #Raqqa

Assad troops attack rebel defensive positions around #Bayanoun since some hours.

Assad forces targeted #Houla (#Homs province) with mortars and light arms tonight.
No reports of casualties.

Palmyra-n recently displaced people taking a masque as a shelter in #Izaz (Rebel held area) #Aleppo.

Mahmoud Khodr Abadi from Joura district in Deir ez-Zor was tortured to death by the regime in Sednaya prison

[OUTLAW 09]

Breaking
#Assad media indicates resumption of fight vs. Syr rebels after #Palmyra victory.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-marines-return-northern-latakia-liberating-palmyra/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...have you heard anything on this infighting???

Regime militia attacks police in #Latakia #Syria
http://mme.cm/13AW00 via @NOW_eng

[OUTLAW 09]

A simple explanation after recent Tweets and reports that "CIA-backed Kyrds are fighting DoD-backed Kurds in Syria". Hat tip to WoTR:http://warontherocks.com/2016/03/are-cia-backed-syrian-rebels-really-fighting-pentagon-backed-syrian-rebels/

http://warontherocks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Heller-1.jpg

Will go back to the statement that yes indeed the CIA and CENTCOM backed Kurdish YPG with SDF are in fact fighting the FSA the "other" US proxy......

Azaz: #YPG is preparing a huge offensive to capture the town of #Azaz from the #Syria|n rebels. #Aleppo

YPG is trying to link the entire northern provinces into Afrin to created the northern Kurdish federated area they have called for....regardless of whether there are Arab Sunni majorities in most of those locations which they then ethnically cleanse when they capture Arab towns.....

BreakingFootage
Syrian rebel (Sultan Murad) TOW destroys #SDF/#YPG tank during offensive on #Azaz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIqwwK9Og3A …

Reports #YPG/#SDF preparing to attack Rebel-held city of #Azaz, near Turkey, while Rebels fight daily #ISIS few km eastwards. N. #Aleppo

The true linkage between Assad, IS and YPG is extremely clear now in Syria....
ISIS, #Assad and #YPG resumed their simultaneous offensives towards rebel-held areas north of #Aleppo.

Interesting how YPG attack Azaz the same day the regime renews offensive in the north, almost like they knew beforehand

[OUTLAW 09]

Team Wagner - Fontanka exposes Russian mercenary unit under neo-Nazi commander that fights in Syria
http://www.fontanka.ru/2016/03/28/171/

Ties in nicely to the recent French MP visit to Assad from the French Front National.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Idlib: Heavy #Russia|n/#Assad airstrikes on town of #Binnish now!

Idlib: Heavy #Russia|n/#Assad airstrikes on town of #Ariha now. 7 civilians confirmed killed, dozens wounded!

New launcher for "Volcano" IRAM #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Palmyra Update.....

Russian/SAA/Hezbollah and Shia militias might in fact be physically inside Palmyra BUT I am not convinced they actually "control" Palmyra.........

Many reports from different sources suggest #ISIS still has sizable force in #Palmyra outskirts and still able to lead skirmishes vs pro-Regime forces

As long ISIS will have presence in E. Homs province (Qaryatayn, etc), roads will largely remain unsecure & exposed to ambushes.

Battle showed what "pro-Regime forces" mean from now on: Assad elite units/Shia militias overseen by Russia & int. #RuAF backing

Syrian activist is still reporting from Palmyra.......
PalmyraRev1
The #SAA elements. Steal the contents of civilian homes after taking control of the city of #Palmyra #Syria , Mar 28

[OUTLAW 09]

Palmyra Update.....

Russian/SAA/Hezbollah and Shia militias might in fact be physically inside Palmyra BUT I am not convinced they actually "control" Palmyra.........

Many reports from different sources suggest #ISIS still has sizable force in #Palmyra outskirts and still able to lead skirmishes vs pro-Regime forces

As long ISIS will have presence in E. Homs province (Qaryatayn, etc), roads will largely remain unsecure & exposed to ambushes.

Battle showed what "pro-Regime forces" mean from now on: Assad elite units/Shia militias overseen by Russia & int. #RuAF backing

MFA Russia
✔ ‎@mfa_russia #Ryabkov: Demands on Bashar Assad's resignation as a precondition for next round of talks on Syria are unacceptable http://sptnkne.ws/aVBP

"Unacceptable" might also be the non existing cessation of hostilities by either Russia and or Assad.....

Palmyra victory against ISIS makes political transition more unlikely, says @Charles_Lister
http://bit.ly/1RKOYw8

Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister
Hearing worrying reports that opposition forces in northern #Syria may be preparing to resume hostilities, after deciding #Geneva will fail.

[OUTLAW 09]

Iran’s Plan to Seize Damascus Continues With Support From Assad Regime
http://syrianobserver.com/EN/News/30775/Iran_Plan_Seize_Damascus_Continues_With_Support_Fr om_Assad_Regime/ …

Might actually be true if you think that Beirut and Baghdad are virtually controlled by Iran ........that would make Iran the controller of THREE Arab nation state capitals.....

Reports of a renewed MLRS attack by Assad militias in Nubl & Zahra targeting Hayan & its surroundings in north rural #Aleppo

Reports Assad airstrikes targeted the town of Abu Dhuhur & Ma’arat al-Nouman in #Idlib today, no reports of casualties

BREAKING
First pictures coming in from #Hayyan.
The #Assad air force hits multiple towns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aj_hNM1XdA …

Another two air strikes hit #Binnish in the same province.

Assad air strike hits school in rebel-held #JistAlShughur.

Syrian regime forces try to overrun #Jobar district of #Damascus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhkfjtbng8s …

7 civilians killed in #Assad air strike on #Ariha.
Regime forces breach the ceasefire all across the country after #Palmyra.

Also dozens of #Assad and #Russian air strikes on #ISIS-held towns in eastern #Homs and #Hama provinces.

Assad regime artillery and helicopter bomb attacks resume on #Hayyan, N-W of #Aleppo.

[OUTLAW 09]

Acc. to @snhr, 512 combat violations since 27 Jan:

- 468 by regime
- 32 by #Russia
- 8 by opposition
- 4 by #YPG

The @snhr also claims 136 combat violations in #Syria just during #Geneva talks:

- 132 by regime
- 4 by opposition

[OUTLAW 09]

Iran’s Plan to Seize Damascus Continues With Support From Assad Regime
http://syrianobserver.com/EN/News/30775/Iran_Plan_Seize_Damascus_Continues_With_Support_Fr om_Assad_Regime/ …

Might actually be true if you think that Beirut and Baghdad are virtually controlled by Iran ........that would make Iran the controller of THREE Arab nation state capitals.....

Reports of a renewed MLRS attack by Assad militias in Nubl & Zahra targeting Hayan & its surroundings in north rural #Aleppo

Reports Assad airstrikes targeted the town of Abu Dhuhur & Ma’arat al-Nouman in #Idlib today, no reports of casualties

BREAKING
First pictures coming in from #Hayyan.
The #Assad air force hits multiple towns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aj_hNM1XdA …

Another two air strikes hit #Binnish in the same province.

Assad air strike hits school in rebel-held #JistAlShughur.

Syrian regime forces try to overrun #Jobar district of #Damascus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhkfjtbng8s …

7 civilians killed in #Assad air strike on #Ariha.
Regime forces breach the ceasefire all across the country after #Palmyra.

Also dozens of #Assad and #Russian air strikes on #ISIS-held towns in eastern #Homs and #Hama provinces.

Assad regime artillery and helicopter bomb attacks resume on #Hayyan, N-W of #Aleppo.

Remember when Assad in his French interview "claimed he was going to recapture the entire country AND Russia said nothing and the US believed Putin had reined in Assad".....??????

West played again by Putin.......and Assad and actually Assad has been telling Obama exactly what he is doing to do and the Obama WH response...nothing but talk....and a lot of "hope"......

Tend to agree with this comment from Charles Lister..
Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister
Hearing worrying reports that opposition forces in northern #Syria may be preparing to resume hostilities, after deciding #Geneva will fail.

After the extremely high number of CoH violations largely by Assad why would they believe anything else??????

[OUTLAW 09]

Not so sure this article is actually correct...outside of Palmyra all current ongoing attacks are against FSA positions and yes even YPG/SDF is attacking FSA together with IS.....US MSM needs to get better at their reporting.....

Russia and the regime have, at long last, turned their attention to ISIS":
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/syriasource/on-the-capture-of-palmyra#.Vvp-aGkyuhQ.twitter …

[OUTLAW 09]

Will go back to the statement that yes indeed the CIA and CENTCOM backed Kurdish YPG with SDF are in fact fighting the FSA the "other" US proxy......

Azaz: #YPG is preparing a huge offensive to capture the town of #Azaz from the #Syria|n rebels. #Aleppo

YPG is trying to link the entire northern provinces into Afrin to created the northern Kurdish federated area they have called for....regardless of whether there are Arab Sunni majorities in most of those locations which they then ethnically cleanse when they capture Arab towns.....

BreakingFootage
Syrian rebel (Sultan Murad) TOW destroys #SDF/#YPG tank during offensive on #Azaz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIqwwK9Og3A …

Reports #YPG/#SDF preparing to attack Rebel-held city of #Azaz, near Turkey, while Rebels fight daily #ISIS few km eastwards. N. #Aleppo

The true linkage between Assad, IS and YPG is extremely clear now in Syria....
ISIS, #Assad and #YPG resumed their simultaneous offensives towards rebel-held areas north of #Aleppo.

Interesting how YPG attack Azaz the same day the regime renews offensive in the north, almost like they knew beforehand

Syria #FSA blow up also #YPG- 120mm cannon with TOW during kurdish assault on #Azaz town in northern #Aleppo

[OUTLAW 09]

Previously reported near Palmyra and now leaving again......
Russian TOS-1A leaving Palmyra.

Syria 50 more families (fled from #Palmyra) arrived in #FSA area in northern #Aleppo

The battle for Palmyra, by Eyad Alhosain (@AboZain6) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcwnmyjogws …

N. Syria & US incoherence:
-#YPG (US Allies vs #IS) fight #TOW supplied Rebels
-Iraqi militias w/ US Humvees (given 2 stop #IS) fight Rebels

[OUTLAW 09]

Interesting analysis of who is fighting whom........

Azaz example for "4 actors in a certain area"
Result:
Rebels attacked by #PKK, #ISIS & #Assad
https://twitter.com/Interbrigades/status/714128435053006848 …

‏@Interbrigades
Small Guide to Who is likely to Fight Whom in Syrias Civil War
https://twitter.com/Interbrigades/status/714128435053006848

The FSA has been literally fighting a true multi front war with no rest against a well rested IS and the Shia mercenaries constantly flowing in from Iran and Iraq....

[OUTLAW 09]

"Those who now possess #Palmyra are those who lost it & made E. #Syria safe for #ISIS in the first place”
-Fred Hof

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/syriasource/on-the-capture-of-palmyra#.Vvp-aGkyuhQ.twitter …

[OUTLAW 09]

BreakingFootage
Syrian rebel (Sultan Murad) TOW destroys #SDF/#YPG tank during offensive on #Azaz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIqwwK9Og3A …

Reports #YPG/#SDF preparing to attack Rebel-held city of #Azaz, near Turkey, while Rebels fight daily #ISIS few km eastwards. N. #Aleppo

This #TOW strike is highly symbolic:
- First #YPG tank taken out with TOW
- Last TOW strike vs YPG recorded was 25th Feb'16

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Mohannad AlTalaa(New Syrian Army leader)"we will not allow regime to retake AlTanef border crossing

Mohannad"we are preparing to liberate #DeirEzzor from both #ISIS and the regime soon"

Sample of SSNP "martyrdom" notices, each w/ standard phrasing about "confronting the internal Jews" (v @ajaltamimi):

Government declares victory in #Palmyra, says it's the only force able to effectively fight terrorism in #Syria:
http://sana.sy/en/?p=72985

ISIS hit a SAA tank with an ATGM near al-Qaryatayn, #Syria. pic.twitter.com/s7IRprnbgH

[OUTLAW 09]

Fantastic use of OSINT by @fontanka_news to uncover a newly formed Russian PMC that operated in Ukraine & Syria http://www.fontanka.ru/2016/03/28/171/ (RU)

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference the Russian Spetsnaz that the Russians placed an air strike on when they realized he was surrounded by IS......

Russian soldier who supposedly called in airstrike on himself was 25y/o Alexander Prokhorenko

Appears Russia is experiencing far more loses than is being made public.....
Russian CASEVAC at Hmeimim AB ; photo shows multiple seriously wounded being casvaced out of Syria....

Audio recording of Russians correcting their artillery fire (by @IvanSidorenko1)
Probably during the Palmyra operation.
Recording:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0z7ewdCJhhv

Palmyra #Palmira #Tadmur #Tadmor Speech by Desert Falcons Leader & Some Drone Footage SyrianArmy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEHZtFepG_Q&feature=youtu.be …

Reference the fighting today and yesterday at Jobar......
Soldiers of the 105th Brigade of Republican Guard in Jobar today

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Syrian Express on the move again......

FLOT's ROpucha Class large landing ship 127 Minsk crossed the Bosphorus southbound towards the Mediterranean.

This is her sixth trip in 2016......

Compared more south passes last year. Minsk is not this bow heavy normally. My guess; full with uneven distribution

Hard 2 tell. Not so empty, I guess.Opinions?
https://twitter.com/alperboler/status/712154655510433793 …
https://twitter.com/alperboler/status/706818165817393152 …
https://twitter.com/alperboler/status/697064627100852224 …

[OUTLAW 09]

"Volcano" rockets on Palmyra from the vicinity of the citadel
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=34.566302&lon=38.254910&z=15&m=b …
https://youtu.be/6kbswqvOPUw?t=34s …

YPG snipers fire at civilians in #Aleppo from #SheikhMaqsoud , 3 injured, including woman.

Faylaq al-Sham show its new US equipments in the front vs #ISIL north #Aleppo.

Aleppo: Syrian Rebels capture Al Hibt & Qadi farms from YPG

Aleppo: Syrian Rebels killed 10 so called "SDF" fighters & capture others in their failed attempt to capture Al Shat from Rebels

Aleppo: Assad regime reconnaissance aircraft shot down over Hayyan
http://bit.ly/1StQtvP

Old video - been looking for it for a while. Watch till end. Assad general makes threats but end up in ER
http://youtu.be/NRvCdKagCKw

In Syria, Dunford says, America working to grow the Arab portion of the anti-ISIS Syrian Democratic Forces, which is mostly Kurds

[OUTLAW 09]

Clashes near #Azaz are seemingly around this intersection, the "Alshat" checkpoint.
Not 100% certain.

Syrian rebels downed a #Russian Orlan-10 drone over #Hayyan that coordinated artillery fire from #Zahraa.

It appears the YPG T-72 destroyed near Azaz by a TOW ATGM today was the T-72 w/ slat armour crewed by females.

Azaz: #YPG militias in #Afrin have only 5 tanks (3 x T-72 2 x T-55) left, 1 T-72 destroyed, maybe with female crew

[OUTLAW 09]

Fantastic use of OSINT by @fontanka_news to uncover a newly formed Russian PMC that operated in Ukraine & Syria http://www.fontanka.ru/2016/03/28/171/ (RU)

Officers of a shadow private military group "CHVK Vagnera" fight for #Russia on battlefields abroad #Syria, #Ukraine http://www.fontanka.ru/2016/03/28/171

Fontanka Investigates Russian Mercenaries Dying For Putin In Syria And Ukraine
http://www.interpretermag.com/fontanka-investigates-russian-mercenaries-dying-for-putin-in-syria-and-ukraine/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

They are 1) either Russians 2) assimilated Russians 3) LifeNews showing regular Russian Army spotter notes. #Syria https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/714226012188442625 …

Pro-Assad war criminal Mihrac Ural-Ali Kayali-of Popular Front for Liberation of Liwa of Iskandarun, has been killed

Lot of reports that Turkish Alewite militia leader Mihraç Ural (Ali Kayali) was killed in #Syria:

Reports leader of pro-Assad militia "Syrian Resistance" famous for Baniyas massacres Me'raj Ural killed today

Ural is blamed for the #Baniyas massacre & #Reyhanli bombing (May '13). Former associate of #PKK leader Ocalan:

Ahrar al-Sham’s @almuhager03 “confirms” & “claims" responsibility for killing of Mihrac Ural, during AJA interview:

Killed by the Opposition in the #Al_Tufahiya area.

Syrian rebels claim to have killed 10, arrested 5 #SDF members during their failed assault on #Azaz.
#Aleppo #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

18 days straight:
Anti-Nusra protests continue in Marat al-Numan - demanding departure & release of prisoners:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO6EzM2TEw4 …

Faced by rising popular anger in #Idlib, Nusra has pursued 2 lines:
- Persuade opposition to resume hostilities
- Build jihadi alliance

Nusra is dependent on conflict to assuage popular concern over its ideology & long-term objectives, but it can’t break ceasefire alone.

Good to see @tcambanis spoke to 16th Division’s Hassan Rajoub…
"Around #Aleppo, Its Not Peace—Just a Break”
https://tcf.org/?p=11449

Hostilities have resumed (or significantly intensified) between #Syria’s opposition and the YPG/SDF around Azaz in northern #Aleppo.

At the same time, regime airstrikes have increased across #Idlib (Binnish, Ariha, Marat al-Numan) & north of #Aleppo (+ MRL artillery).

[OUTLAW 09]

How Russian special forces are shaping the fight in Syria
http://wpo.st/ifKQ1

[CrowBat]

CrowBat............

It is in fact the Syrian SS-26. Russia reportedly sold Assad 26 units of the Iskander-E variant
http://www.military-today.com/missiles/iskander.htm …
AFAIK, none were delivered back then due to Israeli complaints.

That said, after some re-checking, it seems that many of 'SS-21s' fired back in February were actually SS-26s.

[OUTLAW 09]

AFAIK, none were delivered back then due to Israeli complaints.

That said, after some re-checking, it seems that many of 'SS-21s' fired back in February were actually SS-26s.

CrowBat ...then two points come up...when did they come into country since the Israeli's complained and Russia "supposedly" did not deliver them...secondly there have been comments that Hezbollah has been firing them mainly...so Russia is transferring the knowledge to them...as payment for their fighting in Syria?

Then the recent Israeli comment that 90% has been fired.....makes sense coupled with the marked decrease in their firings.....

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat ...then two points come up...when did they come into country since the Israeli's complained and Russia "supposedly" did not deliver them...secondly there have been comments that Hezbollah has been firing them mainly...so Russia is transferring the knowledge to them...as payment for their fighting in Syria?

Then the recent Israeli comment that 90% has been fired.....makes sense coupled with the marked decrease in their firings.....

This would explain the recent Hezbollah statements out of Beirut about the ability to accurately hit targets in Israel and it begs the question just how many missiles did Russia actually ship into Syria......

[OUTLAW 09]

Fantastic use of OSINT by @fontanka_news to uncover a newly formed Russian PMC that operated in Ukraine & Syria http://www.fontanka.ru/2016/03/28/171/ (RU)

Private military companies from Russia, including “Wagner”, have lost dozens of men in Syria, claims @fontanka_news: http://www.fontanka.ru/2016/03/28/171/

Sorry in Russian...

[OUTLAW 09]

Shia militias have regularly been looting Sunni areas in Iraq after IS was driven out so just why they act any different in Sunni areas of Syria....and this is not a sectarian war?????

Footage said to show pro-Regime looting of #Palmyra after they captured it from #ISIS - @Dalatrm

Footage was also released yesterday of the Shia militias beating up an elder man who had decided to not flee Palmyra and has never been IS....

[OUTLAW 09]

Not smart
#Russian Boycott Of# Nuclear #Terrorism Summit Leaves #US ‘Scratching Our Heads’
http://pocket.co/soKU8D via @RFERL

BUT WAIT..Russian FM has been blasting the West for not joining in their war on terrorism...all forms of terrorism actually......

So do they envision the use of a dirty bomb at some point???

[OUTLAW 09]

Sanctions and the drop in oil are not hurting Russia...think again.....

Russia's GDP in dollar terms fell by an astonishing 35% in 2015, an @FT analysis shows
http://on.ft.com/1WLRpNc

[OUTLAW 09]

Ahrar al-Sham destroyed two #ISIL tanks and killed several fighters tried to storm al-Hait village west #Dara.

FSA seized Meraighal from #IS in northern #Aleppo after intense US airstrikes
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.601197&lon=37.258244&z=14&m=b …

Reports Turkish artillery & Intl coalition strikes supporting #FSA new assault on #ISIL held Tuqali, al-Jakka & Mrigel villages north Aleppo

North Aleppo scene is pretty much like this: take villages from isis at night, defend Azaz against YPG by day...

SNHR #Syria
Hisham Al Shuqair from Daraa, his family confirmed his death by torture in a gov detention center, Mar 29

[OUTLAW 09]

This is a big deal for the Syrian opposition.......
Pro-Assad MP Ahmad Shlash confirm Ural's death and vows to retaliate in #Idlib.

Mihrac Ural led the May 2013 massacre of Baniyas at the Syrian coast. Hundreds of women & children were executed.

Video from Baniyas during the 2013 massacre filmed by the killers themselves. #Syria (GRAPHIC)
http://youtu.be/hUkB9uBqNY8

This is often totally forgotten by the entire West especially the Obama WH.

[OUTLAW 09]

Army of Islam ‏@Islamarmy_eng2 · 10m10 minutes ago
Our fighters engaging in fierce fighting on Harasta-Qunaitira's line to stop the attempt of Assad's militia to advance into al-Marj front.

[OUTLAW 09]

Just how intertwined is the UN with Assad is slowly becoming a very valid question especially when UN aid is being resold to Assad connections, or not delivered to the besieged areas as agreed on and or given to the SAA????

OR how documented receipt of UN aid led to the Assad arrests of hundreds using this UN registration data????

Is @UN also paying regime supporters in OCHA while they press their parent body to stop clearances? @faysal7899

3 kids in Madaya killed by landmines laid by government forces. Shame OCHA, bullied by Assad, stopped mine clearance

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Private Military Companies As Licensed Tool of #Terror
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSS4_GDs8PQ&feature=youtu.be …

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat....you might like this.....so will it be poor maintenance and or poor fuel quality as the crash reason this time...pilot error never occurs.

SU25 crashes in Russia......

Moment of the crash of Russian SU- 25
via @SobiNewsCom
pic.twitter.com/7VMb8P0yCa

Su-25 #warplane crashes in #Russia
http://uatoday.tv/society/su-25-warplane-crashes-in-russi-620792.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Northern #Aleppo #Azaz control #map March 30 (6AM) #FSA #SDF #ISIS #DAESH
http://www.edmaps.com/html/syrian_civil_war_in_maps.html …

PalmyraRev1 ·
Concerns about revenge actions towards the civilians who remained in #Palmyra after beheading 3 civilians today by #Assad allied militias

Graphic!
Children killed,wounded by #Hezbollah bomb outside #Madaya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsBoyHwzOoA …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D_JpuNQFlI …

For proAssad commenters everything is either IS and or JN controlled thus they can attack everywhere and not be in violation of the CoH.....

Hassan Ridha
‏@sayed_ridha
#FSA destroy an #SDF tank in the outskirts of Azaz as the latter attempts to advance on the #JN controlled city

[OUTLAW 09]

The will to fight for a nation state flag has never been big in the current Iraq and Syria........

Mosul update. Not good according to a few reports. I can't believe they're deserting when ISIL is only using classic war tactics to look big

[OUTLAW 09]

Saudi Arabia turns up the heat on Hezbollah
http://brook.gs/1RIwwya

Unusual statement from #AlJazeera distancing itself from Google/State Dept #Syria scheme
http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/editors-blog/2016/03/partnership-google-tracking-syria-defectors-160329080715051.html …

Mainstream rebels, pictured below, merge with #Saudi backed moderates in #Homs
#Syria
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566797-homs-rebels-in-merger …

[OUTLAW 09]

Exclusive: Russia, despite draw down, shipping more to Syria than removing
http://reut.rs/1olmcVj

IS Wilayat Kavkaz claimed a double IED attack. 10 killed,3 wounded RU soldiers near Kaspiysk
http://isis.liveuamap.com/en/2016/30-march-russia-isis-wilayat-kavkaz-claimed-a-double-ied …

[OUTLAW 09]

Sound like Syria......?? By Richard Engel:
Insurgencies are easy to make and hard to stop. Only a few ingredients need to combine to create an insurgency; like oxygen and fire, they're very common and mix all too often. The recipe is, simply, a legitimate grievance against a state, a state that refuses to compromise, a quorum of angry people, and access to weapons.

[OUTLAW 09]

Fallout from #IranDeal is as promising as fallout from #Reset with Putin
https://twitter.com/AlArabiya_Eng/status/715096410140618753 …

Al Arabiya English
✔ ‎@AlArabiya_Eng BREAKING: #Iran's leader Khamenei says those who say future is in negotiations rather than missiles, are wrong
http://ara.tv/mffvv

Reuters - #Russia now appears 2 hv more war ships near #Syria coast than b4 #Putin announced drawdown of forces
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-supplies-idUSKCN0WW0DJ …

The car bomb(another) detonated at a checkpoint in Dagestan: explosion killed the police officer
http://isis.liveuamap.com/en/2016/30-march-the-car-bomb-detonated-at-a-checkpoint-in-dagestan …
via @zvezdanews
Well IS did promise Russia a response to their being in Syria......

Did Russia deploy robot tanks in Syria?
These guys say ‘probably’, crediting @bellingcat which said the opposite!
https://twitter.com/russiainsider/status/715100544881156096 …

How to figure out how many troops Russia had in Syria? Wait until Kremlin puts up tender for 10,000 campaign medals http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/2016/03/28/russian-military-orders-medals-soldiers-syria/82362966/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat....you might like this.....so will it be poor maintenance and or poor fuel quality as the crash reason this time...pilot error never occurs.

SU25 crashes in Russia......

Moment of the crash of Russian SU- 25
via @SobiNewsCom
pic.twitter.com/7VMb8P0yCa

Su-25 #warplane crashes in #Russia
http://uatoday.tv/society/su-25-warplane-crashes-in-russi-620792.html …

Follow up to air crash.....

"50 hens were killed in Su-25 crash. Only 1 survived"
https://twitter.com/flashnord/status/715119330170695680 …

Nothing has been said about the pilot.......

[OUTLAW 09]

MFA Russia
✔ ‎@mfa_russia #Zakharova:Blocking a UNSC resolution on Palmyra liberation can be regarded as the interest absense in peace process
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160330/1037185547/russia-un-palmyra-syria.html#ixzz44Nk2Yzd5 …


MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The decision to block a draft resolution on Palmyra liberation in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) shows that the West is not interested in the Syrian peace process, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday.

"This [decision to block the resolution] shows that they are not interested in the process of liberating Syria from terrorists or promoting the peace process… not even cultural values and other things they often claim. Geopolitical interest is exclusively behind all of this," Zakharova said.

She added that Russia has now decided to submit a draft resolution on Palmyra to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), calling for the reconstruction of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra.

Assad stated in a Sputnik interview that he will be leaning on Russia, Iran and China in order to rebuild Syria...the same Syria, Iran and Russia that has destroyed virtually all of Syria......especially the RuAF in the last six months...which has virtually flattened all FSA held towns....

[OUTLAW 09]

Iran's supreme leader says those who think Iran's future lies in talks, not missiles 'are ignorant or traitors'
http://read.bi/1ZKm1AD

Appears the Obama WH strategy of working with "moderates" and assuring Congress that such a way would be the outcome and would benefit the US seems to failed as he forgot the "Supreme Leader"....in his calculations.....

MFA Russia
✔ ‎@mfa_russia #Ulyanov: Russia sees no point in putting the issue of Iran's ballistic missiles on #UNSC agenda as it has no basis
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160330/1037186409/russia-iran-missiles-unsc.html#ixzz44NoqGIDz …

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad's seriously making the point "See I'm better then them: I only torture and kill Syrians, you'll be fine!" https://twitter.com/sputnikint/status/715123096907288580 …

Terrorism in Syria and Iraq is receiving direct support from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France and Great Britain, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to Sputnik.


DAMASCUS (Sputnik) — Terrorism in Syria and Iraq is receiving direct support from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France and the United Kingdom, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik.

"Terrorism — that’s the real problem. We must fight it on the international level, because terrorism affects not only Syria. Terrorism exists in Iraq. It is directly supported by Turkey. It is directly supported by the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia, as well as a number of Western states, especially France and the United Kingdom," Assad said.

"As far as other states go, they are watching, observing. No serious work on this issue is being conducted from their side. I think that with regard to this questions, the problem far larger than the problem of the actual figures," he added.

Syrian refugees will begin returning home when they see hope for improvement, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik.

"We’ve started infrastructure reconstruction work before the crisis is over, to soften, as much as possible, the influence of economic losses and infrastructure damage on the Syrian people and at the same time reduce the migration flow out of the country," Assad said.

"Maybe some will want to return when they see that there is hope for the amelioration of the situation," he added.

The president noted that the cause of migration is not only terrorism and the security situation, but also the blockade and Western sanctions introduced against Syria.

"Many people have left safe areas where there is no terrorism because of the life conditions. Citizens can no longer provide themselves with all that is necessary. So we, as a state, must take steps, at least the most basic ones, to improve the economic situation and the service sector in Syria. That’s what we are currently doing in terms of reconstruction," he stated.

Damascus will lean primarily on Russia, China and Iran in rebuilding the country following the war, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik.

"The reconstruction process is in any case profitable for companies that are participating in it, especially if they manage to get loans from the countries that will support them. Of course, we expect that the process will rely on the three main states that have supported Syria during this crisis — that’s Russia, China and Iran. But I suppose that a lot of countries that were against Syria, I mean first of all Western countries, will try to direct their companies to take part in this process. However, for us in Syria there is absolutely no doubt that we will ask, first of all, our friendly states," Assad said.

Refugees No Longer: Residents Return to Liberated Palmyra, Thank Russia for Helping Hand

According to the president, it is "absolutely certain that if you were to pose this question to any Syrian citizen, his answer, political and emotional, would be that we welcome, first of all, the companies from the three countries, primarily from Russia."

"If we’re speaking of infrastructure, it spans, perhaps not even dozens, but hundreds of different areas and specializations. So I think that Russian companies will have a very broad space for contributing to the restoration of Syria," he added.

Syria Needs National Unity Government for Transition Period

The transitional period in Syria must occur under the current constitution and include a national unity government comprising various political forces, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik.

"First of all, regarding the definition of the 'transitional period,' such a definition does not exist. We in Syria assume that the term political transition means the transition from one constitution to another, and a constitution is what defines the form of the needed political composition in the next stage. Thus, the transition period must be under the current constitution, and we will move on to the new constitution after the Syrian people vote for it," Assad said.

"Before that, what we can work on, as we see it in Syria, is the government," he added. "This transitional structure or transitional format is a government formed by various Syrian political forces — opposition, independent, the current government and others."

The unity government's main goal would be to work out a new constitution and let the Syrian people vote on it, after which a transition to the new constitution could take place, Assad explained.

"Neither the Syrian constitution, nor the constitution of any other country in the world includes anything that is called a transitional body of power. It’s illogical and unconstitutional. What are the powers of this body? How will it govern the daily lives of citizens? Who will be assessing it? Today, there is the People’s Council [Syria’s parliament] and the constitution that regulates the work of the government and the state. That’s why a solution is a government of national unity that will prepare a new constitution," the president underlined.

[OUTLAW 09]

America is now in a proxy war with... itself in Syria, as Pentagon and CIA-backed militias repeatedly exchange fire http://ln.is/chicagotribune.com/NUGzP …

[OUTLAW 09]

As most Russian watchers suspected. Putin's "withdrawal" from Syria is another sham to deceive naive western leaders
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0WW0DJ …

............since Russia announced its "draw down" in Syria it has shipped more equipment + supplies to Syria that brought back http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-supplies-idUSKCN0WW0DJ …

[OUTLAW 09]

LT MFA STRATCOM ‎@LT_MFA_Stratcom
Lessons of #Kremlin's #propaganda
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/nine-lessons-of-russian-propaganda …

[OUTLAW 09]

A little girl writes Allahu Akbar on the fallen minaret of the mosque in #Douma that was bombed by Assad today.

Iran missile tests have caused alarm: U.N.'s Ban
http://reut.rs/25vTpz2 via @Reuters

ANNA NEWS with #SAA #SyrianArmy Liwa Al Quds Brigade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc-EQv24q_4 …

[OUTLAW 09]

That highly touted Obama WH Iran Deal strategy is really working out now for the US in Syria.....those "moderates" can be counted on.....

Iran will continue escalating its involvement in Syria after Obama recognized its "legitimate defense concerns".......ie a land corridor to Hezbollah and Syria a largely Arab Sunni nation state inside the Iranian sphere of influence.......

Iraqi Badr Military Wing posted new photos of some more of their troops heading to Syria to crush terrorists ie Sunni's and FSA.

Aleppo Commander of Badr Military Wing in Syria visiting some troops.

BTW........
I had Sunni's in Diyala Province in 2005 already warning me that the real threat was not the Sunni's BUT Badr Corp.

BTW Badr answers to the IRGC.........

A major side effect of this poorly thought through Obama strategy is the following and it is coming.........

There will not be peace in Syria until Iran & its proxy forces sees confrontation only possible at this stage by Saudi-led Islamic coalition

BUT WAIT.....Obama in his Goldberg interview basically told KSA they should accept "a cold peace" and should "share the region" whatever that means to Obama????

[OUTLAW 09]

It's the Iran Deal stupid.........that "legitimate defense concerns thing"
French navy seizes weapons cache heading from Iran to Yemen http://ara.tv/nttz5 prin @AlArabiya_Eng

[OUTLAW 09]

All Russia did was replace their fixed-wing CAS aircraft (the Su-25s) with rotary-wing CAS aircraft (helicopters).
https://twitter.com/Charles_Lister/status/715202890097369088 …

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA Liwa Mutasim mortar shells hits #ISIS ammo depot in Asunbul east of Marea'a, north rural #Aleppo
http://youtu.be/GPZQbVW409s

Also east of #Damacus, the #Assad air force kept bombing rebel-held towns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAyTtdcgBjA …

Meanwhile in #Syria, #Assad and his allies keep ignoring the #SyriaCeasefire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okb0KQWU1nU …
near Damascus

Clashes continue between rebels and IS-linked groups in Heet, Taseel, Jallin and Sheikh Saad in western Deraa

Regime barrel bombs target al Zerba and Khan Touman in southern Aleppo as well as Khan al Sheeh and Zakya in southern Damascus countryside

Afghan Fatemiyoun flag flying in Palmyra, #Syria. Sources say more Afghans being sent to garrison captured territory

Double-tap strike by Assad/@mod_russia terrorists against a Ghouta mosque hits a minaret. Via @SyriaCivilDef.

Heavy clashes continue between rebels & regime forces/militias in the Bala area in E. Ghouta w/ several Assad airstrikes reported earlier

Anadan in north rural #Aleppo is also being targeted with heavy artillery by Assad militias in Tamoura with clashes ongoing in Jabal area

[OUTLAW 09]

http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/03/30/erdogan-uses-closed-door-meeting-to-blast-white-house/

Erdogan Uses Closed-Door Meeting to Blast Obama Administration


The Turkish president told a gathering of academics and former government officials that the White House was wrong to back the Kurds in the fight against the Islamic State.

By John Hudson
March 30, 2016


Facing a high-profile snub from the White House and a growing chasm with the United States over human rights and press freedoms, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan courted Washington’s top think tank luminaries on Tuesday night in an effort to rehabilitate his image and criticize the Obama administration’s policies in Syria.

During a private dinner at Washington’s high-end St. Regis Hotel, a defiant Erdogan ripped the American media’s coverage of his administration’s policies and bashed the White House’s support for Kurdish fighters in Syria. Washington sees the Kurds as their most valuable proxies in the ground battle against the Islamic State, but Erdogan views them as terrorists aligned with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a militant group struggling for autonomy. Kurdish militants have been tied to several recent bombings inside Turkey.

“He kept coming back to that issue: Terrorists are terrorists — there are no good ones” said one attendee of the dinner, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He pretty much threw the administration under the bus.”

The attendees included Joel Hellman, the dean of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service; Vali Nasr, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Jane Harman, chairwoman of the Woodrow Wilson Center; Michael Singh, managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; and other high-profile academics and former U.S. officials.

Erdogan is in Washington to meet Vice President Joe Biden and attend the administration’s 2016 Nuclear Security Summit. But he is not expected to enjoy a formal meeting with President Barack Obama — a slight the White House explained away as scheduling issue but which has been widely perceived as sign of Obama’s frustration with Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian actions.

The visit follows the seizure of Turkey’s largest newspaper, Zaman, by authorities who accused the paper of serving as a mouthpiece for Fethullah Gullen, a one-time Erdogan ally now charged with attempting to overthrow the government. After the paper’s staff was gutted and replaced with Erdogan-friendly editors, State Department spokesman John Kirby called the takeover “troubling.”

Julie Smith, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a former Biden adviser on Turkey, said Erdogan was using the meeting to try to improve his standing at a difficult moment in the relationship, but said it might not be enough.

“The president will need more than a few days of targeted engagement if he has hopes of putting the bilateral relationship back on track,” she said. “Washington remains deeply troubled by Erdogan’s actions at home, especially in regards to freedom of the press, and remains concerned by core elements of its foreign policy.”

Though she attended the Tuesday night dinner, she declined to comment on any specifics of the meeting. But according to a source in the room, Erdogan seemed eager to compensate for Obama’s snub by speaking directly to Washington’s thought leaders about why Turkey is crucial to U.S. grand strategy and why the Obama administration is taking it for granted.

“The biggest message I heard from Erdogan was: ‘You need us. You can’t win your war in Syria without us,’” said the attendee. The president also made veiled references to deceitfulness of the U.S. media and his view that some journalists were actively working against Turkish interests.

In a sign of his seriousness, the Turkish leader spent about three hours with the group, opening himself up to a range of questions from different academics.

“He didn’t get any nasty questions, but there were a few that if he were a thin-skinned politician, he would’ve melted down,” said the attendee. “He wanted to speak directly to us and without a filter.”

The fact that not a single official from the Obama administration attended the dinner seemed to indicate a growing distrust between the two powers. Erdogan had wanted Obama to attend the opening of a Turkish-funded mosque in Maryland during his visit. When the White House declined, the Turks sought a formal bilateral meeting, but the White House has refused to commit to that as well.

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that Erdogan and Obama are likely to meet informally and “at least have a conversation.” But given that 50 world leaders are in Washington to attend the summit, the president is strapped for time, said Earnest.

Obama once saw Erdogan as a potential bridge between the U.S. and the Muslim world, but those ties have also been put under severe strain because of sharp disagreements about the fight against ISIS.

“Now with terrorism on the top of everyone’s mind, Erdogan seems to be bringing the message that Turkey is on the front-lines and needs to settle its differences for the sake of regional and global stability,” said Joshua Walker, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund who attended the dinner but also declined to discuss specifics of the meeting.

While in town, Erdogan is also meeting with leaders of Jewish organizations, Turkish and American business leaders and holding events at the Brookings Institution and Atlantic Council.


Is there little wonder just why the Obama WH "does not get it".....

That highly touted Obama WH Iran Deal strategy is really working out now for the US in Syria.....those "moderates" can be counted on.....

Iran will continue escalating its involvement in Syria after Obama recognized its "legitimate defense concerns".......ie a land corridor to Hezbollah and Syria a largely Arab Sunni nation state inside the Iranian sphere of influence.......

AND least of all YPG which is getting Russian CAS and being supported by Assad in their attacks against FSA....
America is now in a proxy war with... itself in Syria, as Pentagon and CIA-backed militias repeatedly exchange fire http://ln.is/chicagotribune.com/NUGzP …

Actually it is unusual to see him so open in a long discussion.....Obama WH missed another major chance to do something in the ME...but wait his is retrenching anyway based on his Goldberg interview.

NOW...the interesting question...if both Erdogan and the Saudi's feel the US FP under Obama is not really a FP....will they feel free enough to move into Syria under the banner of an Islamic Army led by KSA......right now that is a very distinct possibility as Obama has 1) no creditability left thus no influence whatsoever and 2) he basically called the US ME allies "free loaders".............

ANOTHER interesting thing is that Erdogan is a strong personality in the room and is very well versed in ME issues and the US has really blown it with their CIA/CENTCOM Kurdish "card" ....NOT so sure Obama can or could directly talk to him as he is in the weaker position if they had talks...thus the not so elegant dismissal of Turkey as the second strongest army in NATO....feel sorry for the next President.

Obama does not like it when he is in the weaker position intellectually speaking...thus he sidesteps issues.

[CrowBat]

CrowBat ...then two points come up...when did they come into country since the Israeli's complained and Russia "supposedly" did not deliver them...secondly there have been comments that Hezbollah has been firing them mainly...so Russia is transferring the knowledge to them...as payment for their fighting in Syria?

Then the recent Israeli comment that 90% has been fired.....makes sense coupled with the marked decrease in their firings.....
This is another of so many absurdities of the situation in Syria: Assadists didn't attack Israel since 1973. However, when they were about to order SS-26s from Russia, back in 2006 (or so), everybody was against that deal and it was cancelled.

Nowadays nobody cares if Russians are not only hauling such weapons to Syria, but even less so if these are delivered to Hezbollah.

Where are all those now who usually can't stop babbling about all sorts of 'mortal threats' for Israeli security...

[CrowBat]

ANNA NEWS with #SAA #SyrianArmy Liwa Al Quds Brigade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc-EQv24q_4 …
Oh but sure: Liwa al-Quds - a gang of PFLP-GC terrorists - is now 'SAA'...

[OUTLAW 09]

Oh but sure: Liwa al-Quds - a gang of PFLP-GC terrorists - is now 'SAA'...

The entire PFPL regardless of splitter grouping use to be high on the US terrorist "hit list" but it seems they have "forgotten them" in the race to hit IS....they have killed over the years a number of Americans but that also seems to have been "forgotten"....

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia'n cluster bombs on Dayr al Asafir SE of #Damascus
(some days ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4ewsmWqliM …

Putin sent #Russia'n mercenaries to #Syria
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/12207659/Vladimir-Putin-sent-Russian-mercenaries-to-fight-in-Syria-and-Ukraine.html …

Syria Brutal regime airstrikes on Dayr al Asafir SE of #Damascus today

#Damascus Recent destruction by regime in Bala area
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktk7xmbpoK4 …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=33.492914&lon=36.422639&z=15&m=b …

Airstrikes on Kafr Zita in northern #Hama

Homs Heavy clashes btw #IS & #Assad-forces about control of Al-Qaryatayn
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=34.219468&lon=37.245712&z=12&m=b …

Multiple Assad airstrikes targeted the #Damascus suburb of #Douma again this morning. No reports of casualties yet

Palmyra Update
Steps after Regime seized city:
1 loot
2 beat/kill/expel civilians left
3 bring selected ppl 2 show normal life back

NOTE: Assad government threatened all employees of the city that fled if they do not return to the city they will be arrested.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian MoD now field testing under combat conditions their VDV sappers....
Russian sappers depart for #Palmyra #demining mission

Interesting is the lack of bomb dogs..only two seen boarding...that is dangerous as the US only knows to well with IS IEDs...they will need far more than two.

NOTE: also allows Russia to bring in basically combat troops using the cover of demining....

[OUTLAW 09]

Breaking
School & hospital hit by regime airstrikes causing ugly massacre in eastern #Ghouta's Bilda Deir Asafir
https://youtu.be/69my6KzZBF8

+10 killed & more wounded in Assad airstrikes targeting a school & a hospital in Deir al-Asafir, rural #Damascus this AM.

no medical attention for many of the wounded as the only field hospital in town has been bombed

[OUTLAW 09]

SyriaCeasefire going well. Assad targeted +25 positions w/ airstrikes/rockets/artillery across Damascus, Hama, Aleppo, Latakia & Homs today

[OUTLAW 09]

Breaking
School & hospital hit by regime airstrikes causing ugly massacre in eastern #Ghouta's Bilda Deir Asafir
https://youtu.be/69my6KzZBF8

+10 killed & more wounded in Assad airstrikes targeting a school & a hospital in Deir al-Asafir, rural #Damascus this AM.

no medical attention for many of the wounded as the only field hospital in town has been bombed

Russia bombed 243 vital civilian facilities - mosques schools hosps etc
http://en.etilaf.org/all-news/local-news/russia-bombed-243-vital-civilian-centers-in-syria-including-50-mosques.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

An Assad tank has reportedly been destroyed & several Assad forces killed in clashes with rebels in the Marj area in E. Ghouta, #Syria

Damascus : Regime helicopters are dumping barrel bombs on #Al_Marj, twelve so far.

Bala & its fields in eastern Ghouta gets its share of Assad airstrikes today as usual. #Damascus, #Syria http://youtu.be/RKqyP0O3LOA

Smoke rises following Assad airstrikes on Harasta in rural #Damascus, #Syria today
http://youtu.be/hwCKYs8W81U

Children wounded in an Assad rocket attack on the al-Salihin district in #Aleppo, #Syria today
http://youtu.be/fpWbPdZLWQA

[OUTLAW 09]

War and Madness: A Retrospective of Five Years of Reporting on the War in Syria
http://www.ukrainebusiness.com.ua/news/17080.html

[OUTLAW 09]

SYRIA: Turkish army ‘ready’ to shell YPG positions if it crosses Azaz-Jarablus line
http://bit.ly/1WZbAY4
pic.twitter.com/0eKnDut6Ar -

[OUTLAW 09]

Breaking
School & hospital hit by regime airstrikes causing ugly massacre in eastern #Ghouta's Bilda Deir Asafir
https://youtu.be/69my6KzZBF8

+10 killed & more wounded in Assad airstrikes targeting a school & a hospital in Deir al-Asafir, rural #Damascus this AM.

no medical attention for many of the wounded as the only field hospital in town has been bombed

This is said to be the 1. video of the #Assad air strike that hit a school in Dayr al Asafir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbT7JoaGofI …

GRAPHIC!!!
Many children killed in #Assad's terrorism east of #Damascus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69my6KzZBF8 …

[OUTLAW 09]

BreakingNews
Dozens of #Assad air strikes on #Douma, killing scores of civilians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX2DawxIAYI …

WELL so much for the so called Russian humanitarian aid they claim they are sending to the 500K besieged and hard to get to locations under their own CoH....

Footage
Russian IL-76 drops "humanitarian aid" on #Assad-held areas near #DeirEzzor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97eHoZ0yvY4 …

VIRTUALLY nothing in the way of aid or medicines have made it to the Sunni besieged towns.....all a Russian Geneva farce.....

Assad bomb doubletap on a Sunni mosque.....
Unbelievable footage from #Douma yday: #Assad double air strike on a mosque destroys it.
https://www.facebook.com/Douma.Revolution.2011/videos/vb.111632495584341/1021849494562632/?type=2&theater

BUT hey based on the Russian statements there is not a single Assad violation of the CoH...all JN/IS and the FSA… the US has remained totally silent the whole time....says something ....

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin ignores #Minsk & #Assad the #SyriaCeasefire.
EU/US leaders absolutely know that but look away & hope to sit it out.
They r so wrong..

The main parallel between #Ukraine and #Syria is the self-deceit of the west to suppress its responsibility to act.

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
@SyriaCivilDef hero's last minutes before getting murdered by #Assad air strike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrQG1dlqrU8 …

The White Helmets ‎@SyriaCivilDef
Dreadful attack in Ghouta today. 32 killed, including one of ours when ambulance hit. Casualties expected to rise

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Naval and Syrian Express on the move again......

FLOT'S Buyan-M cls corvette Serpukhov followed Otrakovsky south. Heading to Syria to replace sister ship Zeleny Dol

Armed with Kalibr SS-N-27 missiles, #ВМФ BSF #ЧФ Buyan-M class Serpukhov is en route to the Eastern Mediterranean

NOTE...it was a SS27 that blew up a year ago during a military celebration naval parade.....

Buyan M class reportedly uses carbon-fibre radar cross section.

Withdrawal continues faster than ever !:) Heavily-laden #ВМФ #Бф BF LST Alexander Otrakovsky 031 transits southbound Bosphorus en route to Tartus

"Reverse Withdrawal" is going on in high pace. A.Otrakovsky seems to be carrying above her 500tons limit, southbound

Fully loaded #ВМФ Бф BF Minsk transited Bosphorus 15:00GMT;This is the 5th Syrian deployment in2016 for ropucha LST

[OUTLAW 09]

Hasaka (beside Tartus) is the only province where #Assad's MilMi8 can fly low as there are no enemies around

The biggest #terrorist in #Syria is back in action.
@SyriaCivilDef copes with his crimes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLePiM_4OrY …

Footage
Panic in #EastGhouta schools after the aimed #Assad air force campaign got known.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XqPUzuf4VI&feature=youtu.be …

The country that threatens everyone to not give MANPADS to rebels in Syria provides then en masse to those in Ukraine

IgorGirkin
‏@GirkinGirkin
Горловка, 31 мар
путенски орк из 3 омсбр с пзрк

[OUTLAW 09]

Fagot #ATGM takes out #ISIS Bulldozer in N-Aleppo
https://youtu.be/5bGfh6utONA

Syria Turkish artillery targeted #ISIS HQ in Al-Kemaliye village Northern #Aleppo

Pro-Assad media claim #ISIL planted 100s of IEDs before left Palmyra. Russia sending mine-clearing experts to help.

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat....what do you think?

Regime loyal Mufti Ahmad Hassoun has left #Syria & arrived in #Oman with his entire family

[OUTLAW 09]

While experts are demining #Palmyra #Russian combat soldiers in trucks and armored vehicles are leaving the city

Convoy of six trucks, one fueler and to BTR82s....evidently Spetsnaz unit....

Turkey army shells hit #Qamishli airport (under control of #Assad-forces)
in kurdish NE #Syria

Jaish al Islam-aircraft dropped leaflets on #Damascus

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/why-the-syrian-regimes-recapture-of-palmyra-was-a-political-move
… via @TheNationalUAE


Syrian regime’s recapture of Palmyra was a political move

Hassan Hassan

March 30, 2016 Updated: March 30, 2016 11:55 PM


The capture of Palmyra this week was a clear attempt by the regime of Bashar Al Assad to rewrite history.

Damascus and its allies presented the victory as part of the wider campaign to strike extremists in Syria.

In truth, they wanted a victory to strengthen the regime’s political position in the peace talks, after a relentless Russian air campaign helped Mr Al Assad’s forces secure its territory and reorganise its forces to launch offensives against mainstream rebel groups.

The recapture of Palmyra does not mean the regime will now focus on ISIL and Al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat Al Nusra.

Yet Mr Al Assad has successfully turned the narrative upside down in an attempt to showcase his forces as a bulwark against radicalism.

This cynical plan began shortly after Russia launched its military intervention in September. Some observers visiting Beirut, Damascus, Tehran or Moscow returned with a similar conclusion: that a push to retake Palmyra from ISIL was imminent.

As talk of a Palmyra offensive circulated, western governments estimated that more than 90 per cent of Russian air strikes had hit regular opposition forces, not ISIL.

The floating of a plan for a symbolic victory over ISIL was designed to divert attention from the real objective – weakening the opposition and securing the regime’s heartlands.

The expulsion of ISIL from Palmyra should be welcomed by everyone, including the opposition. But a line should also be drawn between celebrating the survival of the ancient ruins and celebrating a dictator that remorselessly reduced much of his country to rubble. For Syrians, Palmyra is symbolic not only for historical reasons but also because its notorious Tadmur Prison epitomised the regime’s repressive machine.

But it is also for practical reasons that the regime’s claims should be rejected.

Some reports stated that the regime would use Palmyra as a launch pad to retake Deir Ezzor and Raqqa from ISIL, despite the fact Raqqa is located much closer to the regime’s strongholds in Aleppo and Hama than Palmyra. Others inaccurately characterised the regime’s win in Palmyra as the biggest military defeat for ISIL in two years.

Observers should not make the mistake of overstating the regime’s capabilities as they did in February when many thought government forces were about to retake Aleppo.

The capture of Palmyra was primarily a political move. Palmyra and Raqqa have suddenly become strategically important for the regime – part of “useful Syria" – to beef up its position as the most effective force against extremists.

The regime may seek to retake the Tabqa airbase in Raqqa to both assert its “sovereignty" on the only province where the regime has no presence and to demonstrate it is a capable force against extremists, especially as the truce between the government and the rebels persists.

But the mainstream rebels will continue to be its main target, a strategy that has long enabled the rise of extremist forces in Syria.

In December 2014, the British defence think tank IHS Jane’s issued data showing that the regime and ISIL were “ignoring each other". For Syrians inside the country, such strategy was so evident that many went further to claim the regime and ISIL were working together, especially when the two attacked the rebels at the same time or when the regime targeted the rebels and turned a blind eye to the ISIL bases across the country.

The presence of extremist forces is convenient for the Assad regime as long as the rebels pose a threat to its rule. That it will now turn its attention to destroy ISIL is a fantasy, even if it has the strength and resources to do so.

The capture of Palmyra was a clear prize, given its symbolism for people inside and outside Syria.

Yet the response to the capture of Palmyra revealed the vulnerability of outsiders to the regime’s playing of the extremism card.

By rescuing the “pearl of the desert" from ISIL, the regime and its allies wanted to show they are the defenders of civilisation.

But the regime stands accused of being responsible for the rise of these extremist forces, both directly and indirectly, and failing to defend Palmyra as it did other militarily important areas.

[OUTLAW 09]

CrowBat...what do you think?


Some bios say #Nusra's leader was radicalized by Abu al-Qaqa (an Assad agent) + fought with Fatah al-Islam (heavily manipulated by Assad).

According to #IS's activists, #Nusra's leader was released by Assad at the outset of the uprising (an accusation that's appeared elsewhere).

Claim from pro-#IS source: This is #Nusra leader Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, real name Ahmed Hussein Ali al-Sharaa.

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad's airstrikes on East Ghouta are on the rebel group that has most consistently and comprehensively (far more than Assad) fought #IS.

Erdogan says it is important that Western States treat all terrorist organizations the same.

Erdogan says that the West must reject the idea that "YPG are good terrorists just because they fight Daesh."

Erdogan draws a parallel between the PYD/PKK and Jabhat an-Nusra, says that simply fighting #IS does not stop a group being terrorist.

Erdogan says the #PKK is raising funds in Europe and weapons abroad to send to the #PYD/#YPG in #Syria.

Erdogan says the #PKK are exploiting the #Syria situation and the anti-#IS war for their own agenda.

Erdogan says that Turkey is the "motherland" of #Cyprus and wants a just and fair settlement.

Erdogan demands that #Ukraine's territorial integrity be respected, including #Crimea and the #Tatars.

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels seized al-Ahmadiya & Tal Battal in northern #Aleppo from #IS

SyriaCivilDef centre in Deir al-Asafir destroyed by Assad airstrikes today.

Reports Nusra has released Ahmad al-Ismael & Ahmad al-Abrash from Div 13 & rev activist Husam Hazber. #Idlib

Reports now of an Assad MLRS attack on the Marj area in eastern Ghouta,

Aleppo: ISIS facing fronts from Assad & YPG but decide to attack Rebels in Mrigel, never mind, Rebels crushed them
https://youtu.be/5bGfh6utONA

Michael Weiss ‏@michaeldweiss
Ceasefire: Damascus town rocked by airstrike “massacre”: activists
http://mme.cm/F4AW00 via @NOW_eng

Child rescued from underneath rubble after Assad regime airstrikes that massacred civilians in Deir Assafir
https://youtu.be/_IC2piYHMrE'
AND still smiling

Not less than 20 people inc women & children were killed in Assad airstrikes on a hospital & school in Deir al-Asafir, rural #Damascus today

The patience of the Syrian rebels is unbelievable. Assad breached the US/RU/UN ceasefire 900+ times, and they solely fought in self-defense

[OUTLAW 09]

Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister

Sarin gas, barrel bombs, industrial torture, 50% displacement & 100,000s dead…
Yet some otherwise intelligent people say #Assad = solution!

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian media: we are prepared to forgive armed opposition if they lay down their arms

“They have just now given us new supplies of everything..." An #FSA commander #Aleppo
https://tcf.org/content/commentary

Deraa: ISIS recapture Sheikh Saad from Rebels but Rebels managed to kill a top ISIS commander Abu Obeid

Assad regime arrested around 300 men in Deir Ezzor to forcibly conscript them to die for Assad
http://en.eldorar.com/node/1883

Footage
Also in #Latakia, the #Assad army broke the ceasefire - as every day - today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-6HmqMA8RA …