Syria in 2016 (April-June) [Archive] - Page 3

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 08:57 AM

CrowBat......I mentioned the Haqshbandi support to Assad for years because of this interesting connection.

Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09 View Post
CrowBat.......a side question...is the Sufi Naqshbandi still supporting Assad as they were say back in 2012/2013??
Oh my... didn't follow related developments that closely ever since, but apparently: yes.

Starting before the US Army arrived in Baghdad an Iraqi Salafist group Islamic Army in Iraq sprung into full scale guerrilla warfare complete with electronic detonated IEDs when no other group knew how to even wire them.

Notice the name...Islamic Army in Iraq not of Iraq.....they had been in the underground after Desert Storm days....

Just a short description of them...
The Islamic Army of Iraq (IAI) was one of Iraq's most powerful Sunni insurgent groups. The Islamic Army of Iraq, a key Sunni resistance group, allegedly included former members of the Ba'ath Party. When Saddam’s regime fell in 2003, the majority of Salafists were traditional and moderate and many initially did not choose armed confrontation with US forces.

The Islamic Army of Iraq was said to have kept a distance from armed Sunnis groups affiliated with both the Baathists and al-Qaeda. By one account, the leaders of armed Iraqi Salafi groups, such as units from the Islamic Army of Iraq, Abu Bakr Army and the Saad Army followed the teaching of Syrian Mohammed al-Saroor, not Ayman al-Zawahiri or Osama Bin Laden [Syria's Salafi Networks - Center For Complex Operations]. But by another account, the Salafi armed groups that appeared in 2003, including Ansar al-Sunnah and the Islamic Army of Iraq, were made up of individuals “with ties to or admiration for Osama bin Laden.” In Iraq, IAI “cooperated with Zarqawi’s group,” as did Ansar al-Sunnah [Hashim, Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Iraq, p. 175].

Most of the actual Sunni insurgent groups such as al Sunnah, Revolution 1920, and a few others were in the inner circle with IAI as the strongest Sunni counterweight to first QJBR then AQI then IS....they would often carry out major attacks with IS and IS shared funding streams.

IAI was active from 2003 through to 2011 and gave us the most heartburn.... more so than AQI.....then about late 2010 we saw a shift on the jihadist videos being released by IAI...they became fewer and fewer and then suddenly out of nowhere Haqshbandi (2010) started releasing professionally made videos of full military training, explosives making on an industrial scale...literally tons per month and carried out well planned attacks separately and together with AQI now IS.

Unknown at that time was that the Iraqi General al Duri...was heading Haqshbandi in Iraq.....he had been connected to IAI but more in a funding role and internal leadership council role and would float between Diyala Province and Syria.

In 2006, the then AQI now IS religious Emir for Mosul fled with his wife under heavy JSOC pressure..... to Damascus......just as al Duri who also hung out in Damascus.

So the question...are the Haqshbandi the old line Sufi Salafist connection to Assad and were in play long before Assad linked into IS and does Assad via say al Duri have far more influence into IS and then onto Iran than we have given him credit for and vice versa from the Iranian side via the Haqshbandi??

I do not know just how many Iraqi IAI Salafists I was chasing that when under pressure hit the highway to Damascus only to return a few months later when the search pressure was off and if and when we did pick one up they always stated they had no problems in Damascus as long as they had money and were not illegally working which seemed to get them in trouble quicker with Syrian Security than being Iraqi jihadists. Money they seemed to always have but drinking tea all day was boring so many wanted to work to support their families who also were in Syria or had remained inside Iraq. Surprisingly we never asked if they were Sufi....as it was always assumed jihadists were Salafists or Takfirists....

There have been recent tensions between IS and Haqshbandi in Iraq over IS killing of several Haqshbandi leaders and I have not been able to get a copy of a recent al Duri speech...which is interesting as he has not been prone to speech making and then releasing them.

The reason I am interested in the Haqshbandi is their ease with relating to and with Shia especially of the Khomeini revolutionary Islam flavor...while Sufi'sm and Shi'ism share a number of Islamic inner and outward common touch points...far more than many think possible.

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 12:51 PM

The Assad/Putin ceasefire that really never was one is all about dead.....just like the Russian constant attacks in the so called Minsk 2 ceasefire......

Another 9 killed in Bala, E. Ghouta inc women & children in Assad artillery shelling. Death everywhere today.

45 people killed & dozens injured by Assad airforce in Kafranble & Marat al-Numan. It is safe to say the fragile cease-fire in Syria is over

At least 25 dead & nearly 100 wounded in Asaad airstrikes on a vegetable market in Ma'arat al-Nouman, #Idlib today

Graphic photos from Marrat al-Numman vegetable market targeted by #Assad airforce also today.

Syria'n regime airstrikes on markets in Maarrat al-Numan &
Kafranbel towns in #Idlib prov. killed 20+ people today
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.616698&lon=36.637344&z=13&m=b …
Assad airforce back to deliberately targeting marketplaces in rebel-held areas regardless of the #ceasefire agreed.

Assad airforce target Marketplace in Kafranbel #Idlib kills at least 4 people.

Houla's hospital after the attack.
Lots of children affected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfk7DB9PAZw …

Footage
Doctors try to save people in #Talbisah's hospital after #Assad air force raids.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw26ng-8Z4U …

BREAKING: Regime warplanes have once again targeted Maarit Anuman and continue to circle over the town.

John Kerry can really negotiate one hell of a ceasefire

Minsk 2 in eastern Ukraine is in tatters after the last four weeks of Russian shelling's and intensive ground attacks which have resulted in a number of Russian soldiers killed and or wounded.....

BUT WAIT....both are "largely holding"...whatever than means....

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 12:59 PM

I posted this yesterday minus the actual airdrop video....initially all were calling it a Russian airdrop and missed the C130.........

Footage
#Iran drops supplies over #Fuah and #Kefarya, #Idlib province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5z7o1YtBXw …

BreakingFootage
Heavy damage and injuries in #Assad bombing raids on #Talbisah today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo9guRfCrTw …

More agreements between #ISIS and #Assad regime
http://ow.ly/4mQsBv

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 01:03 PM

Assad AF pilots are not totally consumed by MANPAD fear...were firing anti missile flares.....

Over #Houla today. Seems #Assad's pilots are aware of the threat.

BreakingNews
The #FSA in #Homs province claims to have received FN-6 MANPADS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOYI-3IbgDY …
Not sure if this is for info war purposes or missiles are truly armed and ready.

BUT it got the Assad AF and the RuAF attention quickly.......

Now we need to see if they are used against attack helicopters.....

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 01:10 PM

BreakingNews
#Kilis is once again under #ISIS rocket attack. A fire broke out.

Syria Opposition HNC ‏@SyrianHNC_en
Hijab: there is no cessation of hostilities in the ground because the regime is not held accountable.

BreakingNews
Dozens killed, injured in #Assad air strikes on peaceful towns in the free parts of #Syria today.

Houla's hospital after the attack.
Lots of children affected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfk7DB9PAZw …

An #Assad air strike on a market in #KafrNabl caused a massacre shortly ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVzSanlN0 …

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 01:26 PM

#Syria 12 airstrikes today only on #Houla area in NW-Homs today
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=34.897758&lon=36.501389&z=13&m=b …

Rebels shelling #Assad-forces in Hakoura /#Ghab from west bank of the channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0HULUSsywc …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.607557&lon=36.326509&z=15&m=b …

The White Helmets ‏@SyriaCivilDef ·
Reports that a market has been shelled just now in Kafr Nubl. 7 killed so far.

Frontline in #Hama's #Ghab plain calm today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMbjz_KoKck …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.628907&lon=36.329212&z=14&m=b …

Jaish al-Nasr deploying what appears to be a well-disguised tank at the Hakoura front today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O594-J0H5I8&feature=youtu.be …

After 2 fighter jets recently downed in #Hama & #Aleppo provinces, (new) MANPADS surfacing now in #Latakia & #Homs.

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 01:45 PM

IS claims advances against Syrian forces at various areas of Deir Ezzor today

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 01:55 PM

A dozen regime airstrikes on towns in northern #Homs this morning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahyHHk_Gp4A …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyav-Z_hWUU …

Ukraine’s open-source intelligence @en_InformNapalm prove Russia’s marines fought in Palmyra
https://informnapalm.org/en/russian-marines-palmyra/ …

Homs: Heavy #Assad regime airstrikes on #Talbiseh again. Civilians killed and wounded, houses destroyed. #Syria

Same Marine unit...............

2014 #Luhansk rgn @askai707 RU marines of 61st separate marine brigade in #Vyshnevyi_Dil
http://youtu.be/OF8LUQ0su2s

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 02:10 PM

Iranians taking highest death toll in #Syria (34.6%), then Palestinians (19%), Hezbollah (16.4%) & Iraqis (15.2%)

S. #Aleppo (28%), N. Aleppo (24.5%) & #Khanasser (24.2%) are the 3 fronts w/ highest foreign fighters casualties.

Aleppo by far the main province w/ pro-Regime foreign presence (77% of all casualties) follo. by Damascus (16%)

Christians fighting for Assad seems a myth: less than 1% died fighting Rebels/#ISIS & mainly in own provinces.

Damascus, E. #Homs (#Palmyra-Qaryatayn) & #Latakia are the 3 fronts with highest Syrian casualties last 75 days

Mobility of Syrian forces: #Tartus is major contributor for 70% fronts. Majority of local fighters in Hama & Homs

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 03:16 PM

Just because an ATGM hits a tank...not necessarily a kill.........Trial by fire: BLAZER ERA on Turkish army M60T proves itself against Kornet ATGM

9M133 Kornet vs M60T. We have a winner! The M60T!

Unverified imagery rpt shows #ISIS Kornet ATGM attack & damage to #Turkey M60T MBT #Iraq
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oersZov_TQ …

Turkish M60T/Sabra tank gets hit by Kornet #missile in #Iraq, seems to survive
http://amaqvideos.pw/v/bq19042016-360.mp4 …

Lightly damaged still combat ready....

Turkish press has reported that Turkish military returned fire, killing 32 IS members in a building. INdirectly confirmed

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 03:18 PM

So much for Kerry, Obama and Geneva 3....SO now what is that vaulted US Plan B Obama and Kerry spoke about if the ceasefire and Geneva fails......????

The Daily Star ‎@DailyStarLeb
Syrian opposition negotiator leaving Geneva
http://bit.ly/1Ssuwkd

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 03:22 PM

A tongue and cheek FSA field comment just in......

Clashes in Qalamoun finnished after more than 12 days. Syria Opposition in coord. with SAA regained all lost areas

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 03:27 PM

BreakingNews
The #FSA in #Homs province claims to have received FN-6 MANPADS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOYI-3IbgDY …
Not sure if this is for info war purposes or missiles are truly armed and ready.

Harakat Tahrir #Homs has obtained some MANPADS, training its members how to use them
https://youtu.be/uOYI-3IbgDY

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 03:30 PM

Aleppo: #Syria|n rebels have repelled an #Assad offensive along the highway in Southern #Aleppo and destroyed 1 regime tank.

Iran and #JN at war in #Aleppo while regime is busy killing #Syrian civilians. Unbelievable.

Latakia: #Syrian rebels killed 50-60 #Assad forces around #Jabal_Akrad in #Latakia province today.

Turkey's southern border is under rocket fire from ISIS for a second straight day
http://read.bi/1WDbBDa

Picture: Four Afghan fighters part of the IRGC Fatimiyoun Brigade recently killed in #Syria

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 03:50 PM

NOW we can fully understand just why the USMC transferred their EB6 Prowlers to Turkey......definitely to threaten Russian AD systems....they arrived in turkey several days ago along with support crews.

Russia 'breaks' military deal with America and threatens US warplanes over Syria - The Telegraph
https://apple.news/AshDeYzK1Q9yGCuj7WiCFjQ …

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 03:55 PM

Michael Weiss
✔ ‎@michaeldweiss Assad is a true-blue counterterrorist. People rally against al-Qaeda, and so he bombs the people:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJTBWaJB7l0 …

E. Al Qalamon – Rahman corps is sending more reinforcements

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 04:07 PM

Well we are now just short of a Turkish and Saudi intervention into Syria....

https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2016/04/19/kerry-blames-opposition-for-continued-syria-bombing-via-meb-feb2016/

Kerry ‘blames opposition’ for continued Syria bombing via MEB Feb/2016

US Secretary of State John Kerry told Syrian aid workers, hours after the Geneva peace talks fell apart, that the country should expect another three months of bombing that would “decimate” the opposition.

During a conversation on the sidelines of this week’s Syria donor conference in London, sources say Kerry blamed the Syrian opposition for leaving the talks and paving the way for a joint offensive by the Syrian government and Russia on Aleppo.

“‘He said, ‘Don’t blame me – go and blame your opposition,’” one of the aid workers, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her organization, told Middle East Eye.

Kerry told reporters on Friday, as tens of thousands fled the Syrian government and Russian bombardment of Aleppo, that both Russia and Iran, another of Syria’s allies, have told him that they are prepared for a ceasefire in Syria.

He said he would know “whether or not these parties are serious” after a meeting of the International Syria Support Group – 17 nations including the US and Russia – scheduled to be held in Munich next week.

But Kerry left the aid workers with the distinct impression that the US is abandoning efforts to support rebel fighters.

Kerry told reporters on Friday, as tens of thousands fled the Syrian government and Russian bombardment of Aleppo, that both Russia and Iran, another of Syria’s allies, have told him that they are prepared for a ceasefire in Syria.

CAN anyone explain to me just why does Kerry believe he can trust anything Putin and Khamenei tell him...REMEMBER it was Kerry who stated twice that Iran was pulling out their troops..instead more flowed into Syrian...AND Putin stated he was withdrawing but sent more into Syria....

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 04:20 PM

Russian soldiers ontop of a R-166 0,5 radiostation in Palmyra
http://www.canalplus.fr/c-infos-documentaires/pid3356-effet-papillon.html?vid=1382917 …

Liwa al-Haqq announces resumption of southern Aleppo offensive
https://twitter.com/lewaa_al_haq/status/722434739962015745 …

Faylaq, Nusra, Ahrar & others launch new offensive on in Khan Tuman, Zaytan, Barnah, Qalajbiyah &Tulaylat south Alep

[B]Turkey deploys tanks and armored vehicles to Kilis on the Syrian border following a barrage of shells landing there.

Interesting video this - missile strike on Turkish tank in Iraq. Looks like those armour upgrades paid off...is basically a Sabra Mk.II, appliqué armor + ERA

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 04:24 PM

Just because an ATGM hits a tank...not necessarily a kill.........Trial by fire: BLAZER ERA on Turkish army M60T proves itself against Kornet ATGM

Turkish press has reported that Turkish military returned fire, killing 32 IS members in a building. INdirectly confirmed

Turkish General Staff stated that the tank that was hit engaged ISIL unit that fired the ATGM with 8 shells

OUTLAW 09

04-19-2016, 04:32 PM

Michael Weiss
✔ ‎@michaeldweiss ISIL considers Al Qaeda to be “the Jews of jihad":
http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/is-it-possible-that-al-nusra-and-isil-will-join-forces …

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 04:15 AM

Regime's Mercedes and opposition's bus in Geneva say it all.
https://zamanalwsl.net/news/70331.html#.Vxb2FhlDfAB.twitter …

Opposition Forces Advance in #Daraa's Countryside
http://goo.gl/kq0PCs

Syria Cease-Fire Crumbles as Bombings Kill Dozens, via @nytimes
nytimes.com/2016/04/20/world/middleeast/syria-cease-fire.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share …

Squadron detterents of opressors" assasinate Sargent 'Abd al-Hameed Kaow' (part of Palestinian sector) in #Damascus

Airstrike on al-Houlah village north Homs.
https://youtu.be/70--LihgVOI

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 04:24 AM

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/syrias-zombie-cease-fire/2016/04/19/a6d8a250-0654-11e6-bdcb-0133da18418d_story.html?postshare=5081461120145051&tid=ss_tw-bottom

The U.S. props up Syria’s sham cease-fire

By Editorial Board April 19 at 6:37 PM

THE SYRIAN cease-fire has achieved diplomatic zombie status: It is dead but lives on in the otherworldly rhetoric of its promoters, headed by the Obama administration. Heavy fighting has resumed in several parts of the country, including south of Aleppo, in the coastal province of Latakia and in the suburbs of Damascus. Humanitarian aid deliveries have virtually ceased. Airstrikes killed dozens of civilians in two rebel-held towns in Idlib province on Tuesday. In Geneva, the head of the opposition’s delegation said it would not return to U.N.-sponsored peace talks until the government stopped its attacks and allowed aid convoys to enter besieged areas.

The U.S. response to this renewed carnage has been to point out, weakly, that not every part of Syria has returned to all-out war. “More Syrian people are living better lives as a result of the cessation than they were before,” State Department spokesman John Kirby declared Monday. Unfortunately, such rhetoric appears to be all the United States has to offer. Since President Obama refuses to take steps such as creating a safe zone for refugees or stepping up aid to the rebels, the United States lacks leverage over the regime of Bashar al-Assad and its Russian and Iranian allies.

The Assad regime breached the cease-fire from its inception in late February. It has continued to assault strategic territory in the Damascus suburbs and around Aleppo, which is split between opposition and government-controlled areas. It has blocked humanitarian convoys and stripped some of those it has allowed of vital medical equipment, in direct violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254, which set the terms for the cease-fire. U.N. officials reported last week that there had been only four aid operations this month and that less than 1 percent of besieged civilians had been supplied.

In Geneva, the regime’s negotiators have flatly rejected the Security Council’s terms for a settlement, which begin with the creation of a transitional government. In Damascus, the prime minister brazenly announced that preparations were underway “with our Russian partners” to “liberate” the rebel-held side of Aleppo, which would require a major new offensive and months of bloody fighting. Russia, which portrays itself as the United States’ co-sponsor of the cease-fire , has done nothing to rein in the regime. On the contrary, its planes continue to back up government forces near Aleppo, weeks after the “withdrawal” ostentatiously staged by Vladimir Putin.

The White House reported Monday that Mr. Obama had spoken to Mr. Putin by telephone about the unraveling cease-fire. A statement suggested he covered all the bases, including “the importance of pressing the Syrian regime to halt its offensive attacks against the opposition,” the urgency of humanitarian access and the need for progress toward a political solution. But there was no indication that Mr. Putin was given any incentive to respond cooperatively, other than an appeal to his goodwill. If that’s the case, the cease-fire will remain a zombie.

Exactly the same thing that Putin is doing in eastern Ukraine...there he have never implemented a single point of Minsk 2 AND always blames the Ukrainians just as Kerry NOW blames the opposition...

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 04:56 AM

This is (not) funny, kids!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI3mjbaIO7o …
;-)

“Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.”
― Mark Twain

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 04:59 AM

Assad-regime resume its airstrike campaign on residential areas in #Aleppo city
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YvjiB7gbtE …

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 05:03 AM

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 05:16 AM

Reading Turkish news today,the country slides exactly in that multi-front war,experts predicted a year ago would in fact happen......

Assad air strikes hit the #Zeyzoun power plant in the #Ghab plain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN-askC_FvI …

Houla yesterday
Children running for cover, #Assad bombing civilians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1iL3ibPNFY …

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 04:36 PM

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 04:57 PM

FSA repelled heavy #ISIL attack on Mar'e north Aleppo and seized weapons and vehicles.
ISIS tried to advance under heavy shelling, rocket fire & VBIEDs, reports over 30 ISIS fighters were killed & 3 VBIEDs destroyed

At least 10 #ISIL militiamen killed in the attack on Mar'e.
http://youtu.be/U-tKX3cqW6Q

Burning #IS-vehicles after failed to storm Mare town in northern #Aleppo

The Red Crescent evacuating around 200 remaining #IS proxy members from Dumayr city #Syria #Damascus

Clashes btw #Assad-forces & kurdish #Asayish-forces spread to several neighborhoods (north/east/south) in #Qamishli
13 Syrian regime soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdish forces in Qamishlo city, Rojava

Night launch of SCUD missiles from #SAA Base (Brigade 155)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bRCgmHr0G8 …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=33.709775&lon=36.480103&z=13&m=b …

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 05:04 PM

Aleppo: Airstrikes targeted al Mansoora, Khan al Assal, Khan Touman, al Zerba, Ikarda,Tal Hadia, Kafr Hamra,Salaheddin, & al Castello Road

Breaking 2 Iranians of 65th Special Forces brigade,Hossein Hemmati & Sadegh Shibak killed in southern Aleppo,Syria

Dozens of fighters from #IS (3 offshoot-groups) surrendered to #FSA & #JaI in #Dumayr suburb NE of #Damascus

Rebels at Maasara/dam barrier in western #Daraa to fight against #IS-offshoots
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=32.802318&lon=35.914028&z=16&m=b …

Aleppo: #IslamicState attacked #FSA-area at border to #Turkey with ~30 vehicle bombs the past 3 weeks
No attacks on #YPG or #SAA

Rebels at Maasara/dam barrier in western #Daraa to fight against #IS-offshoots
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=32.802318&lon=35.914028&z=16&m=b …

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 05:09 PM

Opposition Forces Advance in #Daraa's Countryside & captured #Ayn_Thakar from #ISIS #LShY

Opposition controlled #saham_jolan Dam from por #ISIS #LShY in west #Daraa province

Fighting in S-W #Daraa that led to the capture of the Saham al Jawlan Dam by #FSA troops.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUXKr1Uy_c4 …

The #FSA restored all defensive positions around #Marea after #ISIS advances on them last night.

Iranian #IRGC Mohammad Hossein Hamzeh killed in southern Aleppo,Syria.

IS took entire control of Industrial district of #DeirEzzor city after clashes with #Assad-forces
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.319747&lon=40.161445&z=16&m=b …

FSA reached western entrance of Nafi'yah -a stronghold from #IS-offshoots in western #Daraa province
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=32.808775&lon=35.898943&z=14&m=b …

3 #Assad air strikes hit rebel-held #Houla town in #Homs province so far today.

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 05:21 PM

Dr Jaber Alsiwat
‏@jsiwat
President Obama was received by Riyadh governor at the airport.
The king had a very busy schedule receiving GCC leaders this morning.

Not busy. Just a straight out snub.

Khamenei.ir
‏@khamenei_ir
On youths, there is an intangible soft war going on between the Islamic Republic and the U.S. and the Zionists.

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 05:31 PM

FSA repels #ISIS near #Marea.
But see how they stop to shoot with no cover at all ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-tKX3cqW6Q …

Iran announces the deaths of 5 more Fatimiyou members in #Syria.
3 Afghans and 2 Iranians.

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 05:40 PM

Same procedure as every day east of #Damascus.
#Assad pounds civilians and rebels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y7unoBnVNM&feature=youtu.be …

Clashes btw #Assad-forces & #IslamicState south of #Palmyra today after last attacked outpost

Major Assad Kurdish clash is now ongoing......Assad loses are mounting.....
Battle btw #Assad-forces & kurdish #Asayish-forces in #Qamishli today
~20 dead so far & clashes continues

AT LEAST 35 SYRIAN ARMY SOLDIERS CAPTURED ALIVE BY YPG IN QAMISHLO, WEST KURDISTAN.

Qamishlo Update:

Automated Bakery liberated
Allaya Prison liberated
Baath Barracks liberated
NDF Base, Security Square surrounded
Road cut

FSA News
‏@FSATruth
108 killed by regime & Russian strikes across #Syria y'day
53 in #Idlib
12 in #Damascus area

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 06:10 PM

42 people died from #Assad regime's bombs on Maarat al-Numaan shops in #Syria

Michael Weiss
✔ ‎@michaeldweiss US Officials Say Russia Preparing For Aleppo Offensive As Syria ‘Ceasefire’ Collapses
http://www.interpretermag.com/us-officials-say-russia-preparing-for-aleppo-offensive-as-syria-ceasefire-collapses/ …

JUST as in eastern Ukraine with Minsk 2 which Putin has never fulfilled a single point of the 11 points.....

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 06:41 PM

Saudi official: US wants greater special forces and naval cooperation with Gulf states to counter Iran
http://buff.ly/1MHFboT

BUT WAIT did not Obama sell congress the Iran Deal because he was betting on the Iranian moderates......did they all disappear...yes they did...all went to Syria to fight FSA not IS......

Really........all tension points settled...seriously doubt it.......
After 2 1/2 hr mtg, WH official declares US & #SaudiArabia "really cleared the air" on "ALL tension points."

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 06:56 PM

Ukrainian SBU reporting on ISIS recruiters activity among foreign students in Kharkiv
http://liveuamap.com/en/2016/20-april-sbu-reporting-on-isis-recruiters-activity-among …

Qamishli: Heavy fighting between #YPG & #Assad forces continues tonight. Regime calls residents to join the fight.
https://twitter.com/yeniarin_/status/722842852552740865 …

Update #Qamishlo
#kurdish anti terror arrested #regime reinforcement convoy coming from #Airport to security block

Kurdish forces stormed Prison held by #Assad-forces in #Qamishli
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=37.049689&lon=41.258801&z=18&m=b …

Kurdish #Asayish-forces destroyed vehicle from #Assad-forces near City Department in #Qamishli

Sources in Qamishlo say fighting between Kurdish forces & regime militia intensified

Kurdish forcs have seized several military barracks of Syrian regime in Qamishlo

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 07:11 PM

US Official says Russia has moved artillery units from Palmyra to Aleppo, Latakia. Now conducts 12 airstrikes a day

7 Afghans of #IRGC's Fatemyoun brigade killed in southern Aleppo,Syria;buried today in Qom,Iran.

Rebel group claims assassinations of two regime security officials in Damascus.
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566895-shadowy-rebels-conducting-damascus-assassinations …

Clear Regime escalation today: unable to progress on the ground, it resumed large airstrike campaign on whole Rebel-held N. & Central #Syria

"SAA cancels DEz offensive": sounds like implicit admission pro-Regime forces are unable to lead several offensives. http://en.abna24.com/service/middle-east-west-asia/archive/2016/04/19/748412/story.html …

Lack of Russian air support?

Syria:Growing U.S.frustration w/ Hawar-Kilis ops room inability to make progress against IS in north Aleppo.May turn to SDF in next 2 weeks

How many weeks & hundreds of US airstrikes did #PKK #YPG need to even retake #Kobane??
Compare to how many CAS Mare?

Jaish al-Izza targeted an #ATGM position with a #Fagot in N. #Latakia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naF2ZH08qnM …

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 07:25 PM

The largest-caliber mortar system in the world is shelling cities in #Syria and #Ukraine.
http://www.offiziere.ch/?p=27125

Syria Reports that #FSA retook Kafr Ghan in northern #Aleppo from #IslamicState tonight
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.630063&lon=37.187433&z=14&m=b …

ISIS overruns part of Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzor city
http://ara.tv/v7zmx via @AlArabiya_Eng

OUTLAW 09

04-20-2016, 07:42 PM

An incredible admission by Philip Gordon: Obama Should Have Bombed Assad Over CW- in convo w @JeffreyGoldberg http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/04/philip-gordon-barack-obama-doctrine/479031/ …

TRUELY worth reading the entire article...and then go back and read the Obama interview........

QUOTES from the article......

“I think sometimes, on the credibility point, on the deterrence point, you actually have to be willing to do things that are a cost to you.”

On the subject of Saudi Arabia, a country for which Obama feels no great fondness, I asked Gordon if he thought that the president is actually up-ending another aspect of the so-called playbook, by questioning its worth as an ally. “This is another example of the difficulty of challenging the playbook,” he said, “and it frankly demonstrates why we follow the playbook—because certain policies are in our interests. Whatever the president might think of Saudi Arabia, it turns out that it’s important for the U.S. to have strong relations there, and in the broader Gulf. Whatever he thinks personally, he is following a decades-old policy of pursuing strong relations in the Gulf region. And if you think about it, what would challenging the playbook on Saudi Arabia consist of? Promoting regime change? Refusing to sell them weapons or defend them? Would that lead to a better outcome for us? Whatever our differences, it’s not as if there are good alternatives to our partnership.”

In other words Obama not executing strategy to empower Iran. He just doesn't understand MENA

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 05:00 AM

Jaysh al-Islam confirm the remaining #ISIL troops left Dumayer after deal with Assad army for safe passage to Badiya

Assad and YPG work together still in Aleppo and its countryside against rebels but fight over territory in Qamishli.

Assad-Warplane on low level flight above #Qamischli- threatens #Kurds to share fate of bombed out towns in #Syria

Rebels coalition retake Kafr Ghan and al-Hamzat villages from #ISIL north Aleppo.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.628341&lon=37.184429&z=14&m=b …

For the first time #USAF conducted airstrikes with B-52 in #Syria & #Iraq
Dr Partizan ‏@DrPartizan_ · 8h8 hours ago

Journalist in Qamişlo, who denied Allya prison was fully controlled by Kurdish forces earlier today, says the prison has been liberated now

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 06:05 AM

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 06:52 AM

Inspired by @EliotHiggins, Google’s New YouTube App Crowdsources War Reporting with the help of @Storyful
http://www.wired.com/2016/04/googles-youtube-montage-crowdsources-war-reporting/ … via WIRED

Social media open source analysis has now gone mainstream.....will be interesting to see if western MSM keeps up.....

Eliot Higgins ‎@EliotHiggins
Details about Montage, the new conflict video analysis platform
https://medium.com/jigsaw/montage-the-next-generation-of-war-reporting-a04f4176aff#.nqpk2btk5 …
Access it here http://montage.storyful.com

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 07:16 AM

20 Afghans of #IRGC's Fatemiyun brigade killed in Aleppo,Syria buried in last 24hours in different cities in Iran.

The Washington Post: Russian artillery, Syrian troops shifting back to northern Syria
http://www.unian.info/world/1325704-the-washington-post-russian-artillery-syrian-troops-shifting-back-to-northern-syria.html …

REGARDLESS of what Putin states which is usually nothing but lies to begin with.....Putin actually supports the complete taking over of Syria by Assad...notice all Russian military activities actually support every move Assad makes...WHILE Putin talks about reconciliation he actually pushes total elimination of the anti Assad opposition together with Iran.

ALLOWING IS to fully survive which his FSB has a tight relationship with over the last years.

BEST EXAMPLE from yesterday of this Russian/Assad/Iran/YPG/IS deep relationship.........
Jaysh al-Islam confirm the remaining #ISIL troops left Dumayer after deal with Assad army for safe passage to Badiya

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 07:30 AM

Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister
Absolute must watch series of @BBCNews reports on @Raqqa_SL ft. @3z0ooz, @HussamEesa @hamoud_almousa, @Sarmad_AlJilane & more…

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwGm0s2b3N4 …

2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5i5ZPWivA4 …

3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8KDldAoDMU …

4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPn2scOP3HE …

5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPIWHZ6eTyU …

Great examples of how social media is reporting Syria WHEN western MSM seems to be somewhere else on the planet BUT not in Syria and or Ukraine where the first wars of the 21st century are actively being fought.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 07:32 AM

Kyle W. Orton ‏@KyleWOrton
Late to this ... Jihadi Rivalry: The Islamic State Challenges al-Qaida
http://ow.ly/4mUy2R v @Charles_Lister

Kyle W. Orton ‏@KyleWOrton ·
"VSO" is "Vetted Syrian Opposition": A new acronym from Op INHERENT RESOLVE. Not met with universal approval; EG

First use of #VSO seems to be APR 7

COL Steve Warren 
‏@OIRSpox
In #Syria, VSO added a total of 81 square km of new territory, moving the Mar’a Line 7.5 km east #DefeatDaesh

FSA's Division 13 attacking the #Assad regime in Aleppo in revenge for the regime's massacre against Marat an-Numan

MORE connections of Assad to the Iraqi insurgency when US was fighting there......
Assad's Ba'ath Party provided funding for #ISIS and "discuss[ed] operations against the U.S. Embassy + Green Zone"

Murderer of USAID ambo, supposedly in jail, was running a terrorist training camp under #Assad's watch for #IS.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 07:40 AM

CrowBat

04-21-2016, 10:07 AM

Khomeinist dog whistle language: Khamenei openly says US created/backs ISIS w Saudis while Zarif slyly hints:

Deraa: Syrian rebel engineer brigade blow up mines killing & injuring many ISIS affiliates who were wreaking havoc.

Syrian rebel group Ahrar Al Sham capture ISIS assassination cell
http://eldorar.com/node/97168

[B]Obama truly does not understand the ME...he does virtually nothing in assisting in stopping the massive genocide being carried out by Assad AND Putin YET demands the GCC does more in Iraq........one cannot have it both ways......furthermore, Oblabla has either got memory of a fish, or is intentionally ignorant: Iraqi government explicitly forbade any kind of GCC's involvement against Daesh in Iraq.

BUT WAIT they had already offered large amounts of armed assistance in Syria BUT the US must led........which they are not.....so why step up for Iraq when the US befriended Iran is deeply involved in????...but (to complete your question) sending troops to Syria to fight local uprising against Assadists instead to Iraq to fight the Daesh...?

I mean: if Iranians want to fight Daesh - and Oblabla is encouraging them to go on and do so - then they can do so in Iraq: there's more than enough of Daesh there and it's closer to Iranian borders than any kind of Syrian insurgents.

No wonder any more, some say 'USA' stands for 'United States of Absurdistan'.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 10:32 AM

Kurdish #YPG-forces still fighting inside of #Assad-forces prison & clashes in #Qamishli streets continues
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=37.053430&lon=41.265893&z=18&m=b …

About 50 regime forces have surrendered themselves to Kurdish forces outside Allya prison.

Kurdish #YPG storm now a HQ of #Assad-forces near Bashir mosque in #Qamishli

Kurdish #YPG in control of #Assad-forces base (bread fact.)
in #Qamishli

At least 4 Afghan child soldiers among 20 of #IRGC's Fatemyun brig who have been buried in last 2 days in Iran.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 10:33 AM

CrowBat.....what do you think of this comment??

Saudi Arabia believes #Jordan tied to #Alloush killing: report in pro-rebel outlet
http://mme.cm/F7AW00

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 10:43 AM

...furthermore, Oblabla has either got memory of a fish, or is intentionally ignorant: Iraqi government explicitly forbade any kind of GCC's involvement against Daesh in Iraq.

...but (to complete your question) sending troops to Syria to fight local uprising against Assadists instead to Iraq to fight the Daesh...?

I mean: if Iranians want to fight Daesh - and Oblabla is encouraging them to go on and do so - then they can do so in Iraq: there's more than enough of Daesh there and it's closer to Iranian borders than any kind of Syrian insurgents.

No wonder any more, some say 'USA' stands for 'United States of Absurdistan'.

THIS particular incident by the US government is a clear and definable action that reflects absolutely no understanding by the Obama WH on what exactly is ongoing inside Syria and they really do not car what happens to Syrian civilians regardless of what Kerry says about humanitarian aide being delivered....Kerry and Obama in same ways actually with their non actions are really providing support to both Assad and Putin.....

Genocide seems to be a totally foreign word to the Obama WH......

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/world/middleeast/leader-of-syria-rescue-group-arriving-in-us-for-award-is-refused-entry.html?smid=tw-share

Leader of Syria Rescue Group, Arriving in U.S. for Award, Is Refused Entry

By SOMINI SENGUPTA and ANNE BARNARDAPRIL 20, 2016

UNITED NATIONS — The leader of a Western-backed rescue organization that searches for survivors of bombings in Syria was denied entry into the United States this week, where he was to receive an award recognizing his contributions to humanitarian relief.

Raed Saleh, the head of the Syria Civil Defense, was to accept the award from InterAction, an alliance of aid agencies, at its gala dinner Tuesday night in Washington. The dinner’s keynote speaker was Gayle Smith, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

But when Mr. Saleh, who works in Syria and Turkey, arrived Monday at Washington’s Dulles International Airport on a flight from Istanbul, the authorities said he could not enter the United States. He was told his visa had been canceled.

It was unclear whether Mr. Saleh’s name might have shown up on a database, fed by a variety of intelligence and security agencies and intended to guard against the prospect of terrorism suspects slipping into the country.

The State Department declined to give specifics, but a spokesman, John Kirby, said that “the U.S. government’s system of continual vetting means that traveler records are screened against available information in real time.”

“While we can’t confirm any possible specific actions in this case, we do have the ability to immediately coordinate with our interagency partners when new information becomes available,” he added.

Mr. Saleh was put on the next flight back to Istanbul. In a telephone interview from Istanbul on Wednesday, Mr. Saleh sought to turn the focus to the experience of millions of Syrians who find the world’s borders closed to them.

“In any airport, the treatment we get as Syrians is different,” he said. “The way they look at us, we are suspected.” In his case, he pointed out, he had no intention of staying longer than 16 hours.

His group is widely known as the White Helmets for the headgear its members wear as they rush to bomb sites to rescue survivors and dig out the dead from the rubble. Government supporters have criticized the group for working in some areas held by the Nusra Front, a terrorist organization linked to Al Qaeda. But like many internal aid groups, it says it is neutral and seeks to help civilians no matter whose territory they live in.

Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma at Norman, called the denial of entry “a scandal.”

“The White Helmets are one of the few organizations in Syria that have been above reproach,” he said. “They have tried to observe strict neutrality in order to facilitate their humanitarian work and save lives. To do this they have worked along side all sorts of militias in order to get to victims of the fighting.”

At the dinner on Tuesday night, InterAction staff members wore white helmets in solidarity — and posted a photo on Twitter.

“I really was moved by this moment,” Mr. Saleh said. “It was a stance of the unity of humanity — and I don’t mean the international community, I mean humanity.”

Mr. Saleh, who once made a living buying and selling electronics, became a search-and-rescue volunteer after the Syrian civil war began in 2011. He has traveled to the United States several times. He was in Manhattan in September 2014, during the United Nations General Assembly’s annual conclave, where he pressed diplomats to come to the assistance of areas controlled by rebels fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president.

Last June, he testified before the United Nations Security Council on the Syrian government’s use of barrel bombs. The Assad government continues to strongly deny using the explosives.

Ms. Smith, the U.S.A.I.D. administrator, praised the work of Mr. Saleh’s organization at the dinner, without elaborating on why he had been denied entry.

“These are people who once led ordinary lives, with ordinary jobs,” she said. “They were teachers, bakers, and drivers. But there is no ordinary in Syria anymore. But Raed and his colleagues don’t run away. They run toward the bombs, protected only by their white helmets and driven by a simple belief inspired by the Quran — to save one life is to save humanity.”

InterAction staff members said they planned to honor Mr. Saleh next month at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 10:53 AM

HAS Obama fully tilted to Iran and defies the GCC, KSA and Turkey?????

Obama has sent 2 secret letters to Tehran during last month, urges Rouhani to launch bilateral talks on regional topics. Via @sahamnewsorg

Khamenei has reportedly gave Rouhani a green light to launch direct talks with Obama on regional topics. Via @sahamnewsorg

U.S-Iran (1): Tehran, Washington are negotiating a Rouhani-Obama meeting
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/9142.htm …

BUT WAIT...know he did not discuss this during his GCC visit.......????

Kyle W. Orton ‏@KyleWOrton ·
"Interesting if true"
If true, will the Iranians write back this time?

"Obama pressed King Salman to be more open to engaging in diplomacy with Iran." also discussed unicorns, flying pigs http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/world/middleeast/obama-arrives-in-saudi-arabia-amid-a-new-round-of-contention.html …

MAYBE the Obama WH did not the Saudi message....they do not need the US any longer....and that threat of selling off 750B in US assets...not a threat.....simply a statement of fact.....

LONG READ: The $2 Trillion Project to Get #SaudiArabia’s Economy Off #Oil
http://bloom.bg/1r1ukvY

Nothing like having to "walk back" your own 20,000 word interview about your own "Obama Doctrine"....

Reuters Top News
✔ ‎@Reuters Obama starts talks with Gulf leaders aimed at easing strains
http://reut.rs/22PMBbw

BUT WAIT....the US reporter pool with Obama claimed yesterday that the WH stated after a 2.5 hour bilat with the Saudi's "all was fine"....MORE Obama WH disinformation.....

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 11:18 AM

News
Also today,towns in besieged #Homs province are under heavy #Assad air strikes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZEXvq7mrAo …

Apr 18: Coalition strikes destroys ISIS weapons storage facility near Qayyarah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGQ1dwLfyE4 …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.851492&lon=43.110191&z=17&m=bh …

Eliot Higgins ‎@EliotHiggins
The U.S. Wants To Design Safer Anti-Aircraft Missiles for Syria’s Rebels
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/04/20/the-u-s-wants-to-design-safer-anti-aircraft-missiles-for-syrias-rebels/ …
A tad to late if one asks me.......

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 11:36 AM

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

Russian Navy's cargo ship Vologda-50, crossing the Dardanelles northbound accompanied by a Kaan 33 class Coast Guard

19 April:
FLOT's LLC Tsezar Kunikov 158 on the Bosphorus northbound, from earlier this morning.

Returning from Syria holiday, 4 Russian holidaymakers sunbathe on #ВМФ #ЧФ BSF 158 Tsezar Kunikov

ВМФ #ЧФ BSF Tsezar Kunikov returned to Bosphorus from #Tartus in 10days &completed its 3rd #Syria deployment in2016

Riding high and empty..so much for the Putin declared "withdrawal"......

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 11:41 AM

Pro-YPG comments on #FSA-#ISIS clashes north of #Aleppo and why they don't fight against the Islamic State.
Telling.

100.000 Syrians are stuck in and around #Azaz, @MSF says.
#ISIS is 10 km away. The intl. comm. does #nothing.
http://www.msf.org/article/syria-more-100000-people-trapped-northern-syria-renewed-fighting …

Also today,towns in besieged #Homs province are under heavy #Assad air strikes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZEXvq7mrAo …
BUT WAIT...Assad/Putin/Un were suppose to be delivering humanitarian aid as part of the CoH.....never happened and the international community led by Kerry/Obama SAID not a single word....TELLING.....

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 11:44 AM

Iran announces the deaths of three more soldiers in #Syria.
2 Artesh 65th Airborne Special Forces
1 IRGC from Golestan province

Assad helicopters dropped bombs on territory near #KafrZita today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A06eW_Xr6zA …

Footage
Kurdish fighter in #Qamishli fights pro-#Assad forces with an M16 rifle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvInGXQRV_8 …

As Russia shifts location of its Syria weaponry amid ceasefire, is Aleppo shaping up to become the next Debaltseve?

CrowBat

04-21-2016, 12:14 PM

CrowBat.....what do you think of this comment??

Saudi Arabia believes #Jordan tied to #Alloush killing: report in pro-rebel outlet
http://mme.cm/F7AW00
Let me express it this way: wouldn't surprise me.

It was already King Hussein II that introduced the practice of turning as the wind blew, and I doubt his favourite son is any different.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 02:49 PM

Assad forces shell #EastGhouta in rural #Damascus with artillery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC5_M2J3J6Y …

Rebels take Kafr Shush village from ISIL north Aleppo
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.634230&lon=37.167263&z=15&m=b …

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 02:55 PM

Assad-forces advance towards
Arak gas field & T3 Pumping station north east & east of #Palmyra
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=34.571037&lon=38.684235&z=12&m=b …

250 evacuees from Zabadani arrived in Idlib.

Ben Davies ‏@benad36
My research is featured on a report into war criminals in the EU; 13 preliminary investigations have been launched:

Shi'a fighter Sawran al-Sawramiri allegedly slaughtered Sunnis in #Iraq. He lives in #Finland as a "refugee".

Deraa: Syrian Rebels still progressing against ISIS affiliates
http://fb.me/7WgMW8OxJ

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 03:05 PM

Regime is now shelling Qamişlo...so will Assad forces now attack all locations of YPG?????

Syrian flag thrown off Allya prison and replaced with Asayş flag of Rojava.

Shells from regime forces falling on homes in Qamişlo.

Regime helicopters now above #Qamishli city
-reinforcements or ecacuation?

4 residents killed & 2 dozen wounded in #Qamishli bc mortar shelling from #SAA 154th base in southern outskirts

Assad forces in Regiment 45 target neighborhoods #Qamishli city now with mortar shells- several dead civilians

Regime shelling civilian housing areas of Qamişlo. One woman killed and 20 wounded.

Civilians are fleeing their homes as regime begins shelling randomly on areas in Qamişlo.

Assad-forces shelling kurdish town of #Qamishli with heavy weapons from their bases in outskirts

People of #Qamishli flee from heavy street fighting

Seems "zero hour" for #Assad-regime now in #Hasaka province
btw kurdish #YPG & #Assad-forces

According to kurdish sources 25-30 #Assad-forces killed in #Qamishli the past 2 days

Kurds criticize their own leadership

Kurdish #YPG try to storm regime hold #Qamishli National Hospital
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=37.033880&lon=41.210768&z=17&m=b

Syria Map of #Qamishli (need now a new one)
#Assad-regime controls the city center & southern outskirts

NOW it appears that the once Assad allies are now Assad opponents....when will they finally attack IS and not FSA????
Qamishli: #YPG reinforcements from #Tal_Abyad are on the way to fight #Assad forces in Qamishli City.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 03:09 PM

Obama in the ME and Geneva collapses..................
Michael Weiss
✔ ‎@michaeldweiss Syrian oppo quits Geneva day after Obama meets King Salman. KSA treating this White House like Iran does now.

ANOTHER slap in the face of Kerry and Obama BY Putin and Assad....first Assad holds parliament elections without 70% of the country participating and NOW he writes the new constitution without 70% of the country......

AND Obama and Kerry do or say absolutely nothing......

Al Arabiya English
✔ ‎@AlArabiya_Eng #Breaking Syrian PM: referendum on constitution to be held once government is formed
http://ara.tv/n5szy

Can any SWJ commenter explain this action on the part of the Obama WH????

Obama fails to mention #Russian jets buzzing Navy ship during talk with Putin
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/18/call-putin-obama-ignores-russian-jets-buzzing-navy/ …

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 03:20 PM

See the first @CJTFOIR B-52 airstrike against ISIS -
http://www.businessinsider.com/see-the-first-us-air-force-b-52-airstrike-against-isis-2016-4 …
pic.twitter.com/EiPvRTxpSu

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 03:28 PM

So that means that Iran is arming the Houthis and continue to do so- Yesterday Zarif said Iran is peaceful. He lied https://twitter.com/AlArabiya_Eng/status/723139834508775424 …

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 04:32 PM

So that means that Iran is arming the Houthis and continue to do so- Yesterday Zarif said Iran is peaceful. He lied https://twitter.com/AlArabiya_Eng/status/723139834508775424 …

Al Arabiya English‏@AlArabiya_Eng
#Breaking Obama says US will work to stop Iran arming Houthis

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 04:36 PM

Let me express it this way: wouldn't surprise me.

It was already King Hussein II that introduced the practice of turning as the wind blew, and I doubt his favourite son is any different.

I know .....I was in Jordan for Black September 1970 and I think fired more rounds than my entire 18 months in Vietnam....

Hussein use to be a passionate ham radio operator and would contact us at Bad Toelz Germany and talk to the SF personnel on duty and it was via ham radio that we first learned that his palace was under attack from the PLO...we deployed arming and planning inside C130s within hours of that ham radio call and stepped literally into a fire fight when we arrived.

And yes the son does drift with the wind..right now sides with KSA due to the money.....but he waivers as he has allowed a Russian coordination center in Jordan.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 04:45 PM

NDF claim to have regained control of Al-Baath Bakery from the Kurds

NDF backed by #SAA have surrounded a group of Asayish in Hadaya Hotel and are advancing in Al-Shabab city

SAA in Airport and 154 Regiment Base are now aiding #NDF counter-attack by shelling Asayish positions

Kurdistan: dozens of displaced families are arriving in Amude, hoping to escape the clashes in #Qamishlo

NDF take control of Al-'Awija & Al-Wahda checkpoints after clashes with Asayish in #Qamishli

Clashes also reported from southern rural #Qamishli btw #YPG & #Assad-forces
Regime controls ~30 villages

Unconfirmed reports of movements of armed Clan members in the regime held villages south of Qamishli,reports they are shelling Abu Qasayeb

Kurdish journalist in Qamişlo says fighters now have the full support of the SDF with all weapons and soldiers.

Syria'n regime tanks pounding the #Asayish headquarter from nearby #Qamishli airbaise
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=37.038376&lon=41.201220&z=16&m=b …

Syria 15+ residents killed by regime-artillery on #Qamishli today

I'm convinced that right now, both Russian and American UAVs, are streaming live from #Qamishli while ISR teams are making extra popcorn

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 04:47 PM

FSA #Southern_Front freed the following points from #Daesh yesterday:
- Saham alGolan Dam
- Allan checkpoint
- AlMa'sara checkpoint
#Daraa

FSA try to storm #IS hold Tel Husayn in northern #Aleppo
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.615080&lon=37.166233&z=15&m=b …

Heavy clashes about control Kafr Ghan &
Baraghida btw #FSA & #IslamicState in northern #Aleppo
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.631302&lon=37.201595&z=15&m=b …

Homs: after years of siege the biggest convoy of aid reaches ppl of Rastan.
http://fb.me/4sOvHgGHq

Aleppo: Kafrshoush back in rebel hands after heavy clashes with ISIS

Latakia: 3 Assad regime fighters killed by rebels in Kabana

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 05:10 PM

Wow...at least they used the term "concerned".....not sure exactly what they mean by that.....

White House concerned about reports that Russia is moving military equipment into Syria:
http://reut.rs/1WHC9TF

The United States said on Thursday it was concerned about reports that Russia is moving more military equipment into Syria to bolster President Bashar al-Assad, with a truce in tatters and peace talks in meltdown.

A U.S. official separately said Russia has been repositioning artillery to northern Syria - a move that may suggest the Syrian government and its allies are preparing another assault on the divided city of Aleppo.

The arrival of Russian reinforcements would risk driving the war into an even higher gear after the effective collapse of the truce and U.N.-led peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending a five-year war that has killed at least 250,000 people.

Russia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura will on Friday assess whether Geneva talks can go on with the main opposition negotiators refusing to participate and combatants accusing each other of breaking the six-week-old ceasefire.

The opposition this week urged more military support for rebels after declaring a truce was over and that talks would not re-start until the government stopped committing "massacres".

The talks aim to halt a conflict that has allowed for the rise of the Islamic State group, sucked in regional and major powers and created the world's worst refugee crisis.

With talks on life support, all members of the main Syrian opposition will leave Geneva by Friday, a source close to the High Negotiations Committee and a Western diplomat said.

"I'm saddened and believe it's a mistake," the diplomat said. "It will be very difficult to find a pretext for them to return given the situation on the ground and now the regime knows that a bombing will ensure they stay away," he said, referring to an air strike this week that killed dozens.

Both sides are far apart and Syrian government forces have been boosted on the battlefield by Russia's firepower.

REBELS VOW TO FIGHT ON

France, which accused the government of rushing "headlong" into violence and showing its refusal to negotiate a political solution, said it would consider with other European powers and the United States the idea of convening a ministerial meeting of major powers in the next two weeks to work out what to do.

"If the regime insists on stubbornness, obstruction and rejection of international resolutions, we will continue our revolution," Abdullah Othman, head of the politburo of the Levant Front rebel fighting group, told Reuters.

"Our only option is to realize the revolution's goals." In March 2011, pro-democracy protests in the southern Syrian city of Deraa were crushed. This triggered nationwide demonstrations that ignited into widespread unrest and civil war.

The multi-sided conflict splintered Syria into a patchwork of areas controlled by the government, an array of rebel groups, Islamic State, and the well-organized Kurdish YPG militia.

Far from the main frontlines between government forces and rebels in western Syria, Kurdish groups, meanwhile, fought one of their most serious battles yet with government forces in the northeast, routing pro-Damascus militiamen in Qamishli.

It was a rare example of confrontation between sides that have mostly left each other to their own devices since the start of the conflict in 2011, and underlined growing Kurdish power that has alarmed neighbouring Turkey. Syrian government officials could not be reached for comment.

With violence escalating, Syria's fragile peace talks might not resume for at least a year if they are abandoned, one senior Western diplomat warned. De Mistura, who has come closer than any mediator so far in bringing the warring sides to peace talks, would not be drawn on what to expect on Friday.

"DESTROYING TERRORISM"

Government negotiators say Assad's presidency is non-negotiable. Underlining confidence in Damascus, a top Assad aide reiterated its view that local truce agreements and "destroying terrorism" were the way towards a political solution.

The opposition wants a political transition without Assad, and says the government has failed to take goodwill measures by releasing detainees and allowing enough aid into opposition-held areas besieged by the military.

Endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, the Geneva peace talks marked the most serious effort yet to resolve the war but failed to make any progress with no sign of compromise over the main issue dividing the sides: Assad's future.

The war was tilted in Assad's favor last year by Russia's intervention, supported on the ground by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps who have been bolstered recently by the arrival of members of Iran's regular army.

"We've been concerned about reports of Russia moving materiel into Syria," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, said at a news briefing in Riyadh where Obama was at a summit with Gulf Arab leaders.

"We think it would be negative for Russia to move additional military equipment or personnel into Syria. We believe that our efforts are best focused on supporting the diplomatic process," Rhodes added.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 05:26 PM

Michael Weiss
✔ ‎@michaeldweiss Two Syrian Kurdish security forces killed by government forces-YPG official
http://www.trust.org/item/201604201

Reports that YPG has taken Bassel Roundabout,just 300 meters from Qamishli Airbase

Syria Regime fighter jets above #Qamishli again today

Pro-Assad forces surrender to Kurdish forces in Qamishli in northeastern Syria
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNxwX7r4A5558OrWlBgL-b9dMqAHPp1t1&spfreload=5 …

ISIS with #China|ese wire-guided anti-tank missile system HJ-8 against gov forces - South of #Palmyra, #Syria.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 05:52 PM

An aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean would send a strategic message not only to the Russians but also to ISIS, and Iran #Scaparrotti

BUT WAIT the US Sixth Fleet used to have an attack carrier group positioned in the Med.....at Naples.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 05:59 PM

Another Assad war criminal identified in Germany.....

Ben Davies ‏@benad36
Khaled Hourani from Caesar's torture photos (bottom) allegedly obtained residence as a "refugee" in #Germany.

AND now residing in the old US military housing Patrick Henry Housing Heidelberg.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 06:03 PM

THIS particular incident by the US government is a clear and definable action that reflects absolutely no understanding by the Obama WH on what exactly is ongoing inside Syria and they really do not car what happens to Syrian civilians regardless of what Kerry says about humanitarian aide being delivered....Kerry and Obama in same ways actually with their non actions are really providing support to both Assad and Putin.....

Genocide seems to be a totally foreign word to the Obama WH......

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/world/middleeast/leader-of-syria-rescue-group-arriving-in-us-for-award-is-refused-entry.html?smid=tw-share

Leader of Syria Rescue Group, Arriving in U.S. for Award, Is Refused Entry

By SOMINI SENGUPTA and ANNE BARNARDAPRIL 20, 2016

The shocking inability to tell our strongest allies from our most dangerous foes is why US is unlikely to beat ISIS

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 06:10 PM

Qamişlo: Asayish preparing to move in the Halku neighborhood.

Kurdish #YPG fighter pulling down poster of #Assad (#Iran-ian puppet) from Qamishlo

Qamishli Map: #Assad forces control over 80 villages south of #Qamishli City.

Qamishli: Heavy fighting around the Airport. #YPG captured Bassel Roundabout, 300 meters away from Airport.

Qamişlo: Asayish preparing to move in the Halku neighborhood.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 06:12 PM

MFA Russia 
‏@mfa_russia
#Lavrov: There is evidence that Jabhat al-Nusra is trying to disguise itself under new names
http://tass.ru/en/politics/871109 …

Mark Galeotti ‏@MarkGaleotti Moscow, Russia

Like "market place" and "hospital"...?

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Moscow will raise the issue of putting on the list of terrorists extremist groups that change names and keep undermining the truce in Syria at the United Nations Security Council, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday.

"There is evidence that Jabhat al-Nusra [...] is trying to disguise itself under new names, uniting with small groups not included in terrorist lists," Lavrov said. "They are thus trying to escape retribution. We are generalizing such facts. I am convinced we will soon raise the issue in the UN Security Council."

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 06:21 PM

It is extremely interesting that Twitter Support continues to take down anti Russian/Assad social media open source analyst accounts.........

J. Faraday ‎@CTstudies
To all of you out there,who supported me & managed to get me back from Twitter dungeons, I'm really moved! THANK YOU

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 06:22 PM

@US_EUCOM nom Gen Scaparrotti tells SASC US shuld keep "everything on the table” incld mil options 2 respond 2 #RUS buzzing US warships

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 06:44 PM

Reference JaN actions in Maaret al-Noaman.....

Muhaysni offered to give back Division13 weapons and cars in exchange of changing the group's name and change its chief commander

for 40days residents of Maaret al-Noaman #Idlib have been protesting after Nusra cracked down on Division13,the problem still unsolved

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 06:47 PM

Ben Davies ‏@benad36 ·
Update: Sawramiri has deleted his Facebook profile and attempted to erase evidence from the internet.

Ben Davies ‏@benad36
Shi'a fighter Sawran al-Sawramiri allegedly slaughtered Sunnis in #Iraq. He lives in #Finland as a "refugee". #EU

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 06:56 PM

Again, #Syria Opposition expelled #ISIS militants from KafrGhan, Fayraziyah, Tilal Husayn and KafrShush. Clashes ongoing inside Baraghidah.

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 07:03 PM

Michael Weiss
✔ ‎@michaeldweiss Obama sees another foreign policy goal crumble in Syria
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/syria-cease-fire-obama-222269 …

Obama sees another foreign policy goal crumble in Syria

Lawmakers offer an 'I told you so' as a fragile cease-fire veers toward collapse.

By Nahal Toosi
04/21/16 12:59 PM EDT

President Barack Obama's most tangible success in his push to stop Syria's bloodbath — a cease-fire struck in late February — is rapidly turning into a failure. His fiercest critics in Congress, meanwhile, are basically saying, "I told you so."

The always-fragile truce "may be breaking down," the president acknowledged Thursday while visiting Saudi Arabia. And he still sounded more optimistic than others.

Syrian opposition leaders, angry over Syrian President Bashar Assad's renewed airstrikes against rebel strongholds, are using terms like "buried" to describe the cease-fire. The Soufan Group, a respected intelligence consulting firm, declared Thursday that the cease-fire has "effectively collapsed."

In statements to POLITICO, U.S. lawmakers from both parties warned the truce was "unraveling" and "deteriorating." They noted that Syrian peace talks, too, have stalled in recent days as the Syrian opposition has essentially pulled out due to its anger over Assad's actions.

"We are at grave risk of a complete resumption of hostilities, if not an even worse escalation," said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee. "All efforts must be made to reverse this trend so that the international community can work towards a political solution."

John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a longtime critic of Obama's largely hands-off approach to Syria, called the failing cease-fire "predictable," before quoting the late German leader Otto Von Bismarck.

"In the words of Mr. Bismarck, 'The issue will be decided by blood and iron,'" the Arizona Republican said.

Obama and his aides have taken steps in recent days to try to shore up the cease-fire, which, for legal and technical reasons, they refer to as a "cessation of hostilities." The fact that the truce held at all was a major relief to an administration worried that its foreign policy legacy will be defined by the relentless war in Syria, which has killed at least 250,000 people.

Obama on Monday held what the White House described as an "intense conversation" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a supporter of Assad's. Obama urged Putin to persuade Assad, who also has the backing of Iran, to stop his attacks on opposition strongholds.

In a statement afterward, Putin said he was committed to strengthening the cease-fire, but he also stressed the "need for the moderate opposition to distance themselves swiftly" from terrorist groups like the Islamic State. Assad and Russia have frequently insisted that Syrian forces are targeting such "terrorists" when U.S.-supported rebels have been hit.

Russia's support of Assad has been a huge strain on an already bitter relationship between Obama and Putin. The Russian president, who also invaded Ukraine on Obama's watch, has long viewed Obama as naive about the harsh realities of the Middle East, while Obama sees Putin as destined to get bogged down in quagmires.

Just weeks ago, in a move that surprised the White House, Putin announced he was withdrawing his military troops from Syria, where they had been providing air cover to Assad's ground forces. But reports since indicate the withdrawal has been partial at best, angering U.S. lawmakers who never trusted Moscow in the first place.

"Russia will continue to violate the cease-fire as long as Putin knows he can get away with it. Clearly, the Obama administration has failed to convince Russia, Iran and the Assad regime that continued attacks on the Syrian people will have consequences," said GOP Rep. Ed Royce of California, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

On Thursday, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the administration is "concerned about reports of Russia moving [military] materiel into Syria."

"We believe ... that Russia should focus its efforts on the diplomatic process, on maintaining the cessation of hostilities and working with the Syrian government to get them to take seriously the process of negotiation and, ultimately, [political] transition," Rhodes said.

Even as he held firm on the notion that Assad must step down as Syria's leader, Obama gave no sign that he would consider sending ground troops to help resolve the conflict in the Arab state, other than the Special Forces currently fighting the Islamic State. With nine months left in his presidency, Obama is hesitant to commit more American lives to a conflict with no real end in sight, even if it means historians will criticize him.

The president said that, should the cease-fire collapse, there's no real backup plan other than pressing forth with attempts to reach a political agreement.

"The problem with any Plan B that does not involve a political settlement is that it means more fighting, potentially for years," Obama said.

SO the Obama WH and Kerry talk about a PLAN B was actually all smoke and mirrors......and more of the typical Obama disinformation to keep from having to make any decisions in his remaining nine months.....

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 07:18 PM

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 07:20 PM

Syria Cargo plane bring #Assad reinforcements to kurdish #Qamishli city

Qamishli: The fighting between #YPG and #Assad forces is spreading to the villages around #Qamishli City.

Qamishli, #Syria: Nobody loves butcher #Assad. Now he has a new enemy.
https://twitter.com/RojhelatRising/status/723216607279902720 …

Qamişlo: Asayish moving to besiege the Airport from the North.

Seems there are also lot of Arab members of Asayish fighting against Syrian government NDF Arab tribal members.

BLUF

All out war in Qamishli between Assad and YPG......question is will Assad/Iran/Putin now attack other YPG positions and locations......

Qamishli: Cargo plane full of #Assad forces landed at the Airport. Looks like #Assad is thinking that he can win against the #Kurds.

Interesting is now if Assad attacks YPG as he has attacked FSA WHAT will the US do since YPG is their proxy...ESPECIALLY since they did nothing to protect their other proxy FSA......

What goes around .....comes around.......

OUTLAW 09

04-21-2016, 07:52 PM

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/ayatollah-lashes-saudis-corrupt-sycophantic-hollow-regime-hell-it

Ayatollah Lashes Saudis: ‘Corrupt, Sycophantic, Hollow Regime … To Hell With It’

By Patrick Goodenough | April 21, 2016 | 4:36 AM EDT

(CNSNews.com) – In some of his harshest rhetoric yet aimed at Saudi Arabia, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday described the Sunni kingdom as a “corrupt, sycophantic, hollow regime,” and declared, “to hell with it.”

Speaking on the day President Obama arrived in Riyadh, Khamenei lashed out at a Saudi-led campaign to isolate Iran by attacking its proxy militia in Lebanon, Hezbollah. In recent weeks the campaign has seen the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League and the Arab Parliament one by one label Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

The drive spearheaded by Riyadh also resulted in an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit outcome document last week that condemned both Iran for “its continued support for terrorism,” and Hezbollah “for conducting terrorist activities in Syria, Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen.”

Khamenei hit back in a speech to the Union of Islamic Pupils’ Associations.

“Let’s suppose a corrupt, sycophantic, hollow regime condemns Hezbollah in a statement, with money and petrodollars – to hell with it!” he said. “How much does it matter?”

The ayatollah praised Hezbollah, highlighting its military exploits against Israel and saying that it was showing off its power in the Muslim world “despite abundant practical and propagandistic threats.”

“Hezbollah and its youths are shining like the sun and are a source of honor for the world of Islam,” he said, in reference to the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of more Americans than any other group before al-Qaeda’s attack on 9/11.

Iranian and Hezbollah forces are fighting in Syria in support of the Assad regime. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states want to see the regime defeated and are backing rebel groups battling to achieve that end.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are also backing rival forces in the civil war in Yemen, where a Saudi-led airstrike campaign targeting Shi’ite Houthi rebels has cost more than 6,000 lives according to the U.N., many of them civilians.

BUT WAIT Obama wanted KSA to "kiss and make up with Iran"......appears he really does not fully understand the ME does he???

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 04:43 AM

Druze in Sweidaa hold anti-regime protests. Chanting “He who kills his people is a traitor” -

Assad's military has committed large scale systematic torturing of detainees.
25 year-old Syrian blogger Tal al-Mallohi still in regime prisons after accused in 2011 of being a spy for US.

Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister ·
As last remaining #Syria opposition delegates plan to leave #Geneva in 12hrs…

… UN says peace talks to resume next week.........another smoke and mirrors statement to coverup the total failure as Assad is not throttling back in his violence against his own society.

Rebels capture Braghidah village from ISIL. Latest military situation map north Aleppo.

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 06:10 AM

U.S. split deepens over Putin's intentions in Syria civil war
http://reut.rs/26isgjF

Maybe Obama needs to park his own intellectual elitism biases and face reality on the ground............he once made a statement that he himself has never stood by.........."we will judge Putin by his actions not his words........2014"

Russia’s latest military moves in Syria have sharpened divisions within the U.S. administration over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin genuinely backs a U.N.-led initiative to end the civil war or is using the negotiations to mask renewed military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Russia has repositioned artillery near the disputed city of Aleppo, several U.S. officials told Reuters. Despite withdrawing some fixed-wing aircraft in March, Russia has also bolstered its forces in Syria with advanced helicopter gunships, and renewed airstrikes against moderate opposition groups, said U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Russian reassertion of military backing has prompted some U.S. officials to warn that a failure to respond would be seen by Moscow as a fresh sign of American timidity. That, they say, could encourage Russia to escalate challenges to U.S. and allied militaries through more provocative Russian air and naval maneuvers.

They also contend that a U.S. failure to respond would further damage Washington’s relations with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states seeking to oust Assad, and with Turkey, which has been firing artillery at Islamic State targets in Syria.

The answer, they argue, is stepped-up U.S. support for moderate Syrian rebel factions with more anti-tank missiles and grenade launchers sent through third countries.

However, other officials, including National Security Advisor Susan Rice, have vetoed any significant escalation of U.S. involvement in Syria, the officials said.

“Rice is the fly in the ointment,” said a person familiar with the internal debate.

Obama himself has long been reluctant to deepen U.S. involvement in the war, saying last October that Washington would not get drawn into a "proxy war" with Moscow. His administration has focused more on pressing the fight against the militant Islamic State group, which controls a swathe of northeastern Syria.

The White House declined comment about any internal debate on Syria or Putin's intentions.

The United States and other Western nations have struggled to read Putin's intentions ever since Russian forces launched a surprise deployment in support of Assad last September.

His abrupt announcement in March of a partial withdrawal and other steps have continued to leave Western policy makers guessing about his agenda.

READING PUTIN

The current debate over how to respond to Russia's military moves partly reflects a difference of opinion in Washington over whether Putin has been sincere in his backing for the U.N. peace process which is now struggling for survival.

U.S. officials and experts question why Putin hasn’t been able, or willing, to press Assad into making more concessions in the negotiations.

“Either Russia has pulled the wool over Obama’s and (U.S. Secretary of State John) Kerry’s eyes or they’ve pulled it over their own eyes,” said the person familiar with the internal debate and who asked not to be identified.

On one side are U.S. military and intelligence officials who think Putin does support the U.N.-backed talks.

These officials argue that Assad then undermined the initiative by obstructing the Geneva process and ignoring the ceasefire, provoking responses by the rebels and leaving the truce in shreds. As a result, Putin had no choice but to ramp up support for his Syrian ally, they say.

“I think the regime played a very, very sly game,” said Charles Lister, an expert with the Middle East Institute. “They were playing spoiler with the full knowledge that the opposition’s patience would wear out.”

Other U.S. officials and experts think Putin has never been sincere about diplomacy, and that Obama and Kerry were naive to believe Russian statements of support.

Putin remains wedded to keeping Assad in power and ensuring that Russia retains a naval port on the Mediterranean coast and an airfield in northern Syria, the only major military bases it has outside the former Soviet Union, they said.

“This was a cynical game from the beginning by Putin,” agreed Jeffrey White, a former senior Defense Intelligence Agency analyst now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “I don’t believe for a minute that he was buffaloed by Assad. I think they are in league together.”

While U.S. officials gave conflicting assessments on whether Russia had sent additional artillery to Syria, the Obama administration on Thursday openly expressed concern about reports that Russia has shipped more materiel into the country.

The Pentagon has declined to speculate on Russian motives.

“I don’t know what their intentions are. What I do know is that we have seen regime forces, with some Russian support as well, begin to mass and concentrate combat power around Aleppo,” Army Colonel Steve Warren, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State, said on Wednesday.

“So this is something that we’re concerned about and something we’re keeping an eye on."

WHAT is amazing is Obama already has Putin's actions on record in his lack of fulfilling a single point of Minsk 2 so why would he fulfill Geneva 2?????

Putin is clearly acting...YET Obama dallies, bobs and weaves as he basically wants to take no action until he runs out the clock in nine months......

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 06:24 AM

Syria Clashes btw #Assad-forces & kurdish #YPG has spread to #Hasaka city
heavy clashes between HAT and regime forces in Qamishlo

Clashes in south western neighborhoods in #Hasaka city
btw #YPG & #Assad-forces

Interesting revelation...............
Head of Cossack army regiment says Russians have fought in Syria since 2013
https://meduza.io/en/news/2016/04/21/head-of-cossack-army-regiment-says-russians-have-fought-in-syria-since-2013 …

Russia and Assad's air strike forces have now killed 10k Syrian civilians and just 6k ISIS
Daily Mail Online - http://go.shr.lc/1r3lCxs
Numbers of civilians are actually off and the numbers of IS killed is just an unverified "hope".......

CrowBat

04-22-2016, 06:40 AM

I know .....I was in Jordan for Black September 1970 and I think fired more rounds than my entire 18 months in Vietnam....

Hussein use to be a passionate ham radio operator and would contact us at Bad Toelz Germany and talk to the SF personnel on duty and it was via ham radio that we first learned that his palace was under attack from the PLO...we deployed arming and planning inside C130s within hours of that ham radio call and stepped literally into a fire fight when we arrived.Oh, that's interesting. We've skirted this topic (Black September) in Arab MiGs Vol.4 (http://www.harpia-publishing.com/galleries/AMV4/index.html), because it was relevant to RJAF Hunters flying air strikes against invading units of SyAA; discussed curious decision to deploy the 4th Mechanized into the City (where it was slaughtered by the PLO), and the 1st Infantry in the open suburbs of Amman, and even brought a copy of a 'panic letter' (requesting military support 'soon') one of British diplomants sent back to London after talking with Hussein... but didn't know any US military units deployed to Jordan back then - until now.

And yes the son does drift with the wind..right now sides with KSA due to the money.....but he waivers as he has allowed a Russian coordination center in Jordan.My feeling is that Abdullah is currently on 'I told you I love Oblabla' trip (like his pa, he knows everything better - once it's over): he'll 'return to the bosom of the family' (see: kiss Salman) as soon as Oblabla is out of office.

Otherwise, his (and US) 'advisers' wouldn't have done everything in their powers to screw-up insurgent ops in Sheikh Mishkin, back in January.

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 06:44 AM

Map of N #Aleppo April 21st. Rebels recapture 5 villages.
Debuting new basemap style!
HD - http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/bec4/rrrm04lmuxxrm1lzg.jpg …

Russia night airstrikes on southern #Aleppo along highway- for next assault of #Iran lead militias

Kurdish-forces arrested 67 #Assad-forces in #Qamishli as POW

A Red Cross convoy entered #Rastan yeserday.
So no #Assad bombs on that city for some hours now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsia7ZAJEhc …

Assad's killer looking for targets over #TerMaela.
At least 3 air trikes yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuY6EbY23x4 …

CrowBat

04-22-2016, 06:45 AM

Interesting is now if Assad attacks YPG...IF? His thugs have already attacked. Meanwhile he's in the process of hauling reinforcements from the RGD to Qamishli, and his lovely Sukhois are flying above.

So, that with 'if' is already over.

Of course, why should Oblabla or the Mentalist care about such issues? Assad is a man of peace.

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 06:49 AM

Russia chases ties w/ Kurds thru air support, arms deals, upping competition w/ USA in region. My story
http://on.wsj.com/1XKf3ds via @WSJ

THEN one now wonders JUST why Putin is allowing Assad to fully now take on the Kurds.....????

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 06:55 AM

Opposition @SyrianHNC video details pro-regime violations during the cessation of hostilities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiRJXScCkss …

Russian MoD has never in their daily Coordination Center reports ever stated Assad has committed ceasefire violations and YET the Obama WH "wonders what Putin's end game is".....????

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 07:05 AM

Obama at press conference today: "We would not have gotten an Iran deal...had not the GCC been supportive of it":

Kyle W. Orton ‏@KyleWOrton
Obama matches the #Saudi King for passive-aggressiveness.

Another problem with the U.S. pro-#Iran strategic tilt: it means the U.S. is constantly tactically propitiating Middle East allies.

B/c of "daylight" on #Iran, U.S. backs Saudis in Yemen, say, without thinking it through, just to show that they're still supporting an ally

Regardless of what you think on any one issue, it's a real cost of the #IranDeal that U.S. ability to influence MENA allies is diminished.

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 07:10 AM

Madaya and #Zabadani are under unmerciful #Assad /#Iran sieges; Madaya isn't even recognised as besieged by UN.

If POTUS demanded Hizballah leave #Syria and authorised the means to make them, sieges like #Madaya would be less feasible for #Assad.

Madaya and Zabadani civilians describe the hard living conditions
https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2016/04/21/syria-madaya-and-zabadani-civilians-describe-the-hard-living-conditions/ …

If, for example, Op INHERENT RESOLVE targeted all FTOs in SYR (thus inc Hizballah), would change the balance of force w/out much application

In other words, more important than the military victory for #Russia in Syria is the political one: demonstrated will, lack of it on US side

REMEMBER the Obama WH runs from the words........."genocide and war crimes"......as that requires actions be taken.....

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 07:14 AM

The #Assad regime's skeleton presence in both Hasaka and Deir Ezzor is now in serious trouble. So much for the post-#Palmyra march east ...

Two months ago Bouthaina Shaaban claimed the YPG were part of the non-existent SAA. Today, regime NDF are shelling YPG in Qamishli.

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 07:17 AM

Interesting comment............

Kyle W. Orton ‏@KyleWOrton

DoD comes pretty close here (APR 20) to saying it supports #Russia's airstrikes in Aleppo.
http://1.usa.gov/1SUFcSo

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 07:35 AM

Syria Evacuation of old National Hospital in #Qamishli after imapct of shells -coming from regime "security box"
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=37.050896&lon=41.222768&z=18&m=b …

Syria #IS-offshoots launched counter assault against #FSA in western #Daraa province

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 07:47 AM

IF confirmed WILL this be finally enough for the Obama WH to view Putin as both serious, dangerous and an existential threat to the US???

Russia|n forces in #Syria fired on #Israel|i military aircraft: newspaper
http://reut.rs/1VoKP1N

OR is this a sign that Putin is getting nervous over his support to Assad and Iran?

Appears this is an ongoing problem..............

According to Yedioth, the reported Russian fire on Israeli planes was first raised with Putin by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who visited Moscow on March 15. At the time, Putin responded that he was unaware of the incidents, Yedioth said.

Appears the Israeli's did not believe Putin and his response to them........

Visiting Moscow on Thursday, Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin in televised remarks: "I came here with one main goal - to strengthen the security coordination between us so as to avoid mishaps, misunderstandings and unnecessary confrontations."

Maybe Putin will "hear better this time".........

BUT WAIT Putin is Supreme Commander so he should have heard about the incidents or his own MoD is lying to him.....which I seriously doubt they are.

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 11:13 AM

NOW for Assad and Putin the Kurds their favorite friends are NOW the enemy.....FSA had repeatedly warned YPG of this potential development......

Assad regime are now bombing "terrorists" in Qamishli. All the sudden Kurds have become terrorists too for Assad fanboys lol

NOW English ‎@NOW_eng
Republican Guard deploying to #Qamishli: pro-#Assad outlet
http://mme.cm/L7AW00

Interesting ...what goes around comes back around...and this time massively....

Assad regime tanks entering #Qamishli City from the Airport.

Qamishli: #YPG advancing around the Security Square and the #NDF base in #Qamishli City now.

Now snipers war between HAT and regime militia in security square

Qamishli: #YPG is mobilising more troops and heavy weapons to battle #Assad forces in #Qamishli and #Hasakah.

We are not in 2011 in #Deraa or #Homs but some methods never change.

YPG Spokesman: YPG got involved fully after the regime started indiscriminately shelling areas.

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 11:18 AM

IF confirmed WILL this be finally enough for the Obama WH to view Putin as both serious, dangerous and an existential threat to the US???

Russia|n forces in #Syria fired on #Israel|i military aircraft: newspaper
http://reut.rs/1VoKP1N

OR is this a sign that Putin is getting nervous over his support to Assad and Iran?

Appears this is an ongoing problem..............

Appears the Israeli's did not believe Putin and his response to them........

Maybe Putin will "hear better this time".........

BUT WAIT Putin is Supreme Commander so he should have heard about the incidents or his own MoD is lying to him.....which I seriously doubt they are.

Well that Thursday meeting between Russia and Israel really went fine......???

Another typical Russian "it ain't us" answer..........

Kremlin denies reports on Russian forces' fire on Israeli planes in Syria
http://reut.rs/1TmAMqF

BUT WAIT...........
Russian forces fired on Israeli jets at least twice’
http://toi.sr/1SxIKNm

Just what did the Israeli's assume the answer would be????

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 11:40 AM

Jaysh al-Islam say Assad warplane MiG23 crashed in Bir al-Qasab east Damascus's Ghouta shortly after took off from Dumayr base for technical fault

At least 7 people killed in Assad airforce attack on rebel-held Bustan al-Qasr district #Aleppo city today.

In Iran......
Notably present was poster commemorating #Iran army personnel killed in #Syria. The war is being institutionalized

American media just fundamentally doesn't understand that the vast majority of displaced Syrians come from regime airstrikes, not ISIS

Pro-Regime forces + #RuAF will resume what they began months ago: trying to seize N. #Latakia & encircle #Aleppo.
http://en.alalam.ir/news/1810680

N. #Aleppo update: #Marea resisted #ISIS assault & Rebels retook several villages seized by 14th April IS offensive

Very first #TOW fired vs #ISIS offshot in Allan, W. #Deraa. Fallujah Hauran targeted infantry but not clear if hit.

Technicals from #Hezbollah (with yellow flags) seen at security box in #Qamishli -transporting wounded to nearby hospital

Iraq #Barzani puts all hospitals in #Kurdistan in alert to treat the wounded Kurds from #Qamishli

Thousands of residents flee #Qamishli battle

Sometimes its unclear where fighting is taking place, since across the #Turkish border, there is also fighting.

SAA Captain Jalal Mohsen killed in #Qamishli battle

Two hours ago there was still heavy artillery and mortar fire in Qamislo city, local K24 reporter said.

In total, 23 civilians lost their lives and 68 have been wounded during attacks by the regime in Qamişlo.

Clashes in Hasakah city between YPG and Regime forces in western nashwa

Unconfirmed reports that #YPG controls entrance of security square in Qamislo

YPG confirms it is fully involved now.

Just like Syrian Oppo & many others in the region/beyond: Kurds will realize tht relying on US is a timeless mistake

This is seriously turning into one heck of a massive slugfest very very quickly...not so sure Putin and Assad have any control over the outcome now.....

YPG and #SAA throwing everything they have into #Qamishli. SAA brings tanks, artillery, YPG brings more and more forces.

Kurdish fighters repelled regime attacks around village of Lwêja as well as around Wehdê in Qamişlo.

US remains extremely quiet about just how they are going to support their proxy....

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 11:59 AM

Now there are clashes between #Kurdish force and airforce intelligence near the Turkish border & security perimeter

heavy clashes between HAT and regime forces in Awije checkpoint east of Qamishlo

heavy clashes between HAT and regime forces in Wehde street.

Aleppo: Airstrikes target Bab al Nasr, Bab al Hadid, al Ansari, Bustan al Kasr, Handarat Camp, Al Leiramoun, Castello Road and the Old City

SYRIA: Strikes on Aleppo city this morning have killed 9 civilians, civil defence worker tells @AFP. Syrian Observatory puts toll at 10

Syria 20 dead after airstrikes on #Aleppo City today

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 12:09 PM

SYRIA #SAA #YPG
Military situation in #Qamishli-City.
HD: http://i.imgur.com/yjMnMIG.png

Qamishli: #Assad forces tried to storm villages south-east of #Qamishli, but were repelled by #YPG.

Almost 3 years after Obama outsourced US #Syria policy to Putin, the White House geniuses still don't realize it. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-idUSKCN0XJ0DF …

Assad (or #Russian as some claim) war planes hit a densely populated area inside #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbJas2y0lRE …

Tell Dahab, Houla, Talbisah, Free #Homs province is burning due to #Assad air strikes.

An East European-Turkish Pact Against Russian Neo-Imperialism - Turkish Policy Quarterly
http://turkishpolicy.com/blog/13/an-east-european-turkish-pact-against-russian-neo-imperialism#.VxoRwsT1kRk.twitter …

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 02:44 PM

Kurdish forces control all roads leading to Tayy neighborhood.

Qamishli: #YPG captured the Christian #Al_Wusta District in #Qamishli, but some #Assad snipers are still there.

Qamishli: #YPG has cut the last supply road between the (#Assad regime) #NDF base in the north and the Airport in the south of the city.

"Mission Accomplished" for Kurdish-forces in #Qamishli
(for the moment)?
#Assad-regime controlled area inside city shrink to ~ 1 km²

ANHA reports 15 regime fighters killed during clashes around Wehdê, Qamişlo.
Actual figures seem to be
37 NDF KIA
90 NDF POWs

Michael Weiss
✔ ‎@michaeldweiss PYD now sending reinforcements to Qamishli.
Now we are seeing the linkage between PKK, PYD, YPG......one and the same.

Gov't + Kurdish officials meeting in Qamishli airport to negotiate end to clashes. Meeting has been going for about 6 hours

Damascus: #ISIS claims to have shot down the crashed #Assad regime warplane near #Dumayr
Not confirmed by anyone other than IS itself.

Aleppo: #Syria|n civilians in #Aleppo City are in panic after heaviest #Assad regime airstrikes since months.

Aleppo: 20 civilians were killed in #Aleppo City today by #Assad regime airstrikes. Victims also in #Idlib & #Homs.

Syria: agony and chaos in #Aleppo today, regime actions in the city are nothing short of genocide

Syria's ceasefire is collapsing, and Russia seems ready to get back into the fight
http://read.bi/1U8BdHj

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 02:52 PM

Assad's helicopters target the city of #Anadan in the northern #Aleppo suburbs with 8 barrel bombs

Breaking
Beside #Aleppo, its northern suburb #Hayyan and #Anadan were also under attack.
8 air strikes on Anadan alone.

More heavy air raids on #EastGhouta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn4B3bVcVIY …

Footage
#Hayyan, north of #Aleppo, minutes ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3osv_xeTwmw …

IF the regime Su-22 aimed at the #FSA checkpoint in #Aleppo, they missed and hit civilians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyfbdVERk3o …

Footage
#Assad air strikes on #Bala in East Ghouta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-KwVRuRM40 …

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 02:55 PM

AND the Obama and Kerry strategy or lack of a strategy for Iraq and Syria was again exactly what.......?????

Kremlin says it has sent troops to fight with Kurdish units in #Syria and is providing weapons to Kurds in Iraq
http://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-pursues-ties-with-kurds-to-keep-foothold-in-region-1461239887 …

Michael Weiss
✔ ‎@michaeldweiss Serious about diplomacy, Putin told Assad to step aside. Assad said '#### off.' So Putin sent artillery to Aleppo. Yep, makes sense.

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 03:00 PM

CTC Sentinel a great resource on ISIS and global terrorism. Latest issue out now:
https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/april-2016 …

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 04:00 PM

Iran apparently launched a suborbital test of its new Simorgh rocket at 0933 UTC Apr 19, per Russian sources via
http://nasaspaceflight.com

Rouhani was in Semnan on Tuesday. Might just be a coincidence.
http://president.ir/en/93065

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 04:17 PM

Appears the Assad MiG23 they claimed had a technical defect was in fact shot down by IS.....

News of Assad regime jet crashing in Badia (Damascus) due to "technical fault" no news about the condition of pilot

#ISIS releases footage of regime warplane they claim to have shot down near #Damascus -Dakwa

Being next to the wreckage of the plane is an indicator.....

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 04:40 PM

All the visual evidence you need to see the MANPADS are coming out in #Syria -
https://beyondthelevant.com/2016/04/22/fsa-tahrir-homs-battalion-training-to-use-chinese-fn-6-manpads/ …

Turkey/US airstrikes reportedly hitting ISIS hard near Kilis/Azaz, NNE of Aleppo
http://bit.ly/1pptRT4

Breaking
2 more #ISIS rockets hit #Kilis,#Turkey
1 civilian killed,10 wounded

TOW strike by Jaish Al-Tahrir taking out a 23 mm cannon in #Birnah, S. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJB9tvXDKkk …

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 05:34 PM

Netherlands says, no country objected the Schengen visa for PFLP terrorist Leila Khaled.
#Germany says, it did but wasn't heard.
Who lies?

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 05:49 PM

Footage
Civilians in panic after #Assad air strikes on Neirab in rural #Idlib province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHJU6PtZYS0 …

Truce in Qamişlo has been confirmed by ANHA.

Asayîş statement says 31 regime fighters killed and 102 captured. 3 Asayîş martyrs in initial incident then 7 in clashes as well as 3 YPG.

Asayîş say Allya prison was a symbol of the terror regime and so was liberated, as well as many other sites occupied by the regime.

With burial of 6 more Afghans of #IRGC's Fatemiun brig in Iran(Tehran, Mashhad, Kashan) toll raised to 26 in 3days.

Members of Iraqi Shia militia group Saraya-al-Jihad(fighting in Syria) boarding an Iranian Airbus A300-600

OUTLAW 09

04-22-2016, 06:27 PM

Syria Turkish artillery targeting #ISIS positions in Braghide,KaferGhan,Tlalien and Shiekh Rieh north east #Aleppo #Turkey

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 06:07 AM

TOW strike by Suqur Al-Jebal wiped out an #ISIS sniper nest near Baraghideh, in N. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2M2aVIzc_k …

Assad and RuAF continue air strikes killing civilians...nothing on IS.....
More than 40 civilians, mostly women & children, killed in regime airstrikes on Aleppo yesterday

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 10:15 AM

Assad continues unabated his targeted killing of civilians and the entire Western leadership and western MSM says not a single word.....we are long past the word .....genocide...and into a totally new realm...called "extermination" plain and simple......the last time we have seen this was with Hitler......

Regime artillery strikes killed a dozen people on market in #Damascus suburb #Douma

Assad army pounding Douma #EastGhouta #Damascus with artillery. 5 people reportedly killed include 2 women and a child.

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 10:23 AM

Syria #Aleppo #Azaz (A'zaz) #map April 23 #DAESH #ISIS retakes #Kafr_Ghan & #Baraghitah
http://edmaps.com/html/syrian_civil_war_in_maps.html …

Irania|n Safir Jeep with #Iraq|i group "Saraya al-Khorasani" symbol in S. #Aleppo.

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 10:30 AM

TOW strike by Suqur Al-Jebal wiped out an #ISIS sniper nest near Baraghideh, in N. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2M2aVIzc_k …

NOTE.....first reported TOW team with this particular FSA group.....TOW launcher looks like it just came out of the shipping cases...totally green, not a scuff mark on it and totally new.

PLUS a major viewing audience was present........not the normal TTP.

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 10:48 AM

Best news title in the last weeks......

Terrorists Capture Terrorists

Was referencing the IS capture of an Assad MiG23 pilot yesterday....

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 11:20 AM

9 month-old boy "Abdelsalam" killed in #Assad indiscriminate air attacks of several #Aleppo neighbourhoods today.

Kurdish, Syrian Govt forces declare truce around Qamishli after three day outbreak of violence heaviest since 2011
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0XK05I?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+Reuters%252FworldNews+%2528 Reuters+World+News%2529 …

Serb Fighters’ Mercenary Path from Ukraine to Syria
https://lnkd.in/e9_8AEe

@FRANCE24 also filmed rare presence of western JTAC on the ground guiding strikes vs IS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hHCfGH9WkA …

Pictures from East #Aleppo also show me, "expert" estimates of 15.000-45.000 remaining inhabitants are nonsense.
Over 300.000 I would say.

In #Aleppo, the butcher's air force aimed at residential buildings, targeting families.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VeE8CVtNMI …

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 11:33 AM

Also #Rastan is under regime air attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNDFv6KxHXE …

Footage
Up to 10 air strikes on #Houla in besieged #Homs province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA78zzoKXtY …

The #Assad regime took a market in #Douma under (Russian-supplied) arty fire.
13 killed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWmQJkWLFm4 …

Short summary of "fighting ISIS" north of Aleppo:
#Assad: Doesn't
#FSA: Can't.
Intl. Coalition: Not really.
#Turkey: Minimum.
#SDF: *laugh*.

Turkish arty could hit #YPG near #Afrin, Turkish war planes can hit #PKK in N #Iraq.
But they can't hit #ISIS, 5 km from its border?

Anadan yesterday after being hit by #Assad war planes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX3s-5S2Ua4 …

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 12:25 PM

In "LNR" said that they fixed location of the Turkish mercenaries in Donbas
I wonder who writes in RIA this ####?
https://twitter.com/rianru/status/723815438455562240 …

Ciwan Ibrahim, head of Rojava Asayîş, says that Qamişlo airport was surrounded by every side to prevent jets taking off to bomb civilians.

Ciwan Ibrahim, head of Rojava Asayîş, says Iran and Hezbollah were involved with the regime during clashes in Qamişlo.

Afghan Father holds photo of his 16years old son Mohammadhossein Rezaei,of #IRGC's fatemiun,killed in Aleppo,Syria.

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 12:32 PM

A letter to #Syria's Hafez AlAssad from the-then-Mufti of #Saudi ,Bin Baz,urging an end to torture&unjust executions

Under the rubric "sad US Obama/Kerry humor"......
We want to design safer anti-aircraft missiles for #Syria’s rebels. They will be ready in 10 years!!

IMPORTANT.......
Just a random thought: the latest sightings of cruise missiles over Syria (like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CptFDzarFZI … )
could actually be...

R-500 GLCMs being fired from the Hmeymim-based Iskander launcher.

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 12:35 PM

According to Riyadh Hijab HNC, John Kerry personally guaranteed that food convoys will enter to Daraya. It never did.

In a press conference after Geneva 1 the DoS Kerry spokesperson so stated.....seven aid convoys would occur.....not a single one went anywhere.....

CrowBat

04-23-2016, 03:13 PM

Best news title in the last weeks......

Terrorists Capture Terrorists

Was referencing the IS capture of an Assad MiG23 pilot yesterday....
Yup, Captain Azzam Eid from No. 67 Squadron was forced to eject over Daesh-held territory after the engine of his MiG-23ML (upgraded to MLD-standard) serial number 2754 surged.

Shame where what was once the most famous and proudest of all SyAAF interceptor squadrons ended...

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 04:30 PM

Over a dozen civilians killed in Assad airstrikes targeting many areas in #Aleppo, #Syria again today

Moments when Opposition fighter met his children who were besieged by #Hezbollah in #Zabadani since years.

Moments when 250 civilians from besieged #Zabadani/#Madaya arrived to #Idlib.

An agreement between Opposition & Regime to free 250 civilians from besieged #Zabadani/#Madaya and the same for besieged #Fuah/#Kafarya.

Syria After the end of ceasefire:
Opposition 1st action; military operations against Regime forces.
Regime 1st action; attacking civilians.

Large fire in Damascus - 50 shops burned because shop owners refused to sell their property to Iranian embassy
http://www.orient-news.net/en/news_show/110037/0/Large-fire-in-Damascus-flames-seen-coming-up-in-the-heart-of-the-city …

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 04:33 PM

ALEPPO: AFP reporter shot footage of children's body parts, screaming women, old men collapsed outside building where 12 killed in strike.

That's a regime airstrike in residential areas of Aleppo.

Sources in Aleppo say regime jets hit Shekh Maqsud an hour ago. At least 6 injured, some r children.

Aleppo today, Aleppo tomorrow, Aleppo until there's nobody left

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 04:36 PM

Syria Stages of "CoH":
1. "Broadly effective"
2. Some violations
3. Serious violations, still "holding"
4. "Crumbling"
5. Not "failed"

Field hospital in #Douma busy today treating over 20 injured civilians by Assad shelling. #Damascus

Rebels take several positions as clashes continue with #ISIS affiliate LSY in Ayn Dhakar in Wadi Yarmouk area in #Daraa, #Syria

Reports Assad airstrikes targeted Tamana’a in south rural #Idlib a little while ago as well

Bani Zaid area in #Aleppo also hit with at least 8 barrel bombs by Assad helicopters

Assad airstrikes also targeted Atarib, Hayan, Kafrnaha & Majbina in #Aleppo

Reports of Assad airstrikes targeting Teir Ma’ala, Rastan & Talbiseh again in #Homs, #Syria

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 04:38 PM

Damascus Faylaq al-Rahman claims 17 regime forces were killed & a BMP destroyed in failed advance attempt on Bala in E. Ghouta last night

Aleppo areas targeted include al-Bab, Mash’had, Zibdiya, Ithaa, Bidin, Jandoul, Intharat, Dawar Hilwaniya, Amriya, Bustan al-Qasr & Salihin

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 04:42 PM

Assad and Putin have seriously yet to fully understand that bombing a civil society that has gone into true rebellion over what they perceive to be the values they want to live by.....transparency, rule of law and good governance....will only drive them forward NOT into submission.

Footage of some of the destruction caused by Assad airstrikes in #Aleppo, #Syria today

God is with us, we’re not afraid, we’re not leaving, not even if my son, brother or father dies, we’re staying

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 04:46 PM

Ghouta: Syrian Rebels kill up to 17 Assad regime fighters

Deraa: Syrian Rebels capture positions from ISIS affiliates on the outskirts of Ayn Thikr

Aleppo: Syrian Rebels shoot down Assad regime reconnaissance plane in Rityan

Funeral held today for Iranian Sadeq Shibak from 65th Special Forces brigade, killed in Aleppo, Syria.

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 04:56 PM

DID the US Department of Homeland Security get "played by proAssad trolls"???

Is there anyone in the any department of the US government that even understands exactly what is ongoing in Syria much less Ukraine??????

"We have saved over 40,000 lives. We are on the side of life." ~Raed Saleh (denied entry to US)
http://read.bi/1STRquF
via @bi_politics

Faux-left "anti-imperialists" brag about getting a celebrated Syrian rescue worker banned from the US

As has been reported in some (not nearly enough) media outlets, the head of the Syrian Civil Defence (Syrian volunteer rescue workers also known as the “White Helmets“, estimated to help saved more than 40,000 lives) Raed Saleh has been recently barred from entering the US to collect a humanitarian award won on behalf of the organisation.

Now it has emerged that an American citizen has come out and claimed credit for Saleh’s barring and deportation, boasting that he had organised a “report campaign” of Saleh to the US Department of Homeland Security prior to his arrival – falsely reporting that Saleh was a member of “Al-Qaeda”. The American’s name is Scott Gaulke (Twitter Handle: @Navsteva), a pro-Assad, self-proclaimed left-wing “anti-imperialist” activist.

Scott Gaulke @Navsteva taking direct credit for false reports to federal @DHS officers.
pic.twitter.com/RqOSVTQ5uB

I’ve seen many problematic things from people self-representing “the Left” these past few years, but this is incomparable. Even if it turns out ultimately that this wasn’t the reason for his barring (and it may well have been), its horrific.

(To be clear, when I use the term “the left” this isn’t to blame everyone for the actions of a minority, just as that wouldn’t be fair in other contexts. However in this case I find it important to point out what the person self-attributes their motives to as it is simply an extreme manifestation of what many on the self-denominated (and false) “anti-imperialist left” have been propagating regarding the Arab Spring these past few years.)

A FB commentator put it well: ‘It’s “anti-imperialist” to snitchjacket/be a cop caller now?’

(Funnily enough, the author of this blog also once had the police called on him by members of the “anti-imperialist” UK Stop the War Coalition, for speaking out of turn during an event. So this is perhaps not a sort of isolated incident from this variety of identity-centred, air-blowing “anti-imperialists”. As noted before, those who will go on lengthy polemics about Western “orchestration” of liberation movements will find no qualms of claiming welfare benefits or domestically campaigning for greater public spending by the “imperialist state”. It is all about identity politics and domestic posture).

Such actions should amount to (and be considered as) little other than a declaration of war from those who’ve done it to everyone fighting Islamophobia and prejudice.

THIS is exactly what the US DHS "denied entry" to.....absolutely a total failure on the part of the US government YET not a single rebuke by either Obama and or Kerry..........

Little boy rescued from rubble after #RUSSIA TERROR airstriks target HIS home in #Tareq_alBab by White Helmets
#ALeppo #Syria APR 23

BREAKING
Moment of #SAA terrorists double-tap bombardment on #Douma, while our Heroes #SCD conduct rescue op
#Syria APR 23

NOTE: Assad and Putin both have deliberately targeted the SCD with double tap bomb strikes...repeatedly.......

BREAKING
Little angel Zachary, 9 months old, victim of #RUSSIA airstrikes on neighborhoods of #Aleppo #Syria APR 23
CARRIED out of the bombed out building with dust and debris still flying around by SCD.......

THIS is what the White Helmets wade into with every bomb/artillery strike by Assad and Putin......
GRAPHIC: the regime shelled a market in #Douma, murdering men, women and children
https://youtu.be/WWpYtm8xNRM

So is DHS actually carrying out the Obama WH foreign policy towards Syrians????

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 05:01 PM

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 05:03 PM

The fire continue to burn since y'day in the #Turkmen_Mount after #SAA bombarding the area
#Latakia cs #Syria APR 22

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 05:15 PM

Clashes btw #FSA & #IS-offshoots continues in werstern #Daraa province
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eWICM-Ep9I …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=32.858789&lon=35.908427&z=14&m=b …

Journalist around Qamişlo markets says YPG is positioned around the area, and there is possibility of a greater war.

YPG confirm regime attacks on Şêx Meqsud.

BREAKING Syrian regime planes bombed #SheikhMaqsoud neighborhood of #Aleppo at 5 pm local time w/ barrel bombs, civilians killed & injured.
At least 10 martyred so far by Assad terror attack on a market in besieged #Douma #Syria
https://youtu.be/c9wa6iZmEPA

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 05:19 PM

Assad today: "There are no #Iran'ian troops in #Syria, they're all "advisers", "trainers","volunteers" & "pilgrims"! Not Iranian troops.."

WELL at least he is following Putin's led with Russian troops inside eastern Ukraine.....vacationers who took their own tanks to Ukraine, volunteers, truck drivers, miners, farmers, ex military, mercenaries....BUT absolutely no Russian military.

BUT WAIT 28 Russian army units later and 9,000 troops still in Ukraine kind of "kills" Putin's lame excuses.

ESPECIALLY the killed Russian soldiers going home from Ukraine and Syria.....

Wow a bunch of "advisors, trainers, volunteers, mosque defenders" have literally bit the dust in southern Aleppo.....and still continue to "bite the dust"......LEADS one to ask the simple question....not much in the way of "quality" in doing their so called "advising".....appears to be more of just plain "quantity" commonly called "cannon fodder".......

Funeral held also today for Iranian Hossein Hemmati from 65th Special Forces brigade, killed in Aleppo, Syria.

Funeral held today for Iranian Sadeq Shibak from 65th Special Forces brigade, killed in Aleppo, Syria.

AND these are not "Iranian troops"..appears Assad lies as much as Putin does......

NOTICE he never mentioned the Shia mercenaries recruited, trained and paid for by Iran......

With burial of 6 more Afghans of #IRGC's Fatemiun brig in Iran(Tehran, Mashhad, Kashan) toll raised to 26 in 3days.

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 05:23 PM

A lot of airstrikes today on Rebels area in Aleppo as a revenge from the national community for the HNC leaving the Geneva talks...HECK even Kerry "threatened them" BUT both Kerry and Obama never said a solid word about the ongoing constant Assad violations and provocations....conducted by Assad and Putin DURING the talks......JUST as the international community said not a single word when Putin attacked Debaltseve after Minsk 2........

Attacks on #hospitals resumed with vengeance in #Aleppo by #Assad like this one on Atareb hospital

Over 3,200 Syrians killed since the start of #SyriaTalks. Urgent need for int'l action to make #GenevaIII credible

Al Arabiya English 
‏@AlArabiya_Eng
#BREAKING: In Syria we are witnessing some worrisome trends on ground, no doubt what happened today in Aleppo is very worrisome - de Mistura

DeMistura: here are the facts. There are 18 besieged areas. 15 are besieged by #Assad regime

DeMistura specifically calls out #Aleppo as example of ground updates derailing ceasefire, bombed by regime forces.

DeMistura: we will announce in next few days someone dedicated to securing release of detainees. #Syria

NEVER HAPPENED on the UN watch...was nothing but smoke and mirrors to hold the HNC in place in Geneva.....

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 05:47 PM

Think the DHS decision to bar entry to the White Helmets (SDC) leader after the US issued him a visa was a "mistake"...think again........

Kyle W. Orton ‏@KyleWOrton
My prediction in FEB US would excuse Russia's attacks on Syria rebels as targeting al-Qaeda
http://mme.cm/LXAW00

Aleppo was bombed by #Assad today, inc Kurdish Sheikh Maqsood; 15+ dead. No doubt they were aiming for al-Nusra ...

Kerry again suggests Aleppo is fair game for #Russia because Jabhat al-Nusra is present.
http://nyti.ms/1rrh842

Obama now says he's "very proud" he allowed a tyrant to "gas 00s of children…+ pay no price"
http://1.usa.gov/1Zh7bSa

As well as attacks with chemical weapons and #Assad's elite troops, East Ghouta suffers 28/46 sieges (61%) in #Syria, inc 1 of 6 worst

#Assad's latest attacks on #Douma come as relations between rebels in East Ghouta are fraying; attacks quite likely to aide unification

Assad shelled a vegetable market in #Douma today, massacred twelve people. Got a bit less attention than #IS.

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 06:19 PM

Did in fact Kerry and Obama give Putin and Assad a green light to bomb all opposition forces.......APPEARS that in fact they did....and Kerry still uses those threats when he threatened the HNC for walking away from Geneva 2 after massive Assad air strikes and round offensives......

Kyle Orton

Published: 25/02/2016 06:57 PM

The pretend ceasefire in Syria

The Syrian ceasefire, which the United States and Russia agreed on February 12 and which was supposed to take effect on February 19, had seemed to amount to little more than granting Russia a week of internationally-legitimated time to press its aggression against Aleppo and then blame the rebellion for breaking the ceasefire when the rebels refused to freeze the fighting on the new frontlines. Of course, it has turned out worse than that: with the agreement of another ceasefire on February 22, due to take effect on February 27 at midnight, Russia has had two weeks to make gains.

As it happens, the Russian-enabled offensive against Aleppo by the pro-regime coalition—led by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and various foreign Shiite jihadist forces under IRGC control, including Lebanese Hezbollah, various Iraqi militias, and Afghan Hazara refugees—has somewhat stalled.

It was always doubtful that the pro-regime forces could militarily crush the rebellion in Aleppo; the presence of foreign forces is strongly indicative of the regime’s shortage in manpower. And even if the moderate opposition in Aleppo could be destroyed, the regime could not hold the territory—thereby creating a vacuum that would inevitably be filled by ISIS.

As it was, the pro-regime coalition was even weaker than it appeared, losing ground to ISIS in areas it had already ostensibly secured, namely As-Safira Plains in southern Rif Aleppo. In late 2013, the regime pushed the rebels from As-Safira, claiming it was retaking a local chemical weapons production facility and shoring-up a path to the coast so it could ship its chemical weapons out of the country, in accordance with the deal Russia made on Assad's behalf, which spared Assad from airstrikes in retribution for the Ghouta massacre and re-legitimized Assad as a partner in chemical disarmament.

On the evening of February 21, Jund al-Aqsa (JAA), Imarat Kavkaz v Sham (Caucasus Emirate in Syria), the Turkistan Islamic Party, and ISIS attacked the pro-Assad forces’ supply line along the Aleppo-Khanaser road and captured various points. (All of the non-ISIS groups here are at least foreign-led, if not majority-foreign, and are affiliated with al-Qaeda, except for JAA. Last week, essentially the entire senior leadership of JAA and numerous fighters—apparently encompassing about 40% of the group—defected to Jabhat al-Nusra, the official al-Qaeda branch in Syria. This might be because JAA had shown signs of slowly being taken over by ISIS; certainly ISIS had infiltrators in JAA and the rump of JAA appears to be pro-ISIS.)

The Russians, therefore, might actually be happy now to have a bit of breathing room to consolidate before they push on. After all, the main aim of Moscow's intervention—to secure Assad—has been achieved militarily for the short-term, and the long-term stratagem of rehabilitating Assad internationally by eliminating all non-terrorist insurgents is proceeding apace. A ceasefire cannot work, of course, but there are diplomatic gains from pretending it can, and Russia seems to have taken them all, among other things getting the US to agree with Moscow that any snags preventing a political settlement are the opposition's fault.

Blaming the opposition for the lack of peace is an old habit of the Obama administration. It is not surprising that it happened over Geneva III, since the process was—as anyone could see, even before it began—fundamentally weighted to the regime because Russia had helped turn facts-on-the-ground so decisively in the regime's favor, at least in its core zones. This meant that either the West forced the opposition to accept the regime's terms for peace (which remain essentially total victory) to keep the process going or the process collapsed.

The new element is the US using the threat of Russian atrocities to cajole the Syrian opposition into surrender.

Hadi al-Bahra, the former ETILAF president, said on Wednesday that US Secretary of State John Kerry told the Syrian opposition: "We are clear, if you don't choose be part of [the ceasefire] then you are choosing to perhaps make yourself a target." There are echoes of an incident from earlier this month.

At the London donor conference for Syria on February 4, according to one of the Syrians who was there, Kerry was asked by a Syrian civil society activist to push the Russians harder to stop (and to stop Assad) bombing and starving civilians. The Higher Negotiating Committee (HNC), the opposition delegation to the Geneva III peace conference, had said it would only sit down with the regime once it stopped its aerial bombardments of civilians and blockading of humanitarian access. But Kerry's policy was that this was an unfair precondition that should be part of the negotiations. Kerry lashed out at any suggestion that the opposition had more to lose by participation: "It's going to get much worse . This will continue for three months, and by then the opposition will be decimated."

When an aid worker pointed out that, rather than the regime de-escalating (as the US did) while the negotiations were going on, the Geneva III process was being used as cover for the pro-regime offensive in Aleppo, Kerry reportedly said that the regime's gains were actually caused by the opposition's refusal to negotiate under fire and starvation-siege. "Don't blame me—go and blame your opposition," the Secretary of State allegedly said to the aid worker (which was later denied by Kerry's spokesman.)

As the above makes clear, Russia has correctly sensed that the US wants the process of peace rather than having any concept of peace, so Russia has decided to allow them the process, provided Russia can continue to do everything it wanted to do in Syria—and the US has happily played along, even using Russia's threats to checkmate the opposition, which is ostensibly its own side. The most telling example of this was Russia's victory in the wrangling over what to do about al-Nusra during a ceasefire.

[I]The US had asked for the ceasefire to include a cessation of Russian attacks on al-Nusra, at least initially. Easy to caricature—and for Iranian and Russian propagandists to cast as sinister and indicative—as "America calling for protecting al-Qaeda," it was in fact an attempt to protect the moderate and US-supported Syrian opposition. Al-Nusra has embedded itself into elements of the rebellion and Russia is not wrong—in some areas—that the rebels and al-Nusra are militarily indistinguishable, even if this is a tactical arrangement and not an ideological one. But Russia's aim is not empiricism in service of defeating extremists; it's saving Assad by giving itself political legitimacy to treat all armed opponents of the regime like al-Qaeda. Russia already claims that everything it hits is either al-Qaeda or ISIS. It is for this reason—Moscow's terminal mendacity—that there is any truth in the claim that America was asking for a halt to attacks on al-Qaeda. In order to protect US assets and prevent Russia from making the conflict a binary one between Assad and the terrorists, attacks on al-Nusra had to be stopped, too. As ever, the US caved. The ceasefire allows continued attacks on al-Nusra.

Foreshadowing how the Nusra exception to the ceasefire will work in practice, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said:

"We, the ISSG , have been very clear in saying that al-Nusra and Daesh [ISIS] are not part of any kind of ceasefire or any kind of negotiated cessation of hostilities. So if you hang out with the wrong folks, then you make that decision… You choose your own who you hang out with, and that sends a signal."

[I]In other words, the US gave permission, in advance, for Russia to bomb any armed opposition group it likes and provided Moscow with the ready-made excuse that the group was collaborating with al-Qaeda, so has only itself to blame. Thus, in the last two days the US has sent the message that any rebel not actively fighting al-Nusra and any rebel who resists a peace process by working against them can expect to be bombed by Russia—and the US has no objection to this.

While the pro-regime side has this massive loophole to continue its war as planned, the rebellion—assuming the US orders rebel units it supports to abide by the ceasefire and once again restricts rebel access to weapons—will be debilitated from protecting itself during the period when they are pretending there's a ceasefire, and will be politically and militarily weaker afterwards. If Syrians come to see US policy as collusion with Russia to put down the rebellion, they can be forgiven.

NOTICE this was the same exact tactic Kerry used when talking to HNC individuals right after Geneva 2 had failed........he blatantly blamed the opposition for walking out even in the face of an aggressive Assad bombing of civilians and their series of round attacks ALL supported by Putin.....

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 06:35 PM

Mattis: "Iranian regime, in my mind, is the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East."

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/04/22/mattis-csis-speech-iran/83397134/

He criticized President Barack Obama for being naive about Iranian intentions and Congress for being “pretty much absent” on last year’s nuclear deal. He even took an indirect shot at this year’s Republican presidential frontrunner, saying he assumed an insensitive comment directed at U.S. foreign allies must have come from Donald Trump.

Mattis offered little praise for the nuclear deal, saying it's far from "a friendship treaty," but also dismissed Republican claims that the international agreement should be torn up by the next president.

“We are going to have to recognize that we have an imperfect arms control agreement,” he said. “What we achieved was a nuclear pause, not a nuclear halt. We're going to have to plan for the worst.”

Mattis said that includes a recognition that Iran will never be a “modern, responsible” influence in the Middle East, and its power must constantly be kept in check.
He also predicted the Iranian government will be top U.S. security threat for decades to come.

“In the Middle East, the future is going to be ghastly,” he said. “We know that vacuums left in the Middle East seem to be filled by either terrorists or by Iran or their surrogates or Russia … In order to restore deterrence, we have to show capability, capacity and resolve.”

Mattis, who spent almost two years overseeing U.S. military operations in the Middle East, said Obama did not make a mistake trying to engage with Iran, especially given how close the country was to building a nuclear weapon. Military action would have delayed that process only a year or two, he argued. Diplomacy has probably delayed it at least a decade.

“But the mistake was to take our eye off the ball afterward,” he said.

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 06:45 PM

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 07:13 PM

Syrian opposition coordinator blasts U.N. Envoy, defends peace talks pause
http://reut.rs/1r7N6BY

HNC chief @hijab_riad:
'In 2yrs as UN Envoy, De Mistura has watched killing double & sieges increase in #Syria'

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 07:21 PM

If you ever wondered why YPG / SDF are so effective vs IS, here's why.
https://twitter.com/bm21_grad/status/723840304151953410 …

Western SOF alongside YPG forces during the Shadadi offensive via @green_lemonnn

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 07:37 PM

Merkel: Germany is pushing for safe zones in Syria near border with Turkey at international peace talks
http://sabahdai.ly/5HsEqc

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 07:51 PM

Pro-Regime gains in N. #Latakia: 95% between 8th Oct. & mid. Feb. Then sudden halt & still stalemate. #RuAF missing?

OUTLAW 09

04-23-2016, 07:55 PM

Nusra controls suburbs outside of Aleppo. Never heard they control any neighborhoods.

And we talk of checkpoints or several strategic streets / front sectors at most.
No single district "predominately held by" Nusra.

Nusra controlling parts of #Aleppo city doesn't have to be "admitted" but is a know fact.
What this has to do w/ bombing civilians there!?!

DoD didn't 'admit' Nusra holds #Aleppo, they just falsely stated it. And you know this, @joshua_landis. https://twitter.com/joshua_landis/status/723908131969888256 …

Joshua Landis
‏@joshua_landis
The Defense Department Admits Nusra occupies parts of Aleppo. Helps Putin and Assad in Syria
http://read.bi/1SB9ahk
Quotes outraged pundits

WHY..because the DoD was basically totally wrong in this comment.....as they have often been wrong about JaN....

Do not forget DoD via CENTCOM and CIA have been backing the Kurdish YPG as their proxy at the same time it was fighting with another US supported proxy FSA....this is just how accurate DoD gets their information....

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 05:48 AM

Russian Syria Express on the move again....

FLOT's Tapir Class LLC Saratov 150 crossing the Bosphorus northbound, returning empty from Syria.

Saratov is transiting northbound exactly 10 days after the southbound transit towards Syria

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 05:56 AM

WHY is it that social media reporting is always with a capital A always faster and far more informed than the entire Obama WH plus Kerry plus a 700 person NSC plus the entire thousands of employees of the USIC.......something appears to be amiss.......

Charles_Lister
#Aleppo's on the verge of full escalation - Fateh Halab operations room will initiate full-scale ops in 24hrs unless airstrikes stop.

WHY is it that the HNC approached this last Geneva meeting with a series of well designed and thought through solutions for a political settlement and YET Obama and Kerry "blamed" the HNC for walking out WHEN both Obama and Kerry fully understood that both Putin and Assad were in fact continuing the killing of civilians by their air strikes and keeping their ground offensive on the move.....

HAS anyone noticed that all Kerry and Obama do is actually just complain and complain but never take action or responsibility for something...it is always the fault of someone else..THAT is in fact a "strategy".......

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 06:01 AM

Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister ·

Good to see 13 Division leader Ahmed Saoud (@alferqa13) on frontline vs. #ISIS in northern #Aleppo, alongside FSA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct6ZafL8lKI&feature=youtu.be …

SDF commander:
“#Assad… has bought oil from jihadists & in return, he supplies them with weapons."
(via @IHWCo)

Senior Ahrar military leader Islam Abu Hussein killed in #ISIS suicide attack in Binnish. He was a key figure.

Suspected #ISIS suicide bomber on motorcycle has attacked an Ahrar al-Sham HQ & nearby soccer match in Binnish, #Idlib. 10 dead, 20 wounded.

Another day in #Syria…
V. heavy air & artillery strikes by #Assad regime on #Aleppo (15 dead) & #Douma (12 killed)

Day 41 of protest in Marat al-Numan:
“Down with [Jabhat] al-Nusra”

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 06:02 AM

Charles_Lister

Great work by @ajaltamimi on #ISIS "Remaining & Contracting" -
"A Caliphate Under Strain"
https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/a-caliphate-under-strain-the-documentary-evidence …

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 06:05 AM

"How The New Yorker Mis-Reports Syria," by Jonathan Marshall
https://consortiumnews.com/2016/04/20/how-the-new-yorker-mis-reports-syria/ …

So it seems Syria’s opposition should have given Assad more time to reform in 2011 - as I’m sure he would have...ask those killed by his air strikes and artillery yesterday IF he would have improved his governance....Or ask the 500,000 being besieged or those 120,000 still in his torture prisons OR those 6M IDPs and refugees.........

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 06:12 AM

Joshua Landis
‏@joshua_landis
The Defense Department Admits Nusra occupies parts of Aleppo. Helps Putin and Assad in Syria
http://read.bi/1SB9ahk
Quotes outraged pundits

WHY..because the DoD was basically totally wrong in this comment.....as they have often been wrong about JaN....

Do not forget DoD via CENTCOM and CIA have been backing the Kurdish YPG as their proxy at the same time it was fighting with another US supported proxy FSA....this is just how accurate DoD gets their information....

AGAIN a very serious question....WHY does and did DoD misstate the facts as to JaN being in Aleppo....AND did this misstatement in fact give both Putin and Assad a "GREEN LIGHT" to bomb civilians?....and in fact if this DoD misstatement did give a "green light" is the DoD complicit in the killing of civilians.....???

Defense department spox for fight against ISIS said "it's primarily Nusrah that holds Aleppo."
http://www.businessinsider.com/defense-department-nusra-aleppo-putin-assad-2016-4 …

Appears that the entire US IC and especially DIA which works for DoD does not even know who and or where the various anti Assad groups are located and how they are interrelated.

BUT WAIT we saw the exact same problem in Iraq from 2003 to 2010.......as of late 2006 DoD still had no clear idea of the makeup of the Sunni insurgency and based on a 9/11 they changed the name of the then AQ in Iraq.....QJBR....."AQ in the Land of Two Rivers"...WHICH if one looks at their so called caliphate and where they hold territory...IT is in the "Land of Two Rivers"......INTO AQI....AQ in Iraq......

DoD never seems to get the name game in the ME.........just as they are getting it wrong with JaN.........BUT then why do many of the moderate anti Assad groups work with JaN.....never answered by DoD......

JaN maybe AQ but at the same time they are fighting for a Syria MINUS a genocidal dictator which the DoD seems to be content with........

Jaish al-Nasir Movie Montage ~ The Brave The Few
Jaysh al-Nasr was formed early August 2015 as a joint operations room with the stated objective being the "liberation of N. Hama countryside breaking the regime's first defense line toward Hama city".

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 06:27 AM

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 06:35 AM

Well finally the UN Envoy responsible for the Syrian talks is admitting that "well maybe there are 400,000 killed in Syria"....a majority of other commenters state the figure is now far above 500,000 and climbing daily........

U.N. Envoy Revises Syria Death Toll to 400,000

In some place of the world THIS would qualify as "genocide"........BUT for the UN and the Obama WH it does not nor does the words "war crimes" get mentioned.

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 06:43 AM

Graphic footage of #Assad's large-scale #terror attack on #Aleppo yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKjtrt8ObAI …

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 06:48 AM

IS under pressure but nowhere near collapse and internal security almost certainly able to prevent revolt presently
http://ow.ly/4n1oKq

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 08:10 AM

This town has been in the center of numerous recent missile attacks and Assad air strikes...previously Putin air strikes......

Assad and Putin somehow think attacking hospitals and field hospitals are not "war crimes"....but they are in fact .........

Hospital in Jisr Shughour was Assad regimes main target last night

NEITHER the UNSC nor the Obama WH say a single word about these attacks....

Russia "fighting ISIS" by dropping sending air drops to Hezbollah in Fua

BUT WAIT Kerry stated twice in recent weeks that Iranian troops were leaving Syria....boy did he get it wrong....Iran is sending in even more troops

Just days before attack on Ahrar Al Sham HQ in Binnish Rebels had arrested an ISIS cell......then SVBIED attack from JaA

Aleppo: Syrian rebels vaptur KafrShoush & Tel Hussain from ISIS for 100th time

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 08:15 AM

Maybe Obama and Kerry should realize that if Geneva is to succeed then they must address Syrian demands not those of a genocidal dictator and his proxies Putin....and Khamenei.....

Negotiations Must Focus on Meeting Syrian's Demands
http://ow.ly/4n15kX

Syrian activist doing this for more than 5 years, labelled a AFP. reporter.. It's ok, may be get more attention by the western MSM.......

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 08:24 AM

FSA Suqour al-Jabal launching mortar shells at #ISIS positions in Baraghida in north rural #Aleppo, #Syria

From yesterday......
Reports of an Assad MLRS attack targeting the Wadi Baradah area in rural #Damascus, #Syria

Renewed Assad airstrikes on Bani Zeid, al-Masir, Dahret Awad & Castello Road in #Aleppo

Smoke rising from Old Damascus, it looks like another fire

Multiple airstrikes reportedly by Russian jets targeted the village of al-Kabana & its surroundings in Jabal Akrad, rural #Latakia, #Syria

Renewed Assad airstrikes on Kafrzita in north rural #Hama, #Syria

Eastern_Ghouta
Fighters of #AlRahman_corps - liberate new points in #bala sector as the fighting intensifies.

AlRahman_corps
#Eastern_Ghouta
weapons seized from the Assad's and other sectarian militias in #Bala sector.

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 08:33 AM

Perfect example of the Obama Kerry Syrian FP.......

Kerry: "We’ve even proposed drawing a line,..& saying, ‘You don’t go over there, we don’t go over here,'"

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/world/middleeast/russian-military-buildup-near-aleppo-threatens-truce-kerry-warns.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=0

SO what will the color of this so called new line be........?

Especially since red has been used already...to no avail......

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 09:04 AM

Russian Syrian Express on the go again towards Syria......heavily loaded .....

After visiting Larnaca, Cyprus & returning to Tartus, #ВМФ #ЧФ Prof.N.Muru arrives to Alexandroupoli-Dedeağa Greece

Appears the Russians are moving something between Cyprus and Tartus......

Heavily-laden #ЧФ Saratov transits Bosphorus en route to #Tartus; LST carried URAL trucks above the deck...went she went out 10 days ago..returned yesterday riding high and totally empty....

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 09:05 AM

Arab Press Reports On U.S.-Russia Understandings Allowing Assad To Remain In Power In Syria During Transition Phase
http://fw.to/sye09SP

Allowing Assad To Remain In Power In Syria During Transitional Phase

By: N. Mozes*

According to many reports in the Arab press in recent days, alongside the indirect talks in Geneva between the Syrian regime and opposition that are being mediated by UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, the U.S. and Russia have been conducting separate secret talks to draw up understandings on resolving the crisis. The reports state that the U.S. is inclined to accept the position of the Syrian regime and its Russian ally, namely, that the idea of a transitional governing body should be abandoned in favor of a joint regime-opposition body, and that the Syrian regime should remain in the hands of President Bashar Al-Assad, at least in the transitional phase.

Concurrently, during his talks with the regime and opposition delegations, de Mistura presented an idea that he claims he did not initiate, which involves Assad remaining as a figurehead president and appointing deputies to whom he would delegate his political and military authority. It is hard to imagine that the U.S. and Russia were unaware of this proposal, which is in line with what has been reported on their own understandings regarding Assad's remaining president during the transitional period. These reports, if true, show that the U.S. has backed down even further from its position vis-à-vis Assad and the Syrian opposition, and that it is disregarding the clause in the 2012 Geneva I communique calling for the establishment of a transitional body with full authority.

Arab press reports on these U.S.-Russia efforts increased greatly after Secretary of State John Kerry's March 24, 2016 meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin. Following the meetings, Kerry said that both sides had agreed to step up their efforts to achieve a political transition in Syria and had agreed on a timetable and that a draft constitution would be submitted in August 2016. On April 8, Kerry confirmed reports that the U.S. was further backing down from its previous position when he told the Saudi Al-Arabiya TV channel that while Assad can no longer lead his country in light of the many crimes he had committed, he would still be present at the start of the transitional phase. He added that if Assad would facilitate this phase, then a safe exit for him could be discussed.

According to the Arab reports, the U.S.-Russia understandings would be imposed on the parties involved, as with the February 12, 2016 agreement on cessation of hostilities. In another similarity to that agreement, the Assad regime will be the main one to benefit.

On April 16, 2016, three days after the start of the third round of indirect talks in Geneva between the Syrian regime and opposition under the mediation of UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that Western diplomats "are warning that there will be a U.S.-Russia deal on Syria before the summer." According to the report, it is the Americans who are pressuring the Russians to arrive at understandings that are to be "very close to the Russia proposal regarding the nature of the transitional phase, the regime, the constitution, and the elections." The diplomats cited in the report said that the U.S. is trusting Moscow to find a solution for the Syrian crisis while ignoring Western and regional elements.

The following day, the newspaper reported that the U.S. and Russia were discussing not only "regime leader Bashar Al-Assad's remaining in power during the transitional phase, but also the central role he would play in it, including in drafting a constitution and in the elections set for 18 months after the start of negotiations between the sides." In a later report, the paper cited Western sources who warned against recycling "the Yemen model" under which Yemen president 'Ali 'Abdallah Saleh had officially been removed but had in effect remained in control of the armed forces and in possession of many political cards.

On April 17, the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat also reported on the U.S.-Russia talks. According to the daily, Robert Malley, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and chief advisor to President Obama on Syria, and Putin's Syria envoy Alexander Lavrentiev were holding intensive talks behind the scenes with the aim of drawing up "constitutional and political principles" based on a "political partnership" between the regime and the opposition, "in accordance with an improved Lebanese model." Under this proposal, the regime and opposition would share executive, military, security, legal, and constitutional authority. The newspaper also stated that Obama would present these understandings during his visit to the Gulf states on April 21, and that the Russians would present them to Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Qods Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who recently visited Moscow. The understandings would then be brought before Syrian regime representatives, and a "select list" of oppositionists who agree to a political solution.

On April 18, 2016, the London-based daily Al-Arabi Al-Jadid reported that in light of the Geneva talks' failure so far to bring the sides closer together, representatives of presidents Obama and Putin are working in Geneva to formulate an alternative plan in the event that the negotiations fail; this plan would be imposed on the sides via a UN Security Council resolution, under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. Two main proposals to resolve the crisis were presented at these U.S.-Russia Talks: The first is based on the principle of a "political partnership" among all elements of Syrian society, which would be more comprehensive than the 1989 Taif Agreement and would include leaving Assad in power, because he controls the main power base in Syria. The second proposal includes the establishment of a transitional council comprising eight technocrats; this council would lead the transitional phase.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov denied the reports about secret U.S.-Russia talks, stressing that they were "routine consultations." However, during the regime-opposition Geneva talks, de Mistura brought the delegations a proposal "from an expert" that also involved Assad's remaining in power, at least temporarily. Under this proposal, he would continue to serve as president and would appoint three deputies to whom he would delegate his political and military authority and who would manage the country during the transitional phase. It is hard to imagine that the U.S. and Russia, who sponsor the Geneva talks, were unaware of this proposal, which is in line with what has been reported on their own understandings regarding Assad's remaining president during the transitional period.

Continued.....

On April 11, 2016, a Syrian oppositionist website reported that Russia had prepared an alternative plan in case the Geneva talks failed; it dictated the establishment of a military council comprising both regime and opposition elements; this council would rule the country and prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections. Under this plan, there would be no transitional phase and no interim ruling body, as neither are compatible with the current Syrian constitution. Russia reportedly presented this plan to Kerry during the latter's Moscow visit, and Kerry assured his hosts that the U.S. would not oppose it but that Russia would have to persuade the opposition to accept it.

Kerry: Assad Should Remain For Start Of Transitional Phase

The American administration's statements on resolving the Syrian crisis are rife with internal contradictions. For example, officials repeatedly state that Assad is illegitimate because of his crimes against his people, and that he cannot unite Syria, but at the same time Kerry said that Russia and the U.S. have agreed that he should remain for the start of the transitional phase. This effectively confirms reports that the American position is moving closer to the Russian one, and that the former no longer objects to Assad's remaining in power during the transitional phase.

In an April 8, 2016 interview, Kerry told the Saudi Al-Arabiya TV: "During the transitional phase, Assad will remain in power in accordance with the Geneva [I] communique, since this communique required joint [regime and opposition] consensus regarding the phase. This means that both Assad and the opposition must join this consensus... The U.S. and Russia have reached an agreement that was reached also with many other countries, that is, there is no escaping a transitional phase followed by a united, secular, and non-sectarian Syria... Likewise, we agreed that Assad should be present at the start of the transitional phase...

Continued.....

On April 16, a Syrian opposition website also reported that the U.S. had agreed to postpone the debate on Assad's fate, and stated that Kerry, on his April 7 visit to Bahrain, had told the Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers that Assad's withdrawal from power should not be discussed at this time.

U.S.-Russia Military Coordination

Continued.......

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 09:24 AM

Reference Merkel's call Syrian refugee "safe zones"..something Obama has flatly rejected..........

Creation of "safe zones" to shelter refugees north #Syria will not happen as long as #Obama in power but let's see.
http://reut.rs/22W9kTc

Not so sure he can resist the call after the Assad's deliberate killing of civilians over the last week and the IS/Assad/Putin strikes against IDP camps along the Turkish border....

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 09:27 AM

Same procedure as every day in #Houla, besieged #Homs province.
#Assad's jets bomb civilians 3 times today alone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grMhGXCowXE …

Same picture in nearby #TerMaela.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_glS0DsnmE …

A pro-Assad US citizen got White Helmets' Raed Saleh banned from the US by falsely reporting him as Al Qaeda (!!) https://eternispring.wordpress.com/2016/04/22/raed-salehs-deportation-and-a-proud-anti-imperialist-claimant-is-this-the-faux-lefts-microcosmic-low-point-on-syria/ …

Scott Gaulke is a US Assad agent who reported him to DHS as AQ. AND the response from DHS...nothing....at all......and yet if one is a proAQ supporter even online...it gets you a no fly DHS entry..........he's a sociopath with a restraining order who moved off prescription drugs and onto Assad worship.
http://unitedagainstmike59.blogspot.com/2012/04/things-we-know-about-scott-gaulke-to-be.html …

THE kicker is.....DHS believed him without doing any background checks whatsoever.....that is in itself scary.......

Actually filing false reports to federal officers is a major offense..........
Scott Gaulke @Navsteva taking direct credit for false reports to federal @DHS officers.

Footage
The #FSA's 13th brigade recaptures Tel Hussein from #ISIS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNWS6gc0ISA …

ProAssad and Putin trolls are extremely active today......

Abraxas Spa ‎@AbraxasSpa
Bot invasion continues, about 200 blocked in 12 hours

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 09:41 AM

Kyle W. Orton ‎@KyleWOrton
Note this esp from @PhillipSmyth. (And it's not just #Iran pursuing its own agenda under cover of "fighting IS".)

Phillip Smyth ‎@PhillipSmyth
I wrote this for @ForeignPolicy back in Sept of 2014, I hate to say it, but what I said is coming true --
http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/09/18/all-the-ayatollahs-men/ …

MAYBE DoD should hire all the outsiders that fully understand the ME and fire all of their so called intel analysts......

So it begins ...
Armed clashes between Kurdish #Peshmerga and Shia "Popular Mobilization Forces" in #Iraq's #Tuz district.

Heavy clashes between Peshmerga and Shia "Popular Mobilization Forces" in #Tuz_Khormato. Several killed.

Little known fact of the ME.........
While YPG & Hashd are sort of allies in Syria, majority of Syrian rebel groups including FSA have much in common with Kurdish Peshmerga.

BIG difference the YPG and Hashd are intertwined with the Kurdish terrorist group PKK........the Peshmerga are not....

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 09:56 AM

Footage
The #FSA uses US-made 81 mm mortars (M52A2) vs. #ISIS in Baraghedeh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7EQ_MYL4S8 …

Homs: Nonstop #Assad regime airstrikes on #Houla since morning.

Activists are working in secret across Deir Ezzor to uncover mass graves filled by #ISS & #Assad's government
http://nwsdp.ly/wldmo

Several shops were destroyed in Old Damascus today as fires swept through the Asrouniyeh market...claim is the shops were burnt to make way for Iranian Embassy expansion.....

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 10:10 AM

IS today fires rockets again at Kilis.........

Same as everyday, Assad airstrikes on Teir Ma’ala & Houla in #Homs
https://youtu.be/BCKz7jc_U70
https://youtu.be/UkO0g7noM-A
http://youtu.be/T2yzYTS8iBM

Assad airstrikes continue targeting many areas in #Aleppo for 4th day in a row; Sukkari, Shaar, Qarlaq & Muwasalat districts hit again today

Rebels firing a SNEB rocket vs SyAA in Jabal Al Akrad in the last week, not seen for quite some time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi4QSXPXF2g …

TOW strike by Jaish Al-Tahrir wiping out a 23 mm gun in W. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrHHQBHTE70 …

Spotted......
A Russian BTR-80 and two GAZ Tigrs in Homs

More Russian soldier photos from their social media pages....seen in Syrian.....
Russian soldiers in Latakia

Cute pictures of refugee kids from Aleppo/Idlib with Russian soldiers after they handed out aid in Latakia

Russian soldiers in Tartus port

Russian soldier in Latakia. Two guns (D-30?) in background and a Kamaz

Russian soldiers ontop of a R-166 0,5 radiostation in Palmyra
http://www.canalplus.fr/c-infos-documentaires/pid3356-effet-papillon.html?vid=1382917 …

Russian soldier in Latakia

Syrian soldier made a VK profile to stay in contact with the Russian soldiers he was with in Tartus :)

ONLY comment... poor OPSEC as seen even now in eastern Ukraine as well and this after the Russian GRU and MoD said not to post anything and made it a punishable offense.

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 10:48 AM

FSA expelled #IS from Tel Hussein village in the countryside north of #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNWS6gc0ISA …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.615442&lon=37.161212&z=16&m=b …

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 10:49 AM

Kyle W. Orton ‎@KyleWOrton
Great panel on #Russia's intervention in #Syria with inter alia @EliotHiggins, @faysalitani, and @MaksCzuperski.
https://youtu.be/_moUg08QdLQ

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 12:51 PM

So it begins ...
Armed clashes between Kurdish #Peshmerga and Shia "Popular Mobilization Forces" in #Iraq's #Tuz district.

Heavy clashes between Peshmerga and Shia "Popular Mobilization Forces" in #Tuz_Khormato. Several killed.

Little known fact of the ME.........
While YPG & Hashd are sort of allies in Syria, majority of Syrian rebel groups including FSA have much in common with Kurdish Peshmerga.

BIG difference the YPG and Hashd are intertwined with the Kurdish terrorist group PKK........the Peshmerga are not....

BREAKING:
Peshmerga Commander Mahmoud Sangawi to Kurdistan24:
Agreement with Hashd al-Shaabi was unsuccessful.

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 01:09 PM

Daraa: Heavy clashes south of the #Thalah Airbase between #Syria|n rebels and #Assad forces. #Tell_Sheikh_Hussein

Foreign Affairs
✔ ‎@ForeignAffairs Putin has become willing to take major risks to counter seemingly manageable threats:
http://ow.ly/4n0Rsc

Hezbollah tip #1: When times are tough, point to #Israel in order to divert attention from #Syria
http://bit.ly/1XNfR1f

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 01:18 PM

Does Obama and Kerry really want to continue to pretend that Putin/Assad and IS do not work together......????

Play this video for the US Congress and then listen to their comments.........

Footage of alleged #ISIS convoy leaving E. #Qalamoun under close escort of Assad/Putin attack choppers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foee1mtIYh4 …

3 dead & 8 injured in Muwasalat district in #Aleppo by Assad airstrikes today inc. a women & child

5 dead from the same family, 4 of whom were children in Assad airstrikes near Uqayribat in north rural #Hama, #Syria today

No this is not terrorism. Sham al-Jasim, another baby killed by Assad airstrikes on Sakhour district in #Aleppo

Multiple casualties reported in Assad barrel bomb & artillery attack on eastern Zabadani mountain after midnight last night.

Homs: Assad regime shelling Houla
http://fb.me/7R8fZ1a0L

The Assad regime attacks on Sheikh Maqsoud was deliberate. It came straight after clashes in Qamishli that's how deliberate it was

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 01:29 PM

Iran offered Assad asylum but he refuses to step down #Syria see this great analysis
http://eaworldview.com/2016/04/iran-daily-tehran-wants-syrias-assad-to-leave-damascus/ …

75 civilians killed yesterday by Assad regime. Why is the Assad regime still on the negotiation table again?
http://fb.me/5d9TChxZf

Hama: Rebels destroyed refund 14.5 cannon inside Saro checkpoint & killed all forces inside

Free Syrian Army gives the world 24 hours to put pressure on Assad to stop bombardment
http://www.futuretvnetwork.com/node/210966

Assad’s Bombing of #Aleppo Encouraged by Int'l Community’s Bias
http://ow.ly/4n15dU

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 01:30 PM

Why did @SyrianHNC_en decide to suspend participation in the #Geneva negotiations?
Watch:
https://youtu.be/uiRJXScCkss

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 02:40 PM

Syria: with failure of the latest round of peace talks the world powers will probably have to accept that peace in Syria is not possible

Will now be settled as Bismarck once said....by "iron and blood"....

There has been always a "military solution on the table that would be successful both against Assad and against IS"...just Obama is never going to go down that path as his own biases hold him back while he thinks he is the greatest intellectual in the room when he is not......one's own biases tend to do that.....

For both the Arab states and #Iran this has been a reality for years, and it seems like #US and #Russia are also starting to realize this

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 02:50 PM

GRAPHIC
Homs: Children and mothers were ripped by #Assad regime airstrikes in #Kafr_Laha today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2JV8K3e164 …

Watching Assad deliberately killing Syrians must be seriously disturbing for his apologists. Answer: denial

Another day of bloodshed for Aleppo. And all the western left do is remain silent, or worse, deny it's even happening.

Russia is still field testing their new equipment.......
Russia provide #Assad army with new radar sight Fara-1 MG to kill Syrians in all weather conditions

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 02:58 PM

Mohamed Faris (#NDF leader in #Qamishlo): "Despite the misunderstanding, #YPG is part of the Syrian Regime."

Mohamed Faris (#NDF): "I'm not responsible of what happened in the past days, and we signed truce agreement with our brothers #Asayish."

BEGS the core question is now the Obama WH in fact supporting their proxy YPG who is part and parcel of the Assad genocidal regime....HOW can CIA, CENTCOM and DoD be making that kind of mistake?????

According to source from #Qamishlo; #Asayish was forced by #YPG to stop the fight and sign truce with Assad Regime.

Same source said that the main reason why the fight started was because Regime detained 2 #BaAsayish fighters and sent them to #Damascus.

Some of the main points from Statement by #Asayish (Kurdish) - April 22, 2016
Baath Party still making the same mistakes that led to the Revolution
Baath Party tried to take advantage of Geneva and true to attack us
Freed prison that was being used for torture
Regime was trying to arm civilians to fight for regime
Regime had been shelling the town before the fighting killing 33 civilians
TOTAL of 8 main points in their statement

Do not think this truce will hold for long.....
Kurdish forces placed sniper curtains around Qamişlo markets for safety of the civilians.

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 03:03 PM

BREAKING:
Peshmerga Commander Mahmoud Sangawi to Kurdistan24:
Agreement with Hashd al-Shaabi was unsuccessful.

Kurdistan: footage of #Peshmerga forces clashing with #HashdShaabi fighters in Tuz Khormato
https://youtu.be/XzDaV5iURMI

Shiite militias are claiming that #Peshmerga are burning Turkmen homes in #Tuz_Khurmato now.

UPDATE: 5 Shia militia fighters and 3 Peshmerga killed in fighting today around #TuzKhurmatu , #Iraq.

Increase of clashes btw #Kurds & #Shiites indicate the future for northern areas in #Syria & #Iraq -both try to fill gaps when #IS retreat

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 03:12 PM

Anti missile flares from fighter jet above #Aleppo city indicate #Russia'n aircraft
...appears that the Russians are taking the MANPAD threat seriously

Deadly regime air raids also hit Bab al-Nayrab in Aleppo. #Syria
http://youtu.be/6JPen6T_HpA

Another regime air strike hit a market in Aleppo today. Residents massacred in the street while buying food

[B]At least 11 civilians killed, tens wounded in today's regime strikes on rebel-held areas across #Aleppo.

DeirEzzor24 #D24
#Coalition warplanes yesterday carry out a massacre in Albu Kamal, claiming the lives of all members of a family.
http://en.deirezzor24.net/coalition-warplanes-carry-out.../ …

CrowBat

04-24-2016, 04:47 PM

DeirEzzor24 #D24
#Coalition warplanes yesterday carry out a massacre in Albu Kamal, claiming the lives of all members of a family.
http://en.deirezzor24.net/coalition-warplanes-carry-out.../ …
Must be related to air strikes flown in the night from 22 to 23 April, then no air strikes in Raqqa or Abu Kamal were flown the last night.

Anyway, the CJTF-OIR (http://www.inherentresolve.mil/Portals/1/Documents/Strike%20Releases/2016/04April/20160423%20Strike%20Release%20Final.pdf?ver=2016-04-23-063826-600) said it targeted one 'ISIL weapons factory' in Abu Kamal and an 'ISIL tactical unit and a checkpoint' in Dayr az-Zawr.

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 04:49 PM

Rebels with M-79 OSA against fortification in Erbin suburb of #Damascus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ouJQCK771A …

IS rockets are hitting Kilis again now.......at some point the Turkish Army will enter the Syrian border area to push IS out of rocket range......16 wounded....no deaths are confirmed as of yet......

7 rockets hit #Kilis s. #Turkey killing one and injuring around 30 coming from #ISIS controlled areas

Aleppo: 12 #Syria|n civilians killed by #Assad regime airstrikes on #Sakhour District of #Aleppo City today.

The supervisor of the “Crowd of Turkmen,” on Wednesday, in a statement received by Beyond The Levant has confirmed receiving Russian Kornet ATGM (anti-tank guided missiles) and two unnamed tanks ahead of a potential showdown with Islamic State in Bashir (30km south of Kirkuk) according to Mr. Abu Rida al – Najjar.
Received from Russia 3/16/2016 Alleged to now being used against the Peshmerga....

Syria regime targeted Houla in #Homs province with cluster munition dozens were killed and injured ...civilian loses still not confirmed but heavy
BRK
Pilot and attack that is responsible for the massacre.
#ClusterBomb clearly visible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaej_QZCnsI …

Assad jets bomb #KafrNabodah during interv.
Not rebels at the front.
Civilians in the town!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3yEzA40A2A …

A story of the children of #Daraya
https://youtu.be/3FhGVaTzb3M

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 05:23 PM

CrowBat..........have you heard anything about this?

Any confirmation (or not) about report of alleged #Su-34 crashed today due to technical problem near #Latakia Airbase?

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 05:31 PM

Would argue the Obama WH is just going through the motions as the so called ceasefire was never a ceasefire...ask Assad and Putin.....so why would both now shift to a full and true ceasefire??

"Obama makes call to 'reinstate' #Syria ceasefire

BUT WAIT......you do have to admit that actually there has been a rather effective ceasefire for IS conducted by both Assad and Putin......

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 05:34 PM

Big explosion heard in #Damascus a little while ago

WHAT THE HECK is this all about???????
WTH? Reports that a US drone struck an IDP camp in the Harem area in north rural #Idlib today killing at least 3 & injuring 10s!

Is the US in a race with Assad for the most killing of civilians???????

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 06:00 PM

One of the air strikes on #KafrLaha that slaughtered and crippled so many children today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUWZncWl0a8 …

Graphic aftermath of another #Assad regime #terror attack on a #market in #Aleppo today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ksiWdyfPw …

Footage
Also in #Aleppo,the regime targeted families today,killing 5, wounding 10 civilians
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2aVTx4yOR8 …

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 06:05 PM

AND again the DoD gives Assad and Putin a total green light to bomb civilians in Aleppo as they are now doing....

Is DoD doing this deliberately to punish the anti Assad FSA forces for walking out of Geneva OR is it out of simple stupidity???????

That said, it's primarily al-Nusra who holds Aleppo, and of course, al-Nusra is not part of the cessation of hostilities. So it's complicated. We're watching it. Our focus, though, as the Combined Joint Task Force, is ISIL. And so don't forget that, that's our focus. The cessation of hostilities, the diplomatic and political processes -- while they certainly have -- are of interest to us and potentially could influence our operations peripherally, our focus remains ISIL.

THIS is the third or fourth time DoD has made this same statement about JaN and their controlling Aleppo THUS the Russians and Assad can bomb civilians there.....WHY is the interesting question?????

Dear @OIRSpox
this is entirely WRONG & gives #Assad/#Russia a green light for more massacres
http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/739157/department-of-defense-press-briefing-by-col-warren-via-teleconference-from-bagh …

OUTLAW 09

04-24-2016, 06:08 PM

Houla in Homs provice after the #ClusterBomb massacre today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFvoX0xs8mM …
World leadership. You FAIL so much.

Syria: #Obama understands nothing. The rebels want no #US ground troops, they want modern anti-aircraft weapons to stop #Assad's terror!

Footage
The #FSA in #Aleppo fires more Yugoslavian-made #M75 mortars at #ISIS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL88SsEOzBI …
#Daraa #Syria

Very unusual... Amman, Jordan
#RuAF Russian Air Force
Tu154 #RA85586 RFF7086
http://fr24.com/RFF7086/9834867

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 04:57 AM

The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
-George Bernard Shaw

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 05:02 AM

ANOTHER chemical attack potentially occurs and that US "red line" is nowhere to be seen...why is that??

Reports of chlorine rockets fired from Jouren military camp in Hama toward Jisr al-Shoughour

THIS is extremely interesting as the previous chlorine attacks were with bombs...but it takes a certain rocket and the ability to fill it that appears to prove the Syrians did not totally disarm their chemical weapons AS Russia claimed they did.....

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 05:10 AM

This week in Syria between April 18 and the 24 2016 a total of 393 civilians were killed including 42 women and 49 children. RIP

AND Kerry then blames the HNC for walking away from Geneva and then states it is their fault that they are getting bombed....

BUT WAIT most of these killed and we have not talked about the wounded numbers occurred during Geneva talks WHICH Kerry apparently forgot about....

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 05:12 AM

EXCLUSIVE: Leaked Syrian Army top secret strategy plans
http://dailyscimitar.com/exclusive-leaked-syrian-army-top-secret-strategy-plans/ …

Alleged not confirmed by other sources.....

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 05:16 AM

When fighting both Assad and IS it appears the Obama WH has forgotten these words from someone who truly understood warfare even the so called Russian non linear linear warfare.....

"To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy."
~Sun Tzu
The Art Of War

CrowBat

04-25-2016, 07:02 AM

CrowBat..........have you heard anything about this?

Any confirmation (or not) about report of alleged #Su-34 crashed today due to technical problem near #Latakia Airbase?
Nothing.

This is already the third or fourth report about explosions or other sort of 'major incidents' at Hmemmem AB - but not one has been confirmed so far.

Guess, unless something crashes in a place where it can be captured on a camera, that's going to remain that way.

WTH? Reports that a US drone struck an IDP camp in the Harem area in north rural #Idlib today killing at least 3 & injuring 10s!

Is the US in a race with Assad for the most killing of civilians???????
Considering target-selection practices of the CJTF-OIR - and Oblabla's micromanagement - I meanwhile have doubts about some of reports in question.

- CJTF-OIR bombed Daesh-related targets in Abu Kamal ('oil well head') and Dayr az-Zawr ('ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL rocket system') on 20 April

- CJTF-OIR bombed targets in Abu Kamal again ('an ISIL bed down location' and 'an ISIL vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) facility') on 21 April;

- French MOD (https://www.facebook.com/notes/arm%C3%A9e-fran%C3%A7aise-op%C3%A9rations-militaires/un-engagement-continu-en-36-heures-la-force-chammal-a-r%C3%A9alis%C3%A9-3-frappes-planifi%C3%A9/1018582804854111) cited involvement of two formations - one of 2, other of 4 - of Mirage 2000Ds in operations against Abu Kamal on 21 and 22 April;

- CJTF-OIR bombed targets in Abu Kamal ('ISIL weapons factory') and in Dayr az-Zawr ('ISIL tactical unit' and 'ISIL check-point') on 22 April again.

No air strikes in either area were reported for 23 April, and there are no releases yet for the last night.

Now,
- DaZ24 (http://en.deirezzor24.net/coalition-warplanes-carry-out-a-massacre-in-albu-kamal-claiming-the-lives-of-an-entire-family/) is 'citing two strikes by coalition aircraft' on Abu Kamal (or al-Bukamal) on 'Wednesday' (20 April): one against the house of Khamiss-family, and the other against Cement Institute near the al-Basel Hospital; and

- DaZ Observatory (https://twitter.com/JFLDZ/status/723413438605594625?lang=en) (in Arabic) reports 'four raids ...by coalition aircraft', targeting the cement factory, the Krash factory, as-Sina Industrial area, al-Hizam al-Akhdar (green belt) and martyrdom of an entire family.

But,
- Free DaZ Broadcast (https://www.facebook.com/DierAlZor.Free.Radio/posts/249322582085449) says it was Russian aircraft that bombed the Khamiss-house,

...and most of reports are actually citing 21st April, not the 20th.

Overall, there is quite some reporting about this affair; the quality is quite precise, and although there is uncertainity about whether it was 'coalition' or 'Russians', I would say that if it was aircraft operated under CJTF-OIR's control, then the French Mirage 2000Ds that were responsible, not 'US'.

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 08:25 AM

CrowBat..........have you heard anything about this?

Any confirmation (or not) about report of alleged #Su-34 crashed today due to technical problem near #Latakia Airbase?

CrowBat.....latest report has it catching fire during takeoff and crashing..pilot is in serious condition...

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 08:37 AM

IS drive car bomb into regime barrier in #Damascus southern Shiite suburb Sayeda Zeinab

NOW Assad is shelling IDP camps......
Assad-forces shelling #refugee camp near Al-Fawz in NW #Idlib at #Turkey border with artillery- injuried children and women

NOW Assad is bombing IDP camps....
Aleppo: aftermath of Assad bombing of Tarmanin camp for displaced Syrians.

Assad-forces testing stability of rebel fortifications in #Aleppo city center /Bustan al-Qaser
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.193395&lon=37.146192&z=16&m=b …

Little Halima Walid Qassem was martyred today in an #Assad regime cluster bomb attack on #Al_Houlah

Yesterday......
Intense Assad mortar shelling & rocket fire targeting Bala in eastern Ghouta, #Damascus, #Syria

NOTICE for DoD and CENTCOM......JaN is not present in this area of Aleppo.....
Aleppo #Alsakhur neighborhood---Assad deliberately targeted civilian houses and the main market place yesterday..
24-4-2016

Clashes between fighters of the Al-Rahman corps supported by other rebel factions and the regime forces in the #AlQaboun - damascus

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 08:48 AM

What is driving the Iraqi Shia militia to engage the Peshmerga in fights????

Kirkuk is 5th oil rich reserve in the world & Iran needs it to build their regional hegemony empire.......AND Obama thinks the Sunni can do a "cold peace with Iran"?????

Iraq: Thousands of Shiite militias reinforcements are on the way to #Kirkuk Province. #Tuz_Khormato

BUT WAIT..this is what Obama wanted in his tilt to Iran....Iran as the regional super hegemon....

Peshmerga Leader: Hezbollah Deployed South of Kirkuk, Under Command of IRGC

Written by TheRealBTL

A leader of the Kurdish peshmerga in Kurdistan region, Hussein Yazdan has stated that “a force of a thousand Lebanese Hezbollah, have joined in the past few days, the Popular Crowd in Taza, south of Kirkuk.” Yazdan added “Hezbollah gunmen who arrived in the area in question are threatening the city of Kirkuk and the Kurdistan region of Iraq in general.”

He continued that “their presence in that region is part of Iran’s plan to take control of Kirkuk and Mosul, and then access to the Syrian border by land to complete the Shiite crescent, which Tehran planned a long time ago.” The Hezbollah militants are said to be in ordinary Popular Crowd military attire as not to stand out.

“Hezbollah forces that entered the province of Kirkuk, constitute a major and serious danger to this province, they also pose a major risk to the Kurdistan region, especially that its presence in Kirkuk is part of Iran’s plan for military control of Kirkuk and Mosul and the opening of a land route for Iran to transfer weapons and soldiers to Syria and Lebanon, and thus complete the Shiite Crescent,” Mr. Yazdan claimed.

“Hezbollah forces stationed south of Kirkuk overseen by the leadership of a senior officer in the Iranian Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, a Agaa Akabbala, coupled with a panel of three other officers of the Qods Force with Hezbollah forces.”

I have been making this statement here at SWJ since 2008.....the current Iran is being driven by the Khomeini concept of "revolutionary Islam" and centers on the concept of a "Green Crescent"......running from AFG over Iran through Iraq, Syria and ending on Lebanon...and if one overlays this "Green Crescent" over the historical "Silk Road" they are a near perfect match.....

Many here derided that concept.....BUT hindsight is sometimes more telling that foresight if we can connect the dots....

The incoming new Commander of EUCOM sees Iran as a clear and present danger for the entire ME and YET the Obama WH literally wants Iran to be the regional hegemon.....AND it appears that the Obama WH "forgot" Hezbollah and the Iraqi Shia militias supported by IRGC have "a lot of US blood on their hands"...........

SOMETHING that is not being talked about in the western MSM or by Obama...ethnic cleansing that is underway in Syria.....
Hezbollah bringing 20,000 Shia families into Damascus & Aleppo to change demographics after displacing Syrians

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 08:50 AM

Hama: Assad regime bombing Morek right now

UNDER the rubric...Obama "all talk" and no action...sometimes I think he just wants to hear himself talk as that then requires intellectually no action......
Obama & Merkel agreed safe zones good idea but differ on their implementation. As usual Obama is all talk & no action.

Aleppo: pro Assad militias in Banjira shelling rebel held Tel Eis. New offensive under way?

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 09:15 AM

Sums up the Obama Syrian FP nicely.........
The @TelegraphNews has said it best so far: "The president who has surrendered the world to chaos."

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 10:49 AM

Obama 2012:"Assad must go"
Obama 2015: "Assad's fate to be decided by Syrians"
Obama 2016: "Ousting Assad would be mistake".

Obama 2014:...."we will judge Putin on his actions not his words".....

Obama 2016:.....his latest statements on Syria in Germany give the Assad regime carte blanche to intensify its attacks on civilians across Syria.

Four years later and Russian two wars...in eastern Ukraine and Syria and yet not a single concrete Obama action.....on anything....

So kicking out Assad would be a "mistake" but he is inherently tied to IS thus a legitmate target to be kicked out.....

Vid of #ISIS convoy leaving Dumayr as agreed with Assad towards the Badiya under Assad protection 5 days ago
http://youtu.be/Foee1mtIYh4

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 10:51 AM

11 civilians wounded mostly women & children in Assad shelling/rocket attack of al-Zawf IDP camp in Jisr al-Shugour, #Idlib, #Syria today

SO kicking out a genocidal dictator would be a "mistake"...?????

At least 10 killed an over30 wounded in a car bomb explosion at a regime & Hezbollah CP at al-Dhiabiya town entrance in Sayeda Zeinab area this AM was an IS attack BUT WAIT they just got "safe passage".......

Reference the Assad chlorine missile gas attack last night......
Reports of an Assad chlorine gas attack in Jisr al-Shugour, rural #Idlib last night, 3 suffocation cases reported. #Syria

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 11:21 AM

Russia'n fighter jet Su-34 conducted airstrikes in western #Aleppo #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yalP5ejkzyY …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.233889&lon=36.958480&z=15&m=b …

CrowBat

04-25-2016, 11:28 AM

CrowBat.....latest report has it catching fire during takeoff and crashing..pilot is in serious condition...
If so, then what happened to the other crewmember? Su-34 is a two-seater...

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 11:42 AM

If so, then what happened to the other crewmember? Su-34 is a two-seater...

Good point.....there are now four different commenters two actually have been accurate in the past saying the plane crashed..only one stating anything about the crew.

There seems to have been a reduction in flight activity after the so called crash....so something happened.

Recent crashes in Russia on takeoffs have been due to poor fuel quality and or poor maintenance and they have been running flat out for months now.

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 11:53 AM

If Russia/Putin are so concerned then rein in Assad and his deliberate targeting of civilians and rein in the Assad ground attacks..actually quite simple....

Kremlin: Russia seriously worried about degenerating Syria peace talks
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0XM162 …

BUT WAIT...95% of what Assad recaptured with RuAF CAS has now been relost to FSA and FSA is holding their own in attacking IS and retaking IS territory...so maybe Putin should jump ship to support FSA.....

CrowBat

04-25-2016, 01:38 PM

Good point.....there are now four different commenters two actually have been accurate in the past saying the plane crashed..only one stating anything about the crew.

There seems to have been a reduction in flight activity after the so called crash....so something happened.Well, at least Russo-journos 'in situ' claim the VKS' activity is 'back to times from winter' since yesterday.

Anyway, should somebody try to say there are no VK Su-34s in Syria any more, there were - at least as of Saturday-evening/Sunday-morning - four of them at Hmemmem AB. Borts 21, 24, 27 and 30.

And for those who might want to argue that this is 'impossible', for example, 'because that would mean they are longer in Syria than six months' (usual time-frame between major overhauls at the average rate of sorties flown), that's 'null and void' too: the last batch of Su-34s arrived in Syria only in early December. Means: they are 'in chop' since 5 months 'only' (on the other hand: exactly this might have been at least an indirect reason for this crash, if it really happened).

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 03:51 PM

Well, at least Russo-journos 'in situ' claim the VKS' activity is 'back to times from winter' since yesterday.

Anyway, should somebody try to say there are no VK Su-34s in Syria any more, there were - at least as of Saturday-evening/Sunday-morning - four of them at Hmemmem AB. Borts 21, 24, 27 and 30.

And for those who might want to argue that this is 'impossible', for example, 'because that would mean they are longer in Syria than six months' (usual time-frame between major overhauls at the average rate of sorties flown), that's 'null and void' too: the last batch of Su-34s arrived in Syria only in early December. Means: they are 'in chop' since 5 months 'only' (on the other hand: exactly this might have been at least an indirect reason for this crash, if it really happened).

CrowBat...if one takes at face value the released RuAF propaganda today that they have flown 9000 sorties then airframe general overall maintenance might in fact be a problem....

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 04:47 PM

Return of russian artillery presence seems all but obvious, Cluster munitions from Uragan multiple rocket launchers back again. #Lattakia

Fully coinciding w/ recent reports of Russian artillery withdrawal from #Palmyra theatre to #Latakia-#Aleppo fronts.

New York Times carried a major article on the Russian artillery repositioning to Aleppo this weekend...Us voiced "concern for what that is worth.....

Intense & continuous bombardment & assadi attacks around Kbanah #Lattakia in attempts to advance again & again through fails, loses.
Kafr Ghan village north Aleppo back to rebels again. I wonder how serious the coalition CAS in this battle.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.628341&lon=37.184429&z=14&m=b …

Syria in a peace and quiet mode from Assad AF and RuAF over the next 24-48 hours....

Dust storms reported in Deir Ezzor -- looks like they will intensify across Syria over the next 12 hours
http://www.mgm.gov.tr/en-us/forecast-sds.aspx?s=12&t=p&b=eu&c=conc&y= …

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 04:51 PM

Turkey army destroyed #IS-rocket launcher in northern #Aleppo & killed 8 terrorists

Assad and Putin hold to the starvation campaign against the Sunni population...
Red Cross aid convoy shelled with mortar when tried to enter Rebel area in northern #Homs
1 driver injured

Assad regime targeted United Nations aid convoy heading to rebel held Rastan with tank shells injuring driver of convoy & 3 civilians

Heavy clashes continues btw #FSA & allies against #IslamicState in western #Daraa province

How #IslamicState pushed towards #Damascus on "Bagdad-road"

Assad-forces bombing #Daraa city in southern #Syria with heavy
"ground to ground"- rockets

Russia'n fighter jet Su-34 conducted airstrikes in western #Aleppo #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yalP5ejkzyY …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.233889&lon=36.958480&z=15&m=b …

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 05:02 PM

Iranian revolutionary guards Elias Gkini & Zacharias Sheri killed in Aleppo by Syrian Rebels

Syrian Rebels to strike Nayrab airbase as long as Assad keeps bombing Aleppo

Latakia: Syrian Rebels killed 17 & captured 2 pro Assad forces in Kabina in a successful ambush

More than 20 killed in ISIS attack on Hezbollah & Iranian stronghold Sayeda Zainab

54 civilian casualties from Assads bombings on Sunday #Syria
http://en.eldorar.com/node/2113

The Hezbollah "liberation" of Mayer after more than 490 Russian airstrikes. Complete ghost town

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 05:05 PM

URGENT: If countries can bomb Syria, they can drop bread. Call for airdrops to starving Syrians now

WFP manages to feed proAssad towns but not besieged towns.....

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 05:35 PM

This story was broken by an social media open source analyst.......along with a video he discovered.........and picked up by US MSM WaPo.

The secret ingredient behind recent rebel wins in Shahadi #Syria & elsewhere - US Tier 1 spec ops
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/04/25/this-video-gives-a-glimpse-of-what-u-s-special-operations-forces-are-doing-in-syria/?324234 … nod to @AbraxasSpa

BTW...posted here as fast as Abraxas posted.....several days ago....

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 05:38 PM

Michael Weiss
✔ ‎@michaeldweiss Get used to this: Kurd-Hashid rivalries again explode into violence

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 05:56 PM

Eliot Higgins ‎@EliotHiggins
Hersh also claims he's not read my work on the August 21st Sarin attacks, yet feels comfortable enough to reject. Stellar journalism.

Hersch evidently is a proAssad supporter....

Eliot Higgins ‎@EliotHiggins
Seymour Hersh is now relying on the work of a man who consulted a pro-Assad conspiracy theorist for work on the Aug 21 Sarin attacks

Hersh and Assange embarrass themselves when it comes to Syria. And feed leftist misinformation campaigns.

Hersh relied on Postol. Postol used Partisangirl as a chemistry consultant. This is a matter of record

Eliot Higgins ‏@EliotHiggins
I see Sy Hersh has been at the Ted Postol kool aid again
http://m.democracynow.org/stories/16159

Larry Johnson, Seymour Hersh's main source for Syria & Bin Laden stories, is a known fabricator.
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/dangerous-method-syria-sy-hersh-art-mass-crime-revisionism/ …

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 06:33 PM

Comment from proAssad poster........

Cease-fire violated and Infighting regained between Peshmerga and Turkman in Tuzkhormato #Iraq.

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 06:40 PM

A long-must-read | We'll Never Defeat ISIS Like This: Who Fights, Who Doesn’t, and Why
http://thebea.st/23HFGa5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-7dPenm1TU …
#Kirovohrad spetsnaz drill. Unit was 1st to capture US Stinger in #Afghanistan('87).#Ukraine

Assad-forces bomb #Atareb town in western #Aleppo with tactical missile SS-21

Russian Military Buildup Near Aleppo, Syria, Threatens Truce, Kerry Warns
http://nyti.ms/2167zU5

Aleppo: 4 civilians, including a little girl, were killed by #Assad regime airstrikes on Al-Jazmati District of Aleppo City this evening.

FSA Div 13 - Liwa al-Mustafa commander Abu Huthaifa al-Najar survives #ISIS VBIED in Kafrghan, north rural #Aleppo

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 07:13 PM

Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister
"The cessation of hostilities no longer exists"
My latest comments on the situation in #Syria, for @MiddleEastInst:

Syria fierce clashes between rebels and #YPG\#SDF in Shiekh Maqsoud in #Aleppo today

Breakdown of gear U.S. Special Operations Forces are using in Syria
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/04/25/this-video-gives-a-glimpse-of-what-u-s-special-operations-forces-are-doing-in-syria/?324234 … h/t @AbraxasSpa

Northern #Aleppo: #ISIS has recaptured #Kafr_Ghan, just 4 hours after #Syria|n rebels recaptured the village from #ISIS. Unbelievable!

Aleppo: 4 civilians, including a little girl, were killed by #Assad regime airstrikes on Al-Jazmati District of Aleppo City this evening.

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 07:18 PM

Cease-fire Dead in Syria

Charles Lister, Resident Fellow

@Charles_Lister

The cessation of hostilities no longer exists in Syria. To claim otherwise would be to ignore and give credence to the significant escalation in air strikes conducted in Syria in recent days, as well as other fighting. Almost 400 people were killed in Syria in the past week, including more than 50 when regime jets targeted two food markets in Idlib on April 19.

All eyes should now be on Aleppo, where pro-regime forces look likely to soon launch a consequential offensive. A substantial redeployment of personnel has taken place in recent days, as contingents of the Syrian army, Hezbollah and several Shiite militias have moved from the Palmyra front with ISIS to the vicinity of Aleppo. Russian artillery has been re-positioned on the city’s outskirts and fresh Iranian troops have arrived on several Aleppo front-lines. Combined with the recent intensification of air strikes, we are in all likelihood watching the final preparations for a sustained siege of the city.

Despite a recent statement from the Pentagon suggesting otherwise, al-Qaeda’s affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra does not “hold” Aleppo, but has a comparatively small force, dwarfed by the mainstream opposition. The city’s principal opposition force is the Fatah Halab operations room, which excludes Nusra and is overwhelmingly dominated by Free Syrian Army members.
The political process is currently at a standstill. Should the regime launch its operation on Aleppo, talk of peace will be definitively over. While Russia did withdraw half of its jets, it deployed in their place advanced attack helicopters and additional artillery. This indicates a shift in Russia’s operational focus, not a withdrawal. As such, Russia and Bashar al-Assad appear to have outplayed the West yet again.

OUTLAW 09

04-25-2016, 07:28 PM

Syria Russian soldiers on the top of BTR-80 "Russian armored personnel carrier" east #Homs #Russia

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 04:40 AM

Russia conducted 6 airstrikes on #Atarib in western #Aleppo during night

Latakia #FSA 9K111 Fagot blow up #Assad-forces with 9K135 Kornet

Assad-forces get direct hit in #Latakia mountains by #FSA tank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4uXISRoHZU …

Assad forces now targeting Kafrnaboudeh & Jisr Bayt al-Ras villages in #Hama, #Syria with MLRS & heavy artillery

FSA 1st Coastal Div using a TOW missile against an Assad 122 mm gun in Tal Ghazaleh, Jabal Akrad, rural #Latakia

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 04:45 AM

NOT word, comment or anything else from the UN special envoy for Syria, UNSC, Obama, Kerry, Hollande, Merkel.......and lastly even Putin who claims he is for reconciliation.........

WHAT about the entire western MSM?????......not a single sentence in any editorial.....

Assad forces blatantly attacking a humanitarian aid convoy with absolutely no repercussions whatsoever wounding a driver and two RC workers.......

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 04:47 AM

FSA 1st Coastal Division tank shelling Assad positions in Ard al-Wata, Jabal Akrad, rural #Latakia

CrowBat

04-26-2016, 05:11 AM

One must love the battle in eastern Qalamoun lately. I would say that this is one of nicest battlefields in Syria ever.

Namely, there is that Ahmad Abdo Martyrs Brigade FSyA that's making huge advances against the Daesh - but who to hell cares, and why should anybody care?

The Daesh then made that crazy drive on Dmeyr: it slaughtered hundreds of regime thugs, attacked Dmeyr AB etc., but then stumbled into the Rahman Corps IF and got attacked by the Abdo Martyrs Brigade in the back - who in turn saved hundreds of regime thugs (and even more of local civilians) from another massacre.

Total outcome: Daesh realized it is overextended, surrounded, and can't fight its way out of the situation, and thus agreed to negotiate. It was forced to leave that town, minus (most of) its heavy weapons. Said, done: Daesh was escorted away by Assadist Mi-25 helicopter gunships - just to make sure Assad's best friends can reach their new destination safely and regime can then go fighting them somewhere else - in Qaryatayn or Palmyra, for example.

In turn, Assadists returned the favour by this air strike on Ahmad Abdo Martyrs Brigade's HQ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC57BFXEb30

Obviously, this air strike left lasting impressions upon everybody: these rats should not forget what happens when they come to idea to defeat the Daesh in same style again...

CrowBat

04-26-2016, 06:58 AM

Think I owe everybody the video of that memorable procession near Dmeyr.

Here you have it, Assads 'anti-Daesh campaign' in form of Assad's Mi-25s that - when not bombing Syiran civilians in Eastern Ghouta - are escorting Daesh out of Dmeyr:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foee1mtIYh4

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 09:35 AM

RUSSIA Tochka missile that targeted #SyriaCivilDefense Center killing 5 of our HEROES #SCD
#Altareb #Syria APR 25

First, 2 precision night time air strikes hit the building, then a SS-21 missile impacted nearby.
#Putin and #Assad at work!

Same genocidal regime and probably its big brother hit the @SyriaCivilDef center in Al Atareb last night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jlnZpliW4s …

Charles Lister ‎@Charles_Lister
#ISIS documents reveal financial relations with #Assad regime - at one point, worth nearly $40million/month
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/25/isils-deal-with-bashar-al-assad-and-the-40m-a-month-oil-profits/ …

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 09:39 AM

Buyers remorse creeping in it appears after heavy loses the last months....

Iran army under particular pressure from certain factions who complained that years of training put to waste if not deployed to #Syria

Deputy commander of #Iran's army: we were forced to intervene in #Syria after receiving pressure from different factions and authorities

BUT WAIT was not the Iranian official line......there are no Iranian troops inside Syria.....BUT "maybe some vacationers defending Shia shrines"........

BUT WAIT did not Kerry officially state twice Iranian troops would be pulling out of Syria????

News
#Iran announced 7 more KIA, 2 MIA in #Syria, 3 of them #IRGC members.

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 09:43 AM

Syria Airstrikes on #Aleppo city center

Rare #ATGM strike (1st Coast. Div. w/ #Fagot) inside building vs ATGM position, N. #Latakia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8HDWt9bU4M …

Russians are back into the fighting......so much for their TASS "worrying about the failure of the ceasefire".....

Russians resume targeting west #Aleppo rebel-held villages in the past few days in support of Assad & IRGC ops. Dozens airstrikes reported.

CrowBat

04-26-2016, 09:47 AM

BUT WAIT did not Kerry officially state twice Iranian troops would be pulling out of Syria????
<= tersely whispering to your ear: you misunderstood something, capice!?!

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 09:48 AM

CrowBat......any idea which way they will defend if not against both directions....or shift to a counter offensive as they did the last time before Assad moved......

Aleppo: ISIS massing to attack Mar'e in north & Assad/IRGC massing to attack the west. Rebels will have to decide which is more important.

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 09:57 AM

Footage
#Assad regime(?!) Cluster Bomb attacks on rebel positions in #Latakia province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYHbSQDrNrw …

Footage
#Talbisah this morning.
The Red Cross left,#Assad planes and bombs returned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KfkfgnEJMY …

West of #Aleppo yday.
The #Russian air force resumed bombing the area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yalP5ejkzyY …

If you wonder why there were far less air strikes on besieged #Homs prov. yesterday.
The answer: IRC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_8AnlgXk0I …

Footage
Syrian rebels destroyed a regime 122 mm artillery piece in #Latakia with the TOW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjW7EjdhVRw …

Footage
#Assad forces shelled Eastern #Aleppo with missiles yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1CE-D7guQU …

Syria Airstrikes on #Aleppo city today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCrUsayxAMQ …

Syria 4 airstrikes on Aydun south east of #Hama
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=34.958558&lon=36.975174&z=14&m=b …

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 10:08 AM

<= tersely whispering to your ear: you misunderstood something, capice!?!

If one thinks about it....Kerry is the most expensive DoS the US has ever had....as he was happy to set the DoS record for most flight miles in his career.

Seems the US taxpayer needs to demand a refund for his flight/hotel expenses because he certainly did not take the time to thoroughly understand the drivers of the anti Assad rebellion nor does he seem to understand who makes up the Syrian resistance groups.

Same goes for eastern Ukraine.......

One would think that with all that time to kill in flight he would have beefed up his knowledge base instead of being worried about press exposure......

AND if one thinks deeper...then his statement of "the Iranians are pulling out" was a massive fraud on the taxpayer.....as he had the time to ask the US IC is this was true when he was jetting around the world.

Those words...."the Iranians are pulling" must have cost the US taxpayer an average of 86,555 USDs per word just based on his flight and hotel costs....

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 10:22 AM

Syria Airstrikes killed 19 residents in #Aleppo this morning
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.208840&lon=37.169935&z=17&m=b …

Assad/Russian "friendly fire".......
Meanwhile failed airstrike hit Hanano #SAA-base

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 10:33 AM

US DoD and DoS now responsible for the heavy civilians loses in Aleppo BY their "green light" statements that Aleppo is under JaN control thus Assad and Putin can bomb civilians in Aleppo ALL the while ..."it was JaN" we are aiming for......

Syria...... Indiscriminate shelling & airstrikes on several neighborhoods in Aleppo city

NOW DoD and DoS are complicit in the killing of civilians simply because they did not watch the words they used...

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 10:41 AM

Syria Merge in #Damascus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ_5CMciMXY …

CrowBat

04-26-2016, 11:16 AM

CrowBat......any idea which way they will defend if not against both directions....or shift to a counter offensive as they did the last time before Assad moved....

Aleppo: ISIS massing to attack Mar'e in north & Assad/IRGC massing to attack the west. Rebels will have to decide which is more important.Well, there are two different ORs there:
- Azaz Pocket: Mare'a OR
- Aleppo: Fateh Halab

Mare'a OR is strongly supported by Turkey, and has even some links to the CENTCOM (though the latter are an on/off affair, depending on Oblabla's mod of the day, and what the Mentalist might need in Geneva).

Fateh Halab is supported by plethora of donors, including Turkey, Emiratis, and Saudis - but all of its supply links run through JAN-held territory. JAN is also holding frontlines west of Aleppo, crucially important for survival of Fateh Halab. Right now, FH is busy fighting PKK... erm... YPG in Sheik Maqsood district of northern Aleppo, and doing quite well there: this battle is important for securing the Castello Road, but also for carving out a new supply link further south, as a replacement for Castello Road, should the IRGC and Russians capture the area further north.

So, consider them 'two different corps-HQ' - each running its own battle.

CrowBat

04-26-2016, 11:19 AM

If one thinks about it....Kerry is the most expensive DoS the US has ever had....as he was happy to set the DoS record for most flight miles in his career.

Seems the US taxpayer needs to demand a refund for his flight/hotel expenses because he certainly did not take the time to thoroughly understand the drivers of the anti Assad rebellion nor does he seem to understand who makes up the Syrian resistance groups.I said it already two or three years ago, and can only repeat myself: save US-taxpayers plenty of bucks - and disband the DOS.

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 02:16 PM

The "#SyriaCeasefire" in #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3x_5WPpbkk …

BreakingFootage
At least 10 civ. killed in brutal #Assad air strikes on #Aleppo city today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCrUsayxAMQ …

White Helmets accuse #Russia: exact airstrikes on their HQ in #Atareb #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THOLla3QpQo …

These are the terrorists (kids and babies) Assad is targeting in #Aleppo, #Syria day-in-day-out. Has been for 5 years not just 5 days.

Reports #ISIS has captured Jabal Antar in northern #Palmyra from Assad forces following fierce clashes. #Syria

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 04:15 PM

Death & destruction by Assad airstrikes in many areas in #Aleppo today

Geolocation of #IS ATGM hit on #TAF M60T near Mosul, April 19, 2016.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.459760&lon=43.378100&z=16&m=bs …

Confirmed
First Brigade in #Damascus has fully merged with al-Rahman Corps.

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 04:19 PM

Kyle W. Orton ‏@KyleWOrton
US's "astounding five year bottom-line: not one single Syrian protected from the…deliberate campaign of mass homicide…by the #Assad regime."

Kyle W. Orton
‏@KyleWOrton
Hof: Obama et al "spend the balance of their White House days dropping rhetorical barrel bombs on imaginary critics"
http://goo.gl/jbvuWD

Civilians Die, But the Straw Man Lives

By Frederic C. Hof

Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, President Barack Obama took a firm, unbending, and principled stand against something not a soul has advocated: that the United States and its allies use ground forces to oust Bashar al-Assad. "It would," pronounced the president, "be a mistake for the United States, or Great Britain, or a combination of Western states to send in ground troops and overthrow the Assad regime." Vanquished once again, this time for the benefit of British viewers, was the customary invade-and-occupy straw man.

Having bested the mannequin, the president then suggested, with fine impartiality, that "international pressure" be applied to all parties—Russia, Iran, and "those moderate oppositions that exist and may be fighting in Syria"—to sit down and negotiate a political transition. Perhaps a new set of firm talking points can be composed for use with Assad regime supporters now busily at work on the unthinkable: military victory in Syria. As for the Syrian opposition, it need not be pressured to negotiate political transition in good faith. But because it is not Russia, or Iran, or the Assad regime, it is a lucrative target for tough talk about lowering expectations, even as leverage-free administration officials publicly call on Assad to do the right thing and quit.

The president prefaced his remarks with the observation that, "Syria has been a heart-breaking situation of enormous complexity, and I don't think there are any simple solutions." Syria's "complexity" is the administration's last ditch defense for an astounding five year bottom-line: not one single Syrian protected from the merciless, unrelenting, and deliberate campaign of mass homicide and collective punishment inflicted by the Assad regime against millions of Syrians.

Rather than instructing his secretary of defense to give him options to complicate the deadly work of Mr. Assad and mitigate its worst effects, the president consistently rebukes arguments no one makes. No doubt he banks on public indifference and ignorance. No doubt he counts on people nodding sagely when he says Syria is complicated and that it would not be a great idea to invade the place. He knows this is base trickery. Is this simply a matter of trying to fill and kill time between now and January 20, 2017?
What seems utterly unknowable is why the "heart-breaking situation" of a humanitarian abomination metastasizing into a multi-continent political crisis has never inspired a clear statement of the commander-in-chief's intent with respect to the protection of Syrian civilians. Yes, the president has, according to White House staffers, occasionally reacted with exasperation to administration critics of his Syria policy by declaring himself willing to listen to any idea anyone wished to table.

This is not, however, the same thing as the commander-in-chief grabbing his national security adviser and his secretaries of defense and state and saying 'Look: these regime mass murders are flooding our allies with migrants and are blighting the prospect of a negotiated settlement. I want to see some military options that would make it hard for Assad to do his worst. We can't protect everyone everywhere, but I want pilots in combat aircraft who bomb schools, hospitals, markets, and mosques to know that the five year free ride is over. Go ahead and lay out the risks and tell me what our allies and partners can bring to the table. I don't want it said a century from now that we did nothing when hundreds of thousands of people were being slaughtered in Syria. And I know in the here and now that those Geneva talks will go nowhere if one side's constituency is being slaughtered and scattered.'

Apparently the foregoing words do not represent the intent of the incumbent commander-in-chief. Why not? What is his intent? To feel the "heart-break" and admire the "complexity?"

Many critics of administration Syria policy have taken it upon themselves to play the role of the secretary of defense (and perhaps even that of the president) by identifying the civilian protection option that ought to be chosen. There are advocates for no-fly zones, protected zones, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weaponry, cruise missile attacks on military air bases, and other options. Some of the analysis is thoughtful and helpful. But everything must begin with the commander-in-chief's belief that mass murder in Syria is morally unacceptable and politically disastrous. He must have a firm desire to do something about it. And his intent must be articulated in unmistakably direct and directive language to the key members of the National Security Council. If Barack Obama's mind remains closed and his lips sealed, the greatest essay ever on making industrial-strength homicide in Syria harder to do is simply a waste of time for author and reader alike, unless of course Mr. Obama's successor is the desired audience.

No political progress toward ending Syria's agony and the horrific hemorrhage of its people is possible without first passing through the portal of civilian protection. As long as Syrian civilians are on the bullseye nothing will be accomplished at Geneva. President Obama and his word-smithing staff may well spend the balance of their White House days dropping rhetorical barrel bombs on imaginary critics even as Bashar al-Assad's pilots roll the real things off the ramps of Russian helicopters onto children and their parents down below. It is one thing to mislead and score useless points by debating an empty chair. It would be far better if the president and his transatlantic partners were to act in ways consistent with that which they all know to be true: there will be no end to the gushing arterial wound that is Syria as long as Assad and his external supporters target civilians with massive lethality and total impunity.
As is, US is trying to both avoid helping + tell the Syrians whose help they can accept, using the threat of Russian war crimes as leverage.

US good faith would have been moving decisively to take advantage of the anti-Nusra uprising in Marat an-Numan by restoring Division 13.

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 04:32 PM

#Syria: The #FSA's New Syrian Army, supported by US air support, attacking #IS at Tanf crossing. (via @TheRealBTL)

Turkish media reports arrest of Russian intelligence officer (with a Caucasian name) at a hotel in Fatih on 11April:

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 04:38 PM

Lavrov "opposition should leave areas where there are terrorists if they don't want to be targeted"
http://tass.ru/en/politics/872191 …

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. Syrian opposition should leave positions of terrorists and disassociate itself from them if it wants to participate in the political process, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

"We agreed long ago that groups that found themselves on the positions of terrorists but that are not terrorists and want to participate in the political process, should leave the territories of terrorist positions," Lavrov said. "They should disassociate and physically leave these positions," he added.

According to the minister, the United States has been refusing to meet its commitments for two months already on taking away the Syrian opposition cooperating with it from the terrorists’ positions.

"We agreed with the Americans that they would use their influence on these 'good opposition members' and will take them out of there so that no one prevents to destroy the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra. The firm promise of the US that it gave to us to carry out this demarcation has not been fulfilled for two months already," he said.

The diplomat pointed out that Turkey has a decisive influence on the Riyadh group of the Syrian opposition

"In order to come to terms over six months it is necessary not to slam the door and dig in heels, as several delegates of the so-called Riyadh group have done. Although, Turkey has a decisive influence on them, it’s no secret," the foreign minister said commenting on the progress of the intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Russia preparing report to UN Security Council on expanding list of terrorists in Syria

Lavrov has also noted that Russia is preparing a report to the Security Council of the United Nations with the aim of expanding the list of terrorists in Syria.

"We are currently collecting information that Jebhat al-Nusra [terrorist organization banned in Russia] subjugates groups that seemed to have declared truce and readiness to join ceasefire," Lavrov said adding that "we will summarize facts and present them to UN Security Council to adjust terrorist lists."

Geneva talks on Syria continue, no pause

According to the top diplomat, the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva are ongoing and there is no pause despite the announcement that some members of the Riyadh group have left the Swiss city.

"The situation at talks in Geneva could have been much better if one opposition delegation had not left Geneva as they say temporarily," he said. "The talks are continuing, and there is no pause."

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura regularly meets with the delegation of the government as well as that of the so-called Moscow-Cairo platform, the Hmeimim group and some independent opposition members, he added.

Lavrov reminded that the UN Security Council agreed on a six-month deadline for drafting Syria’s new constitution in line with the proposal of the International Syria Support Group. "We all want this process to take less time," he stressed.

"But to reach an agreement within six months or even five or four months one should not slam the door and strike an attitude as some delegates of the so-called Riyadh group did, although Turkey has a decisive influence on them, as everyone knows well," Lavrov said.

"So one should not come for talks with ultimatums but should sit down at the negotiating table and reach an agreement," he said.

The representatives of the Riyadh group, the High Negotiations Committee, who announced that they take a pause at the Geneva talks on April 18, fail to meet the demands of the UN, he added.

The US position (bomb anyone "intermingled" with Jabhat al-Nusra) would be more defensible if they'd provided a means of separation.

Position stated by DoD and Kerry a number of times recently.......

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 05:10 PM

Footage
#Assad bombs on #Talbisah today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK5XhZ7hywY …

Hezbollah's Nasrallah meets Iranian VP Mohammad-Ali Shahidi today
http://nna-leb.gov.lb/en/show-news/60551/Nasrallah-meets-Shahidi#.Vx95SYM3trY.twitter …

Russia to develop naval air base in Crimea (for Tu-22M3 long-range bomber aircraft)
http://uawire.org/news/russia-develops-naval-air-base-in-crimea …

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 05:23 PM

CrowBat...what do you think as the photo appears to be accurate and it was seen in Aleppo.....

We are all now about 4 degrees of separation from someone with a cache of MANPADS.
https://twitter.com/theOSINTblog/status/725001600482168833

Probable Pakistani Anza MK-II MANPADS spotted with rebels in #Aleppo Governorate in late March. #حلب #FSA #Syria

Anza Mk-IIs are made by Pakistan, the Iranian Misagh-1 and Chinese QW-1 are also practically indistinguishable though.

my money is on QW-1. Weve got photos of KSA mil cargo planes N China. Pak would make sense for new shipmts tho

Could be either given how many Anza-mk2 were found in Libya. Someone smarter than me could prob tell the difference

Interesting thread of comments as there were initially 24,000 MANPADs listed as being shipped into Libya before Gadhafi fell and although some of the storage bunkers were hit....that was just a fraction of the 24,000....the rest went missing....

OUTLAW 09

04-26-2016, 06:04 PM

Obama and Kerry totally forget that both Ukraine and Syria are intertwined....and Putin drives both as part and parcel of his non linear war against the US......

In that vein......when we look at the US blackmail of Ukraine to capitulate to Russian demands HAS in fact Kerry used the same blackmail process with the HNC and FSA....surrender to Putin's demands or be bombed to death?

Actually yes they have.....

This is the Ukraine experience with the US....

WHY is it that the US is in fact threatening Ukraine to conduct an unilateral surrender to Russia??????

WITHOUT Russia fulfilling a single point of the 11 points in Minsk 2....

I have been saying this was happening a number of times here at SWJ since Crimea and it is being carried out by Nuland and her back channel Russian contacts and Kerry's number of Putin visits WHICH generated not a single press release the last time NOR did Kerry out brief the Ukrainians as a common courtesy.....

SOUND familiar to exactly how the US is dealing with the anti Assad opposition and the HNC?....as the HNC has a number of times felt that the US and Putin have "done a handshake" on Syria.....

http://www.unian.info/politics/13311...-election.html

U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, who arrived in Kyiv on Monday, announced these key messages at a meeting with representatives of the Ukrainian parliament's factions on Tuesday, says representative of the Samopomich's faction Victoria Voytsitska, who was present at the meeting.

"The U.S. Department of State insists on Ukraine's introducing amendments to the Constitution, [legalizing] the special status of the occupied territory in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, holding local elections in the occupied areas in the near future and granting amnesty for militants.

The Minsk agreements should be implemented by the end of 2016, and there is no alternative to them," the Ukrainian MP cited Nuland.

"We should be aware that no one is going to withdraw heavy weapons," Voytsitska said.

"The heavy weapons should be locked and its storage should be monitored by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. We are told that if we conduct the [local] elections in Donbas, this would set a precedent when Russian troops are voluntarily leaving the occupied territory for the first time in history. And no guarantees are given that the Russian forces leave," she added.

Samopomich says that if Ukraine demonstrates its good will in implementing the Minsk agreements and adopts a law on local elections in occupied territory in May, anti-Russian sanctions will be prolonged in the best case for another nine months until January 2017.

"The elections in occupied territory are expected as early as this July – these are the key messages," Samopomich said.

Voytsitska draws unpromising conclusions: the cancellation of the sanctions against Russia are pegged to the amendments to Ukraine's constitution and the elections in Russian-occupied territory rather than to the unlawful annexation of Crimea and Russian occupation in Donbas.

Samopomich insists that Ukraine should designate the territories as the occupied ones and Russia as an occupier country, irrespective of extending or rolling back international sanctions against that country.

The demands put forth by the United States on Donbas' special status and the local election is "an actual capitulation – this is what the Kremlin wanted by waging war on Ukraine," Samopomich said.

NOTICE: Who would have ever thought that Kerry, Obama and Nuland resorts to "blackmail" in order for Putin to achieve his end state in eastern Ukraine and in Syria....