Syria in 2017 (January-April)

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: Rebels repelling pro-#Assad forces at #Khattab today.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.185033&lon=36.678715&z=14&m=b#

[OUTLAW 09]

The #Assad regime has allegedly used poison gas twice: against areas of Damascus yesterday and Hama today.
http://v.aa.com.tr/784284

Assad/IRGC advanced today following several chemical attacks targeted north Hama Al-Latamenah and Zawr. 10s of suffocation cases reported.

Syrian regime strikes targets in Hama with chlorine gas
Attacks affect scores of civilian residents, local medical source tells Anadolu Agency
http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/syrian-regime-strikes-targets-in-hama-with-chlorine-gas/784284

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: Rebels repelling pro-#Assad forces at #Khattab today.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.185033&lon=36.678715&z=14&m=b#…

The only news comes from Jaish Al-Nasr: "A regime attack towards #Khattab was repelled." Ahrar al-Sham and #HTS are quiet.

Hama Battle: while Majdal front still holding, pro-Regime forces are advancing towards #Khattab from S. and E. sides.

How people & media react:
100 civilians killed by 1 airstrike = no reaction
1 #Assad fighter beheaded = panic

Hama Battle: Free Idlib Army destroyed a bulldozer and damaged a 23 mm gun on Tell Sheyah firing #TOW|s. http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.167774&lon=36.686783&z=13&m#…

Daraa: Al-Bunian Al-Marsous op. room bombed a building used by pro-Assad in W. part of Al-Manshiyah district. http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=32.608670&lon=36.087781&z=17&m#…

[OUTLAW 09]

Clashes between #SDF/#YPG & #EuphratesShield forces near of #Azaz N #Aleppo.

[OUTLAW 09]

US UN ambassador says Washington's focus no longer on removing Assad in Syria


The United States is no longer making removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a focus of its policy in the war-torn country, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Thursday.
"Our priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting Assad out," Ambassador Nikki Haley told a small group of reporters. "Our priority is to really look at how do we get things done, who do we need to work with to really make a difference for the people in Syria."
"We can't necessarily focus on Assad the way that the previous administration did," she said.

[OUTLAW 09]

Friends of Putin: Russia’s western elite networks
http://on.ft.com/2of8yI1

[OUTLAW 09]

A bit of humor.....

OTD in 1867 the US illegally annexed Alaska from Russia. Our compatriots yearn to return to the Motherland and plan a referendum

[OUTLAW 09]

US UN ambassador says Washington's focus no longer on removing Assad in Syria



If one reads the US UN Ambassadors statement closely you will notice it matches Putin statements on Assad and Syria.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Pakistani IRGC group Liwa Zeinabiyoun using South Korean 40mm and hand grenades

[OUTLAW 09]

Not to mention this among many Hezbollah fighters (I got the same impression myself). They don't know what they're fighting for.

[OUTLAW 09]

Despite the propaganda of Hezbollah supporters on Twitter, this is becoming an increasingly common story:

[OUTLAW 09]

“Bashar al-Assad is only a name; we [Russia, Iran, Hezbollah] are controlling everything in Syria.” —Abu Hussein
http://bit.ly/2nAiXKU

[OUTLAW 09]

Pro-#Assad forces advance in #Hama and took #Khattab.
They pay a high price though but the dictator doesn't care about human lives.

[OUTLAW 09]

US UN ambassador says Washington's focus no longer on removing Assad in Syria



Leaving #Assad alone may look to some like an exit strategy, but it’ll 100% necessitate a future U.S. intervention.

He facilitated AQs fight vs US troops from 03-10; killed 500,000 people, used chemical weapons & sealed #Iran dominance.

SO Let's just keep #Assad.

[OUTLAW 09]

“I oppose all U.S presence in #Syria”

“[Americans are] occupiers & imperialists”

- American Marxists in the #YPG:

http://wapo.st/2nGKKLo?tid=ss_tw#…

[OUTLAW 09]

This is a very useful interactive graphic from @FSAPlatform, detailing the FSA’s x6 fronts against #ISIS in #Syria:
http://fsaplatform.org/fsa-vs-daesh/

[OUTLAW 09]

IRGC Qods Force chief Major General Qassem Soleimani allegedly in northern Syrian province of Hama.

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria's rebels in east Damascus never recovered from Russia murdering Zahran Allush.
@aronlund traces the endgame.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/the-syrian-rebel-who-built-an-islamic-paradise-214969

"..the majority of Iraq’s homegrown militants came from villages and farms, intelligence officials told me..."
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/face-to-face-with-the-ghost-of-isis

Bilal Kareem suing U.S. officials/institutions over being on the 'kill list'
https://shar.es/1QvXU9#
Can be a lot of disclosures in court …

[OUTLAW 09]

CENTCOM Townsend dismisses a question as a "political agenda" to protect his political agenda of ignoring the PYD/PKK's political agenda. :D

PYD-led admin to open Ocalan park in Efrin on his birthday (4 April) (ANHA)

As Russia deploys to Afrin, Russian-Turkish relations are worsening: my contributions to new @RudawEnglish article
http://www.rudaw.net/english/analysis/29032017

[OUTLAW 09]

Murky tale of how US program to train Syria rebels subcontracted down &down again, ending in deadly trip to Bulgaria

https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/the-death-of-a-us-contractor-has-exposed-americas-failures?utm_term=.qrVBmgp3r#.rcVbLYxAG#

[OUTLAW 09]

So Germany will not investigate if its support led to the death of 33 Syrian civilians in Raqqa, but how the information was leaked.

Putin-Assad air attack on another @MSF hospital in Syria, apparently w/ chemical weapon. Two killed include doctor.
http://bit.ly/2mWm3vS

Counter-terrorism Pitfalls: What the U.S. Fight against ISIS and al-Qaeda Should Avoid
https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/iraq/003-counter-terrorism-pitfalls-what-us-fight-against-isis-and-al-qaeda-should-avoid

This report examines President Trump’s emerging counter-terrorism policies, the dilemmas his administration faces in battling ISIS and al-Qaeda across the Middle East and South Asia, and how to avoid deepening the disorder both groups exploit.

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA took Abu al-Shamat village near Dumayr from IS south Syria
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=33.667354&lon=36.922646&z=13&m=b#

107 hospitals and health centres in rebel-held territories #Syria targeted by Assad and Russian air attacks in 2016 -

FSA clash with IS outside Al Mahassah south Syria trying to break east Qalamoun mountain siege.

Free Idlib Army destroy a regime bulldozer with a TOW ATGM on Tel Shahiya front, #Hama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yDlGnSyr34#…

IRGC digging trenches and fortifying high ground to channel firepower. They don't have capabilities to fight across long fronts like rebels.

Syrian Army Northern Hama Countryside battle map... in Russian (31/03/2017)

[OUTLAW 09]

E. #Damascus: Rebels killed Osama AbdelKarim in #Jobar, commander from #Homs of Al-Abbas Battalion & responsible for special tasks.

Assad working together with IS against Syrian FSA....
SyAF Su-22 bombed #FSA during operations to expel #ISIS from S. #Syria desert.
Full video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmNj639WVLI#…

BUT WAIT...US does not want to toss out Assad as their FP now...

Russian & Iranian activity appears at peak for the moment. Using everything at disposal including all chemical types, gas & incendiary.

E. #Ghouta: Jaish Al-Islam destroyed a 23 mm gun and killed several pro-Assad on Al-Rayhan front.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=33.577443&lon=36.440277&z=13&m#…

Aleppo: Rebels fended off pro-Regime attack on Al-Zahraa district, killed 5 and destroyed one 14.5 mm gun. http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.227796&lon=37.095337&z=13&m#…

Hama Battle: Jaish Al-Izza destroyed with a #TOW a BMP on Shir front, crew KIA. Advancing pro-Regime forces visible after Rebel withdrawal

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA News‏#@FSAPlatform
Between oppression & injustice. We choose freedom.
This is our story.

http://youtu.be/93OTrVqpJjU

[OUTLAW 09]

Dr Nasr Hariri: regime killed 150 civilians, many of whom women & children since the start of this round of negotiations

Dr Nasr Hariri: the political transition is the key to a political solution for the Syrian crisis

Dr Nasr Hariri: today we submitted to the special envoy our vision of the formation of a transitional governing body

Hariri: our position is fixed on expulsion of Iranian & other militia as essential condition for a just pol'l transition

[OUTLAW 09]

Sputnik‏
Verified account
Russia has no territorial claims to neighboring states - @mfa_russia's #Lavrov
http://sptnkne.ws/dVvY

[OUTLAW 09]

Statement from @MSF on hospital bombing of #Latamneh hospital last week in #Hama. Suggests chemical weapon attack.
http://www.msf.org/en/article/syria-medical-staff-and-patients-killed-attack-msf-supported-hospital#

Dr Shajul Islam @DrShajulIslam
All charities working in Syria, hear our call. We are dying... If you can you get gas masks into Syria, please help us.

[OUTLAW 09]

Wow...Iran now sounds like Russia when Russia claims it is Ukraine's fault for violence in eastern Ukraine....

Iran rejects U.S. terror claim by Mattis, blames Saudi
http://reut.rs/2nH7Hgc

[OUTLAW 09]

43 ATGM launches by Syrian rebels in March 2017:
https://justpaste.it/March2017ATGM
#https://justpaste.it/SyriaATGM

[OUTLAW 09]

Homs operations room against #Assad:
- #Ahrar_Al_Sham
- #HTS
- #FSA Homs Corps
- #FSA Jund al-Badr 313
- #FSA Al-Ezzah Army (joined now)

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria: 17 rebel groups from #Idlib, #Aleppo, #Hama and #Latakia will form a joint operations room to fight against #Assad.

[OUTLAW 09]

Raqqa: #ISIS reporting that they have killed many #YPG fighters near #Raqqa.

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: #Assad regime is busy with funerals for killed #Assad forces, including Tiger Forces, who were killed in the #Qomhana battle.

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo: 3 #ISIS ATGM strikes against #Assad tanks and a group of pro-#Assad forces east of #Deir_Hafer.

Aleppo: #ISIS SVBIED has killed 11 pro-#Assad forces and destroyed an #Assad tank east of #Deir_Hafer.

Hama: Rebels have killed the #Iran|ian #IRGC fighter Farash Bahesh in #Hama Province. Probably another field commander.

Hama: The good news: #Souran, #Maardas and #Iskandariyah are still under rebel (#HTS) control.

Hama: Very calm in #Hama so far today. Both sides preparing for the next round.

[OUTLAW 09]

INTERESTING in that AQI had been building their first prototypes already in 2005 in Diyala.....used to fire C5 air to ground rockets

Mosul: Mass production of self-made #ISIS rocket launchers in Western #Mosul.

[OUTLAW 09]

Breaking || East #Qalamoun

#FSA take control of Abu Shamaat road near Mahasa from #Daesh in East Qalamoun seizing a tank - photo

[OUTLAW 09]

Conscripts will not go to war in Syria. Putin signed a decree on drafting 142,000 people for military service
https://www.pnp.ru/social/2017/03/30/srochniki-v-siriyu-voevat-ne-poedut.html#

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: Rebels have killed the #Iran|ian #IRGC Second Brigadier General Azad Khoshnoud in the #Hama battle.

[OUTLAW 09]

Heavy #Russia strikes tonight hit Shuhada Islam, Tajamu Fastaqim, Jaish al-Islam & Ahrar al-Sham positions near Babsiqa on #Turkey's border.

Russia is seriously starting to even threaten Turkey..will be interesting to see how Erdogan takes this last Russian "insult"....

[OUTLAW 09]

Charles Lister‏
Verified account
Acc. to @alhayatdaily, 30,000+ FSA/MOM rebels have agreed to coordinate joint attacks on #HTS in northern #Syria:
http://www.alhayat.com/m/story/21053233#…

The @alhayatdaily report claims MOM groups will benefit from a full resumption of external support for agreeing to anti-#HTS strategy.

The @alhayatdaily report also claims that Ahrar al-Sham is coming under pressure from the U.S. to join this alleged anti-#HTS front.

My sources tell me no such agreement has been made [yet].

BUT, #Turkey & US have been pushing MOM groups in this direction for months.

For context, worth acknowledging recent events in #Hama:

- Big advances lost after #HTS refused to coordinate defense w. Ahrar & FSA.

Most importantly, military priorities on the ground will always prove a major barrier to such developments:

Multiple FSA & Ahrar sources say factions *have* agreed to unite under one operations room to coordinate operations against #Assad.

Several of these sources admit that in exchange for a resumption of external support, Turkey demanded no coordination with #HTS or AQ.

For several MOM groups, an overt blocking of work w. #HTS brings fear of infighting - hence reports conflating anti-#Assad with HTS/AQ.

[OUTLAW 09]

English-speaking, Western anarchists establish @IRPGF in #Syria to join the #YPG & #PKK's "Revolution in #Rojava.”
http://dailymotion.com/video/x5gwr1v

Serious Q: Would it be legal for Americans, Brits etc. to go to #Syria to join this "International Revolutionary People's Guerrilla Force”?

U.S policy has directly enabled this socialist militant growth in #Syria.

IRPGF is directly linked to #YPG foreign recruitment flows.

[OUTLAW 09]

Half of Syria’s 22 million population has been uprooted by a conflict that has now lasted longer than the second world war

[davidbfpo]

English-speaking, Western anarchists establish @IRPGF in #Syria to join the #YPG & #PKK's "Revolution in #Rojava.”http://dailymotion.com/video/x5gwr1v

Serious Q: Would it be legal for Americans, Brits etc. to go to #Syria to join this "International Revolutionary People's Guerrilla Force”?

U.S policy has directly enabled this socialist militant growth in #Syria.

IRPGF is directly linked to #YPG foreign recruitment flows.

In the UK there have been a number of successful prosecutions for fighting with extremists / militants / Jihadists in Syria mainly in recent years. IIRC a few who fought with the Kurds have been arrested, but no charges followed. I can find no references to those who fought in Libya to oust Gadaffi being prosecuted.

There are a number of UK laws, old and new, regarding foreign fighting. Oddly the first Google hit was this optimistic survey:https://www.loc.gov/law/help/foreign-fighters/country-surveys.php#United%20Kingdom

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: Rebels have killed the #Iran|ian #IRGC commander Abdallah Termama in #Hama.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Syrian Express....

Ship of Interest:

From Novorossiysk, Russia flag cargo ship (IMO9202467, X-Mikhail Kuznetsov) transited Bosphorus en route to #Tartus #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Naval Express....

ВМФ #ТОФ PF Varyag 011 left Vladivostok for 2months accompanied by Projt5757 Baklazhan class tug Fotiy Krylov & Dubna class tanker Pechenga

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Syrian Express...

Ship of Interest:

Coming from #Tartus #Syria, Comoros flag general cargo vessel Rukia 1 transited Bosphorus towards Black Sea

[OUTLAW 09]

Fact of the Day: In 1957 the US Air Force adapted an F15 to run on diesel fuel

[OUTLAW 09]

Idlib: Hospital in #Maarrat_al_Numan was heavily damaged by #Russia|n airstrikes.
A huge damege in #Maaret_AlNouman's hospital and now out of service after 3 airstrikes by #Russian warplanes


Reports Turkey and Intel Coalition agreed to involve Turkey-backed FSA in Raqqa offensive through Tal Abyad border crossing. YPG not happy.

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama Battle: Rebels announced the first attack by pro-Regime forces on #Helfaya is repelled after fierce clashes.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.260759&lon=36.608505&z=13&m#

Hama Battle: Jaish Al-Izza destroyed with a #Fagot a 37 mm gun on Muhardah front.

Hama Battle: #TOW strike by Jaish Al-Izza vs a tank on Majdal front

Hama Battle: #HTS double tap with #ATGM|s vs pro-Regime forces.

Hama: Not only high-ranking #Iran|ian officers/commanders are in #Hama, but also low-ranking #Iran|ian forces fighting & dying there now.

All Russian State News employees are propaganda soldiers in #Putin's war vs. the truth.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201704021052206530-russia-aleppo/#…

[OUTLAW 09]

"The Russian Aerospace Forces were not used in Aleppo at all."

- Russian DefMin Maj.Gen. Igor Konashenkov, 2.4.2017

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: Rebels have killed #Hezbollah commander Qasim Ghazi Maatouk in #Hama.

[OUTLAW 09]

Breaking || #FSA
United Free Syrian Army statement against ethnic cleansing of #Zabadani, #Madaya, #Fuaa & #Kafaria

[OUTLAW 09]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/syrias-civil-war-produces-a-clear-winner-hezbollah-1491173790?mod=e2tw

Syria’s Civil War Produces a Clear Winner: Hezbollah
The Lebanese militant group, labeled a terror organization by the U.S., has grown stronger through its support of the Assad regime, battling Syrian rebels alongside Russian forces and training local Shiite fighters

Maria Abi-Habib
Updated April 2, 2017 11:31 p.m. ET


Few wars have seen such a tangle of combatants as Syria’s, from obscure and morphing rebel groups to Russians, Turks, Kurdish and Iraqi militias. From the chaos, one clear winner is emerging.
Returning to his ancestral Syrian town of Qusayr after years away, a man named Mohammed discovered a new militia patrolling the neighborhood. Patches on the men’s camouflage uniforms called them the Islamic Resistance of Syria. Their identity became clearer when he found a notice on his house claiming it for Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group.
“Many houses have been confiscated with notices that they’ve been reserved for this or that family,” Mohammed said.
Hezbollah, founded in the early 1980s to fight Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon, became involved in the civil war next door to protect its patrons in Damascus and a supply line of Iranian weapons. After years of growing engagement, including training thousands of mostly Shiite Muslim fighters and beginning to provide social services, Hezbollah is today stronger, more independent and in command of a new Syrian militia that its officials say is ready to be deployed to other conflicts in the region.
Hezbollah now fights alongside Russian troops, its first alliance with a global power. It was Hezbollah that devised the battlefield plan for Aleppo used by Syrian and Russian forces last year, according to Arab and U.S. officials who monitor the group.
Thanks to money and arms from Tehran, Hezbollah now stands almost on a par with Iran as a protector of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, and as a sponsor of Shiite fighting forces in Syria.
“It’s hard to see people rising through Syrian intelligence or military ranks without the blessing of Hezbollah or the Iranians,” said Andrew Exum, until January a U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East.
With its growing might, this arch-foe of Israel, a group long labeled terrorist by the U.S., has gained a modicum of international recognition. It participated in negotiations sponsored by Russia following the rout of rebels from Aleppo. When China’s special envoy to Syria visited Lebanon in December, he carved out time to see Hezbollah’s foreign-relations chief.
Even before the Syrian civil war, Hezbollah had evolved beyond its guerrilla-group origins into a business and political enterprise that holds positions in Lebanon’s government and runs social programs such as schools and clinics. Now it is poised to capitalize on what many Middle East analysts expect will be an eventual end to the Syrian war that leaves Mr. Assad in power. Syria will have $180 billion of war-reconstruction needs, by a World Bank estimate. Hezbollah has experience at that. After a 2006 conflict with Israel, the group efficiently organized the rebuilding of battered Beirut suburbs.
“Hezbollah is well-positioned to make a lot of money” from Syrian reconstruction, said Matthew Levitt, director of the Washington Institute’s Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, a veteran of the Treasury and State departments.
U.S. and Israeli officials have watched the growth of Hezbollah with concern, worried it could draw on its Syrian recruits to pressure Israel from a new front along the Golan Heights, captured by Israel 50 years ago. In March, Hezbollah announced the formation of a Syria-based “Brigade for the Liberation of the Golan” devoted to wresting the heights back for Syria.
“Israel knows that what has happened in Syria has changed Hezbollah, which has developed from not just defending against Israel, but attacking it,” said a senior official from an alliance of Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. “It has now developed traditional and nontraditional means of war. It fights like a guerrilla army but also like a conventional one.”
Israel hasn’t waited for a Hezbollah attack in the Golan, sending aircraft to strike Iranian shipments of sophisticated arms to Hezbollah.
Premier Benjamin Netanyahu told President Donald Trump during a February U.S. visit that Hezbollah’s expanded arsenal also endangers American warships in nearby waters, said diplomats briefed on the meeting.
The U.S. is well aware of Hezbollah’s expanding capabilities and will continue working closely with partners in the region to address threats the militant group poses, a State Department official said, adding that disrupting Hezbollah’s terrorist and military capabilities was a top U.S. priority.
Hezbollah’s new clout is adding to fears among Gulf states that Iran’s power also is growing, drawing Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to agree to work with Israel. Their focal point is now Yemen, where Mr. Trump has agreed to provide a Saudi-led alliance with stepped-up U.S. military assistance to counter the Houthis, who were trained by Hezbollah and supported by Iran. The Gulf states, in turn, have tentatively agreed to try to bring the Palestinians to the negotiating table with Israel.
Religious power
Hezbollah’s role has implications for eventual postwar arrangements in Syria, given how its religious influence will likely compete with the secular politics of the Assad regime. Before the war, that government was improving relations with Saudi Arabia and once even considered a peace treaty with Israel. The improved ties have broken down, with the Saudis supporting Syrian rebel groups. Diplomats in the region say any normalization of relations after the war ends, likely with Mr. Assad still in power, will be even more difficult given Hezbollah and Iran’s newfound clout in Syria.
Hezbollah has helped the Assad regime survive partly by propping up its undisciplined military, which is plagued by corruption and defections. In Syrian villages retaken from rebel control, Hezbollah fighters have been seen holding Syrian soldiers by the wrist or collar and forcing them to return appliances or furniture looted from homes.
Syrian civilians say Hezbollah fighters sometimes openly disrespect Syrian troops on battlefronts, a stark change from its previous deference. Cars with blacked-out windows and Lebanese license plates screech up to Syrian checkpoints, the Hezbollah commanders inside refusing to get off their phones during identification checks or to answer questions posed by their Syrian allies.
When Russia and Syria wanted to put priority on retaking Islamic State’s capital of Raqqa last year, Hezbollah, along with Iran, insisted the focus instead be dislodging rebels from Aleppo to force them to the negotiating table, according to Mr. Exum and a Hezbollah official.
The strategy worked. The rebels evacuated Aleppo and agreed to participate in Russian-sponsored political negotiations now taking place in locations outside Syria.
When formed in the 1980s, Hezbollah was trained by Iran’s Quds Force, an arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that manages Iranian clients across the region. Hezbollah gave Lebanon’s disenfranchised Shiite community political power and won its loyalty by providing free schooling and health care in addition to protection.
Militarily, it remained a guerrilla force, better at launching rockets from the bushes than spearheading offensives on urban centers—until Syria’s civil war began in 2011. After wading in to protect its Iranian arms flow, Hezbollah stepped up its military commitment to counter Sunni extremists such as Islamic State, which regards Shiite Muslims such as Hezbollah as infidels. Hezbollah expanded its arsenal by gaining access to Russian and Syrian weapons under the cover of the civil war’s chaos.
Shipments from Iran gave the Lebanese group precise and powerful armaments that it previously lacked, such as Russian-made Yakhont missiles, said a former State Department official.#Cooperation with Russia on the battlefield further increased the flow of weaponry.
“Russian stocks are open to Hezbollah,” said a Hezbollah official who travels frequently to Damascus. “Our fighters eat and sleep alongside theirs and we’re sharing everything, always.” While an end to Syria’s civil war could change the dynamics, Middle East analysts generally think Hezbollah’s expanded access to weapons is secure.
Damascus was once considered a Hezbollah proxy master, but Western diplomats say the Lebanese group is carving out its own zones of influence across Syria by training local fighters. They include Shiites and Alawites, the latter being adherents of a branch of Shiite Islam that includes the Assad family.
Western diplomats estimate the number of these fighters loyal to Hezbollah’s command, which Hezbollah calls al-Ridha Forces, and known locally as “Hezbollah in Syria,” in the tens of thousands. Hezbollah officials say it is lower. Hezbollah’s presence in Syria stretches 250 miles from the northern tip to the south, longer than the length of Lebanon.
Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to both Iraq and Syria, said the autonomy Hezbollah enjoys in Syria arises partly because “Iraq is more important for Iran in many ways than Syria is,” while to Hezbollah, next-door Syria is more important.
Messrs. Crocker and Exum said Hezbollah’s strategy in Syria mirrors the Lebanese group’s involvement in Iraq after the 2003 U.S. invasion. At that time, Hezbollah provided training inside Iran to Iraqi Shiite militiamen.

Continued....

[OUTLAW 09]

‘The hospitals were slaughterhouses’: A journey into Syria’s secret torture wards.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/the-hospitals-were-slaughterhouses-a-journey-intosyrias-secret-torture-wards/2017/04/02/90ccaa6e-0d61-11e7-b2bb-417e331877d9_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_syrianhospitals-8pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.7f86669bc08b#
…

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian troops being seen fully armed with increasing numbers in #Hama city via local activists

[OUTLAW 09]

Syrien-Bilanz fr 2016 - 1004 Luftangriffe​auf 107 Krankenhuser
http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/syrien-krise/krankenhaeuser-syrien-51125718.bild.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

1004 air strikes recorded in 2016 on 107 Syrian hospitals....

[OUTLAW 09]

Pro-#Assad militias, backed by the #Russian air force, recaptured #Maardes from rebels, now reversing 90% of the #Hama offensive.

[OUTLAW 09]

Erdogan: "We are preparing for more military operations (Syria), terror groups should be ready for surprises" - Turkey

Turkish definitions of a terrorist includes YPG/PKK...

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama Battle: #Helfaya also massively pounded as pro-Regime forces with #Iran|nian-led militias trying to seize city. Fierce clashes raging.

uphratesShield: 6 weeks after takeover of Al-Bab #FSA still uncovering #ISIS weapon caches, here a bunker with 100s of mortar shells.

E. #Damascus: Jaish Al-Islam fighting pro-Regime forces on #Barzeh front.

S. #Idlib: main Maaret Al-Numan Hospital out of servive after being deliberately targeted by 3 airstrikes, incl. with a bunker-buster bomb.

S. #Aleppo: Rebels repelled an assault by #Iran|ian-led militias on Jebal Al-Mudawar.

As Rebels face enormous pressure in N. #Hama, call to all groups to bring fighters & equipment to #Hama frontlines.

Hama Battle: reinforcements for Regime keep pouring into N. #Hama countryside. #IRGC/Hezbollah pictured via @islamicworldupd.

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama Battle: Jaish Al-Izza's 130 mm cannon shelling pro-Regime forces on #Majdal front.

FSA still advancing vs #ISIS in E. #Qalamoun & S. #Syria desert. Several vehicles incl. a tank seized.

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus: #Assad airstrikes have killed 8 civilians and wounded dozens more in Eastern #Ghouta today.

Two #Russian Su-25, attacking civilians in the town of #Hobait, #Idlib province, this noon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QexHNA1bZD8 …

Massive #AssadPutin air strikes on #Hama province and #EastGhouta.
Activists report "more than 200" ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1unxttXcAM …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Syrian Express.....
Russian Navy's Ropucha class LSTM "KOROLEV" (130) southbound on the İstanbul Strait en route to Tartus/Syria (4:30 pm local time)

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Ship of Interest:

Coming from #Tartus #Syria, Tanzania flag RO-RO Cirkin transits BlackSea-bound Bosphorus en route to Novorossiysk

[OUTLAW 09]

Ship of Interest....

Coming from #Tartus #Syria, Liberia flag bulk carrier Levroso transited Bosphorus&entered BlackSea en route to Novorossiysk ��

[OUTLAW 09]

Interesting on Russian energy expansion in the Middle East in the last three months.
https://www.ft.com/content/5417e004-13a4-11e7-80f4-13e067d5072c …

[OUTLAW 09]

A quick translation of the encounter between @TulsiGabbard and Bashar al-Assad in the @AlakhbarNews story today:

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/275193

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus: Horrific massacre committed by #Assad/#Russia|n warplanes in Eastern #Ghouta today. 30 civilians were killed, including children.

GRAPHIC!!!!!!

[OUTLAW 09]

If you still think that civilians can flee from #Raqqa, read this here:


بصمت‏Verifizierter Account
@Raqqa_SL
#Raqqa yesterday around 50 people tried to escape Raqqa , 7 died from Mines , #YPG side started to shoot fire on them they came back

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama Battle: Free Idlib Army claims it destroyed a 23 mm gun and a BMP on #Majdal front.

Turkey announced the end of #EuphratesSheild last week one day before US Sec of State announced Assad "stays" from Turkey! New Agreement?

SDF/YPG will open route for FSA units from Tal Abyad for 60 km to Al Hazimah and Tal As-Saman north Raqqa reportedly
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.131774&lon=38.966103&z=13&m=b

Assad and Iran-backed militias attacking rebel-held Halfaya from Christian town Muhardah north #Hama to provoke rebels return the fire.

FSA || #Hama
FSA artillery regiment repels regime & Iranian militia attack on Majdal & Mahradah bridge axis, high losses in regime ranks

FSA || East #Daraa
FSA carrying out security campaign to arrest kidnappers & outlaws who put civilians in danger in Al-Maliha & Al-Nahata

FSA || #Hama
#Video of FSA forces targeting Hezbollah & Iranian militia checkpoints in Al-Majdal, rural Hama
https://youtu.be/s5M5Y5kn264

In two weeks Free Syrian Army forces freed around 9750km2 from #Daesh in south Syria Desert regions

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus || #Syria
Statement from regime military service dept: Due to severe manpower shortage regime drafting unqualified young students

NEW #Map || #Syria
Recent #FSA advances against #Daesh in south Syria Desert only 23km from breaking regime-Daesh siege on East #Qalamoun

NOTICE Assad PLUS Islamic State and the US does not want to toss out Assad??????

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria || #Damascus
Civilian houses burning after regime tanks attacked Hafez street in #Barzeh area, northeast Damascus

66 regime airstrikes Damascus & #EastGhouta areas since this morning:Jobar-31
Qaboun-14
Harasta-2
Al-Murj-7
Hamouriya-5
Saqba-4
Jisreen-2
Ayn Tarama-7

FSA forces destroy 14mm machine gun with b9 artillery shells, killing its crew on Jamiat Zahour front in rural north Aleppo

[OUTLAW 09]

"'Our assessment is that [the #SDF/#PKK] have 1,000 or 2,000 Arab fighters,' the Turkish official said."

https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2017/04/03/in-erdogan-tillerson-meeting-even-translators-werent-present

In Erdoğan, Tillerson meeting, even translators weren't present


S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's reported desire of not having many aides in closed-door meetings apparently received Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan's approval during Tillerson's trip to Ankara last Thursday.

Tillerson's trip was very important due to major issues like the ongoing Raqqa operation and the overall strategy against Daesh. It was Tillerson's first visit to Ankara and his first meeting with Erdoğan.

A videotape of the start of the meeting released by the Turkish presidency shows that Tillerson and Erdoğan had a rather long, awkward handshake. I was among those thinking that Tillerson was either tired or stressed, considering Ankara's endless expectations from Washington.

Multiple sources on both the American and Turkish sides told me that the two-hourlong meeting had only three participants, Tillerson, Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Mevlut avusoğlu. There was not even an interpreter in the meeting at the request of Erdoğan, who does not speak English other than some pleasantries. Naturally, Turkish Minister also functioned as a translator during the meeting.

A report published by Al Monitor on last Thursday correctly identified the Americans kept out of the room: Special Envoy for the coalition against Daesh Brett McGurk and U.S. Ambassador John Bass. However, it was not only Americans, but senior Erdoğan advisors were also not present. A senior Turkish official said these types of meetings were not very unusual for Erdoğan since he had many similar meetings in the past with other foreign leaders.

However, the American side interpreted this decision as a snub against both McGurk and Bass. It is not a secret that Ankara correctly believes McGurk is one of the main architects and facilitators of the U.S. partnership with the People's Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian armed wing of the PKK, which is designated as a terror group both by Turkey and the U.S.

Some reports in the Turkish media previously revealed that Erdoğan had personally slammed McGurk during his visit to New York last September, warning him not to take pictures again with YPG officers. McGurk's pictures with YPG officers caused a strong backlash in Turkey at the time.

Ambassador Bass, on the other hand, is known to be a strong supporter of Ankara, especially with regards the stance on the YPG and Fetullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based Imam and alleged mastermind of the failed coup in Turkey. This is why his exclusion from the meeting was surprising for American officials. But Turkish sources say Erdoğan was not trying to send a signal, he simply wanted to spend some private time with Tillerson.

During the meeting, Tillerson and Erdoğan watched a short documentary on the failed coup attempt, according to the Turkish foreign minister. "He had asked specific questions on the locations of the attacks. He was impressed. The meeting took longer than intended over two hours," he told journalists accompanying him to Brussels over the weekend.

The senior Turkish official briefed about the Erdoğan-Tillerson meeting said it was mostly the Turkish side that did the talking. "We reiterated our posture on Syria, especially the YPG's involvement in Raqqa," the official said. Turkey previously offered up to 10,000 troops, consisting of Turkish special forces and Free Syrian Army battalions to retake Raqqa from Daesh. "I personally don't expect any tangible U.S. step in our favor. They believe they are heavily invested in the YPG, which was a McGurk design. Still, they couldn't reject our plan," the senior Turkish official said.

The Pentagon, indeed, is planning to stick with the YPG. "Publicly, the U.S. says it's still working with its NATO ally Turkey to find a role for it in the upcoming Raqqa offensive, but here's the unspoken truth: The U.S. has also judged that the Turkish military is not up to the task, based on its performance in northern Syria," the Washington Examiner reported on Friday. According to the report, Pentagon officials said the major U.S. take on Turkey's hard-won victory in Al-Bab against Daesh was that Turkish troops lack the training, logistics and weaponry to successfully launch the siege of Raqqa.

One Washington insider said the Pentagon came up with this excuse because the U.S. Central Command and top generals do not want to change their plans in Raqqa. "They believe arming the YPG and moving along with Syrian Democratic Forces is the best and fastest plan. They don't want another adventure," he said.

The Raqqa operation is more sensitive than previous ones because the city is overwhelmingly Arab and reportedly suspicious of the YPG. This is why the Pentagon tries to highlight the Arab component of the SDF, which is supposed to be the main force fighting Daesh in the Raqqa area.

Pentagon officials previously told the media that the SDF's Arab component had more than 20,000 soldiers. One senior Turkish diplomat familiar with the Raqqa plan disagrees. "Our assessment is that they have 1,000 or 2,000 Arab fighters," the Turkish official said, showing the depth of distrust between the two allies.

[OUTLAW 09]

How America is mixing up its approach to this region
http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/how-america-is-mixing-up-its-approach-to-this-region …

Why Raqqa won’t be the end of the road for ISIL
http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/why-raqqa-wont-be-the-end-of-the-road-for-isil …

[OUTLAW 09]

Local activists: over 300 Assad/Russia airstrikes and non-stop artillery shelling on rebel positions specially Souran north Hama past 24 hrs

[OUTLAW 09]

SDF say welling to work with "national military and political opposition" for a democratic federal Syria.
Statement: http://wp.me/p8mNFS-eo

[OUTLAW 09]

Initial reports: over 100 suffocation cases and 20 people killed in the gas attacks on Khan Shaikhoun Idleb.

Because we didn't act on Syria since 2011, this is happening NOW.

WAS SARIN used?????
Victims of the chemical attack have pin-point pupils, a signs of Sarin gas exposure - Neurosurg_Omar
pic.twitter.com/1o9gjir5As

Pinpoint pupils, not a symptom of chlorine use. Consistent with, but not exclusive to, Sarin exposure

Pinpoint pupils in a patient exposed to Organophophorus gas attack(Sarine).
With @DrShajulIslam now at the hospital treating these victims.

[OUTLAW 09]

Khan Shaykhun right now.
Children dying in the streets due to #AssadPutin chemical weapons attack.

[OUTLAW 09]

SYRIA TONIGHT
Bomb carpets, incendiary bombs and Chemical Weapons TERROR attacks by the #Assad and #Putin regime across the country.

AND the entire WEST says not a single word...

[OUTLAW 09]

"Afisi said that around 6,000 [#Turkey-backed] Free Syrian Army fighters will likely join the Raqqa battles."

[OUTLAW 09]

Purge of huge number of pilots have left #TAF crippled, RUS Aircraft roam freely in TUR Airspace.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article...-rural-idlib/#

[OUTLAW 09]

Initial reports: over 100 suffocation cases and 20 people killed in the gas attacks on Khan Shaikhoun Idleb.

Because we didn't act on Syria since 2011, this is happening NOW.

WAS SARIN used?????
Victims of the chemical attack have pin-point pupils, a signs of Sarin gas exposure - Neurosurg_Omar
pic.twitter.com/1o9gjir5As

Pinpoint pupils, not a symptom of chlorine use. Consistent with, but not exclusive to, Sarin exposure

Pinpoint pupils in a patient exposed to Organophophorus gas attack(Sarine).
With @DrShajulIslam now at the hospital treating these victims.

Dozens left martyred after @mod_russia backed chemical weapons attack by Assad in #Idlib #Syria:
https://www.facebook.com/edlibEmc12/posts/1889429761270584#

CW used today in #Idlib is likely something much more effective than chlorine.

We are at 35+ killed in the #IdlibGasAttack.
Most of them children.
Bomb Assad now and sanction Putin for his complicity in the terror.

[OUTLAW 09]

The history and chemistry behind the #Sarin agent. Explained in a very clear and comprehensible manner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jozozH09XSs#


A reminder that Russia & China vetoed in Feb a UN National Security Council resolution imposing sanctions against parties using CW in Syria

VIDEO of just right after the CW attack...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf9HKvLKe6I#

IT will be extremely interesting to see if Trump...OR Tillerson OR Haley condemn Assad for this deliberate CW attacks against civilians SINCE ALL of them have now stated this week that Assad will not be tossed out......

YouTube is attempting to assist both Putin and Assad BY deleting many of the CW attack videos.

BREAKING: Assad regime bears responsbility for 'awful' Syria 'chemical' attack: EU's Mogherini at Brussels summit - via @AFP


.@SenJohnMcCain on reports of lethal chemical attack by Syrian regime on its people: "We've seen this movie before"

Suspected gas attack on Syria's rebel-held Idlib kills at least 58: Observatory
http://reut.rs/2nzNLKu

[OUTLAW 09]

Idlib: #Assad/#Russia|n warplanes bombed a mosque in #Salqin. 15 civilians were confirmed killed and dozens wounded, including many children.

Idlib: #Assad/#Russia|n warplanes committed a new massacre in #Salqin at the border with #Turkey.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36.139608&lon=36.453152&z=14&m=b#…

[OUTLAW 09]

For those following the horrific developments in Khan Sheikhoun, @EliotHiggins (bellingat) is collecting video evidence here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPC0Udeof3T5wl6rRYrvyGKoAd2W4XG46#

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Injured from Toxic Gas attack waiting for death at closed border crossing to #Tukey

[OUTLAW 09]

update on chemical attack against civilians

At least 58 dead and dozens wounded in reported chemical attack in Idlib, #Syria.
http://owl.li/ySCz30axYwc

All our never again promises, which should carry special gravity in Germany, bombed and gassed worthless. Again.
http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/syrien/syrien-chemiewaffen-einsatz-51140996.bild.html#

[OUTLAW 09]

Two SCD centers were targeted by airstrikes today; Khan Shaykhoun and Habit. Centers are put out of service. No injuries among volunteers.

Idlib: #Assad/#Russia|n warplanes bombed #Jisr_al_Shughour. 3 residential buildings collapsed. Families are buried under the rubble.

[OUTLAW 09]

Significant chemical weapons attack north of Hama, the supply route for new rebel offensive

BREAKING: Turkish Foreign Minister calls Idlib chemical weapons attack a 'crime against humanity'

Idlib: #Assad/#Russia|n warplanes bombing entire #Idlib Province, even the border towns very close to #Turkey.

AFP news agency
✔
@AFP
#BREAKING Bombs hit hospital treating Syria 'gas attack' victims: AFP

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkey is accepting the first #IdlibGasAttack victims now.
Spooky.
At least Turkey acts!

[OUTLAW 09]

For Trump and his own WH merry band of anti Muslim's they need to see this video of what a CW attack looks like on Muslims videoed by the Syrian Civil Defense....

THEN tell me just here does the US red line exist on the use of CWs against civilians?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX6Jk5GVSZ8

AND this Sarin CW attack against civilians is being carried out by the very Assad WHO Trump wants to keep in power.....

Syria Airstrikes on Khan Shaikhoun town this morning
(1 of this contained Sarin gas)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYOM...ture=youtu.be#

[OUTLAW 09]

Khaled Khatib @995Khaled
A horrible moments for my cousins @fadikhateib and @yamaankh_kh , they have been targeted during making a report about the poisonous gasses


BREAKING: Israel strongly condemns the use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians in Syria, PM Netanyahu says

More victims of today's chemical attack in Syria being hosed down, many look already dead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgg14XVExtg#

Video from sarin gas attack zone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTszOj
AZNtI&sns=tw#
… via @DrShajulIslam

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING - First footage showing the impact site of what's supposedly the chemical munition used today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bJw84eXALs#

A small boy, one of the many child victims of today's chemical attack in Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1XIVAHsTew#

Proof that after gas attack in Khan Sheikhan #Idlib #Syria #Assad air force return to bomb the same spot.Note building on left now collapsed
Tried to destroy the evidence...

[OUTLAW 09]

Remnants of #Russia/#ASSad terrorists Chemical Weapon used against civilians in #Khan_Sheikhoun, 70 Martyrs
#Idlib cs #Syria Apr4

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING: Secretary of State Tillerson ignores question when asked for response to chemical attack massacre in Syria.

Sec. of State Tillerson greets Jordan's King Abdullah, doesn't answer questions on suspected Syria chemical attack
http://abcn.ws/2o62G2P

The Assad regime has been using chlorine in Hama, Idlib and elsewhere every day.

TILLERSON and Trump are the ones who signaled to Putin/Assad the status quo is fine

IMPORTANT ASSESMENT....
Channel 10's defense correspondent: Assessment in Israel is that Russia approved Assad regime's attack in Idlib

TURKEY is now extremely angry about this attack and the apparent US support for Assad and Putin with their lack of condemnation of both by Trump and or Tillerson....

TURKEY has dispatched a seriously well equipped chemical research team and vehicles to the attack site....

Acc to a local journalist this is an investigation team crossing the Turkish border heading to #Idlib #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference Tillerson....

In a perverse way, Tillerson's not commenting is an improvement on Kerry's "Assad is Hitler, but he's been professional about lying to us."

[OUTLAW 09]

Netanyahu, May 2014: Obama's chemical weapons deal is a ray of light in the dark. 90% of material is out. I appreciate the effort & results


Syrian mothers can bury their children in Idlib with this as the epitaph.


BUT WAIT...they did..Trump's spokesperson blamed naturally the Obama WH

BUT WAIT...Spicer forgot that the Trump WH and the UNSC US ambassador both stated they supported Assad.....

[OUTLAW 09]

SO is the Trump WH actually complicit in this CWs attack on civilians BECAUSE of their wrong choice of words??????


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/04/days-after-tillerson-mouths-russian-line-on-syria-assad-uses-gas.html

Assad Apparently ‘Gasses’ Civilians Days After Tillerson Hints He Can Stay in Power

Evidence of a sophisticated chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime suggests the dictator in Damascus thinks he’s now got Trump’s carte blanche to kill as he likes.

Michael Weiss
Kimberly Dozier
Roy Gutman

04.04.17 3:59 PM ET


ISTANBUL, Turkey—Days ago, in Ankara, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signaled that the U.S. had no quarrel with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, a man Tillerson’s predecessor compared to Adolf Hitler after he slaughtered more than 1,000 people with poison gas in 2013.
The “longer-term status of President Assad,” Tillerson said, “will be decided by the Syrian people,” a euphemism used by Damascus, Moscow, and Tehran to indicate that he isn’t going anywhere.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer used almost identical language the next day, saying, “Well, I think with respect to Assad, there is a political reality that we have to accept in terms of where we are right now.”
But the gas, it appears, is raining down once again on civilians.
In a video made Tuesday, Dr. Shajul Islam showed the camera a young man lying on a gurney with a catatonic expression on his face. His pupils were shrunk to the size of pinheads. “This is not chlorine,” he said. “We do not smell chlorine on this patient.” The industrial chemical has often been used as crude weapon on the Syrian battlefield.
Perhaps this time it was organic phosphate, another easily acquired chemical.
But other Syrians—and outside observers—say that it’s more likely the Assad regime dropped sarin gas on civilians—a much more sophisticated odorless and colorless nerve agent that Damascus was supposed to have gotten rid of as part of a U.S.-Russian-brokered deal in 2013.
“If it’s what it looks like, it’s clearly a war crime,” said a senior State Department official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity.
As ever in the six-year civil war, the death toll depends on whom you consult. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts it at 58. The White Helmets, on-the-ground first responders, at first said the figure was closer to 50. Other estimates are upward of 100 dead, with probably about 300 more injured.
The “poisonous gas,” as one Syrian activist put it, was dropped by helicopters in a series of airstrikes in the city of Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib province, one of the last enclaves of rebel control in the area, mainly administered by al Qaeda and other Islamist groups.
But videos on social media do not show jihadis lying as waxy corpses in makeshift hospitals. They show children. In one image, published by Al Jazeera, a half dozen are laid out in a row under a blanket in the back of a pickup truck. Boys on the left, girls on the right, their ages probably as young as 3.
Dr. Firas Jundi, health minister for the opposition interim government, told The Daily Beast he had the names of 60 people killed in the gas attack. He said the death toll was bound to rise as there are 300 wounded, many in critical care hospitals and clinics throughout the province.
The number of victims was an indication that this is not chlorine gas, he added in a Whatsapp conversation from Idlib, where the interim government is located. "Usually chlorine doesn't kill such big number.”
He said the signs of trauma suggested a nerve agent like sarin was used in the attack, but testing was needed to say for sure. He said local authorities have recovered parts of the rocket that carried the gas canisters and are ready to turn them over to international investigators.
“What I noticed about the victims was they had difficulty breathing, many had lost consciousness and the pupils of their eyes had narrowed,” he said.
“If there are pinpoint pupils and convulsions, it’s likely nerve gas. The number of deaths is too high for chlorine for an outdoor attack,” said Andy Weber, former assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs under the Obama administration.
“Pinpoint pupils is diagnostic for sarin,” said Ambassador Laura Holgate, who was the Obama White House’s senior director for weapons of mass destruction. “Sarin kills you with a drop on your skin,” though its lethality depends on how its delivered, and the weather conditions when its dispersed.
“There was never any indication that we didn’t get all the sarin in the 2014 elimination project,” said Holgate, who was part of the team that negotiated the disarming Syria of its chemical arms in 2014, together with Moscow. “If he has sarin, it wasn’t declared or destroyed as it should have been,” as part of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-monitored operation.
“We may have gotten all of it, but they may have made more,” said Weber, who was part of the same Obama administration disarmament mission. “It’s a chemical synthesis process they obviously know how to do. Their entire [chemical warfare] program was indigenous.”
“You don’t have to have tons of it to deliver a few small bombs,” he added.
The only way to know definitively what was used is for the OPCW to gather its own tissue samples from survivors, which is difficult to do in hot zones that are still under fire. Otherwise, both former officials said, you have “chain of custody” issues in that you are trusting a human-rights group or other a local militia group’s account on exactly where and when a sample was taken.
“You’re taking their word for where they got it,” she said. “That’s why the U.S. government was always leery to lend its credence to the claims.”
Nevertheless, there are early and strong indicators of the Idlib attack’s perpetrator. “The fact that it was air delivered means it was definitely the regime that did it,” said Weber, who is now senior fellow at the Belfer Center.
The airstrikes started at around 6:30 Tuesday morning.
A hospital treating patients of the alleged chemical attack was also bombed, according to AFP, which was reporting from the location.
This was not the only attack on civilians Tuesday. “The people in Idlib are terrified,” Jundi said. A hospital was bombed in Salqin, killing 15 people, he said. “Everyone here is waiting for death.”#
Othman Al Khani, a Khan Sheikhoun resident who lives about one mile from the area targeted, said it was residential, and there were no military installations or personnel stationed there. At least half the residents were internally displaced families from Hama province.
“Last night was very long and tiring for the people of Khan Sheikhoun,” he told The Daily Beast. “We were under bombardment until late at night, and then when people slept they slept very deeply. That is why when the gas started to leak into the houses people didn't notice it. They were deep in sleep.”
But Khani was awake and listening to rebel radio warning there was a Sukhoi combat plane flying in the vicinity.
“I heard the sort of small explosion of the type that occurs when a missile doesn’t blow up,” he said. The plane flew another 15 minutes and carried out three more strikes, he said.
The first strike turned out to be the most lethal. The local first responders from the Civil Defense had come ill-equipped and were all affected by the gas, he said.
Later in the day, he witnessed the Khan Sheikhoun hospital and the Civil Defense center coming under attack. “I was there, inside the Civil Defense center,” he said. The Center, like the hospital, is located in a cave area out of the city. “The warplane kept maneuvering above us for half an hour and hit the two places with more than ten strikes,” he said. But they were well protected by big boulders, and only the equipment and cars outside the two locations were destroyed.
Idlib province has become a frequent drop zone for chemical agents. A year-long study conducted jointly by the United Nations and the OPCW found last year that regime helicopters dropped chlorine-filled bombs on the towns of Talmenes and Sarmin, the former in late April 2014, the latter in mid-March 2015.
Chlorine is also a common industrial chemical. Its most familiar use is to keep water clean in swimming pools. But it was also one of the first chemical weapons used in World War I more than a century ago, and it is banned as an agent of warfare by the Chemical Weapons Convention. Syria signed on to that treaty in 2013 as part of a deal to acknowledge and relinquish its stocks of sarin, VX, and mustard gas. The alternative was to be U.S. intervention in the conflict.
The regime had used sarin that year in East Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, against opposition forces. Around 1,400 people were killed in that attack, according to the U.S. government, in the deadliest chemical weapons use since Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s gassing of Kurds in Halabja in 1988.
Even after the OPCW judged that 99.6 percent of all declared chemicals in Syria had been removed from the country, it still found victims who had been exposed to sarin, a substance that is neither easily handled nor easily weaponized.
Last December, the regime reportedly used sarin again in eastern Hama, a day after Islamic State terror group fighters recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra. More than 90 were killed and 300 were hospitalized.
“I am horrified by the reports of an attack near Idlib in Syria,” said Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in a statement Tuesday. “Although we cannot yet be certain about what has happened, this bears all the hallmarks of an attack by the regime which has repeatedly used chemical weapons,” he said, adding that the British government would work with the OPCW in any investigation.

Continued.
#

[OUTLAW 09]

UPDATE: At least 65 killed, 350 injured in suspected Syrian chemical attack: Syrian medical relief group
http://reut.rs/2n7ui8z

NOW
UPDATE: Syrian medical relief group UOSSM raises death toll in Syria chemical attack to 100, 400 injured

[OUTLAW 09]

.@SenJohnMcCain: Tillerson and Haley comments on Syria "motivating" for Assad to gas Syrian children.

[OUTLAW 09]

And where are the expressions of sympathy for the victims of #Assad's toxic gas attack? No "Je suis #Idlib"?

No protests?

Nobody cares?

[OUTLAW 09]

The man on the left gassed his own people. The man shaking his hand rocketed and bombed the hospital and rescue centre trying to save them.

[OUTLAW 09]

SAMS
✔
@sams_usa
Due to "double-tap" strike, Khan Sheikhoun Hospital now partially destroyed. The hospital was treating the victims of this morning's attack.

THREE "double-tap" airstrikes against medical facilities treating the victims of the chemical weapons attack.

Joint Statement by the @SyriaCivilDef and the Health Directorate in Idlib
https://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2017/4-april-a-joint-statement-by-the-syria-civil-defence-and#…

[OUTLAW 09]

SO after Trump WH blamed Obama WH for this Assad CWs attack...WILL ALL future CWs attacks be the responsibility of Trump?

[OUTLAW 09]

WTH....is this statement all about????


Both Russia and Syrian army denied that their aircraft bombed Khan Sheykhun.


Solution to shotdown any "it's not our aircraft" over Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria’s General Army Command says it has never used chemical weapons & says its name doesn’t befit such “criminal acts."

[OUTLAW 09]

Updated with latest from Pentagon, State Dept. on likely sarin gas attack in Idlib:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/04/days-after-tillerson-mouths-russian-line-on-syria-assad-uses-gas.html#

[OUTLAW 09]

Idlib: 1 #Syria|n family lost 19 family members after #Assad's toxic gas attack on #Khan_Shaykhun today.

Some remnants of the chemical weapon that was used by #SyAAF on #KhanSheikhoun

[OUTLAW 09]

Chemical attack, if carried out by #Syria govt, would be brazen statement of impunity by #Assad, writes @ABarnardNYT
https://nyti.ms/2oxHx20

This is not #Idlib but #EastGhouta shortly ago.
The #terror continues nonstop.
No government acts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EuiapjdDdY#…

[OUTLAW 09]

ISIS releases statement saying the US is "being run by an idiot."
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-islamic-state-idUSKBN17625H#

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad was surprised by the #Palmyra & #Hama offensives. He reacted in both cases with #Sarin gas attacks against civilians.

Assad used #Sarin against civilians 4 days after #ISIS launched the #Palmyra offensive & 2 weeks after rebels launched the #Hama offensive.

Assad used #Sarin three times:
- August 2013 in Eastern #Ghouta
- December 2016 in Eastern #Hama
- April 2017 in Southern #Idlib

Hama: #Assad killed around 90 civilians & wounded 500 with toxic gas in Eastern #Hama in December 2016. Unnoticed!

US calls on Iran & Russia to stop their buddy Assad?! And I thought Trump was against outsourcing American jobs!
http://thehill.compolicy/international/327261-tillerson-calls-on-iran-russia-to-prevent-assad-from-chemical-weapons#

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus: 11 children were killed by #Assad airstrikes in Eastern #Ghouta today

[OUTLAW 09]

Perfect example of just how US MSM actually falls for Russian disinformation operations.....

Immediatedly after the chemical weapons strike o civilians Russia stated..."hey it was not Assad nor us because we were not flying in the area"...THEN the next version was ...."it was those pesky rebels who had a chemical weapons factory hidden in an ammo dump we targeted"....

THUS proving their first version being basically a lie.....

A number of US MSM to include say local German media started carrying the Russian second version as if it were the truth..until a world renown chemical weapons expert flatly stated..."Russians are lying....Sarin is destroyed in explosions" THUS disproving the Russian version number two....

THEN US MSM pulled this latest Russia version from their programing....WHY they did not fact check is amazing to me.....

Also #Russia story killed on #Today Prog by chemicals expert who said #Sarin is destroyed when blown up on the ground

[OUTLAW 09]

From the Russians came this comment....

Rebels in #Idlib are sitting on a giant stockpile of #Sarin.
No idea where they have it from & why they never used it,but they do.

BUT WAIT.....UN stated the attack was an airborne attack not a ground attack...

This comes from the same ruthless regime that did "not at all" bomb #Aleppo & will never admit,it bombed hospitals after the #IdlibGasAttack

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia and Assad using air strikes to cover up their chemical attack....

Warplanes mount fresh airstrikes in Idlib area
http://reut.rs/2oBrK2j

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels now ensuring news media gets in nerve attack areas....

Ahrar al-Sham has made formal arrangements with #Turkey (TSK & MIT) to guarantee Western journalists cross-border access into #Idlib

Ahrar al-Sham is the principal opposition force in Khan Sheikhoun - which was hit by a chemical (suspected nerve agent) attack today

Ahrar al-Sham claims that it will provide personal security to individual Western journalists & 24/7 security escort service to crews

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Syrian Express....

ВМФ #ЧФ BSF Yamal 156 transited Bosphorus & entered the Black Sea 4/4/2017 20:30GMT

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels are on the verge of losing #Helfaya to pro-#Assad Shiite militias, which are attacking the town fiercely.
#Hama #Syria

I was told yday that the regime and its allies DESTROYED the medical infrastructure, relief organizations left behind in eastern #Aleppo.

Doctors believe this was done to manifest the long-term depopulation of eastern Aleppo.
A planned & organized ethnic cleansing of the city.

[OUTLAW 09]

AFP news agency
✔
@AFP
#BREAKING 20 children among 72 dead in suspected Syria chemical attack: new toll

[OUTLAW 09]

Trkischer Gesundheitsminister besttigt Chemiewaffen-Angriff in Idlib.

[OUTLAW 09]

The look of this father carrying his two killed by gas children after the chemical attack in Syria encompasses all of the injustice of this world

There was no US leadership under Obama for Syria and it will be even worse under Trump....as Trump wants to support both Putin and Assad....

[OUTLAW 09]

AFP's @omar_hajkadour and Mohamed al-Bakour were at the hospital where yday's victims were taken. Harrowing stuff
https://correspondent.afp.com/first-thing-hits-you-smell#

[OUTLAW 09]

“The [chemical] attack came 5 days after the Trump administration signaled that the Syrian dictator would not be held accountable..”

Russia defends Assad, claims Syria bombed a terrorist workshop. The impact site is a road. @CITeam_en analysis:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/conflict-intelligence-team/analyzing-the-russian-ministry-of-defenses-explanations-over-syria-chemical-atta/767021830117463#

Syrian rebels were responsible for chemical slaughter, according to Russia, just like Ukrainians were responsible for shooting down #MH17.

The Chemical Realities of Russia’s Khan Sheikhoun Chemical Warehouse Attack Claims via @bellingcat
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2017/04/05/chemical-realities-russias-khan-sheikhoun-chemical-warehouse-attack-claims/#

The Khan Sheikhoun Chemical Attack, The Evidence So Far via @bellingcat
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2017/04/05/khan-sheikhoun-chemical-attack-evidence-far/#
…

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: If the reports are true the pro-#Assad forces suffered heavy losses in northern & northwestern #Hama today.

Hama: Rebels seized an #Assad tank, BMP and Shilka near #Mahardeh. A wounded #Assad Colonel was captured.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.245899&lon=36.590652&z=13&m=b#

ICRC
✔
@ICRC
No time, no place, not ever. The rules of war are clear. #GenevaConventions

[OUTLAW 09]

WTH....??????

Reuters: Iran condemns suspected chemical attack in Syria, offers help
https://www.unian.info/world/1861319-reuters-iran-condemns-suspected-chemical-attack-in-syria-offers-help.html#…

WHAT...supply more chemical weapons...

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: Photo shows the moment when a #HTS SVBIED has blown up a group of #Assad 'Tiger Forces' southeast of #Maardas today.

[OUTLAW 09]

'An infantile argument': Experts say Russia's explanation for the Syrian chemical weapons attack doesn't add up
http://read.bi/2o36MbF

Russia explanation blaming "terrorists" weapons factory thoroughly rejected
http://cnn.it/2oBrX5C

Hama: #HTS destroyed 2 #Assad tanks near #Maardas and Jaish Al-Izza destroyed 1 #Assad tank south of #Halfaya today.

Daraa: Rebels destroyed 2 #Assad tanks in Al-Manshiyah District of #Daraa City today. Drone helps to overview the battlefield.

[OUTLAW 09]

MSF says it believes victims in Khan Sheikhoun exposed to two separate chemical agents - one resembling chlorine, the other a nerve agent.

[OUTLAW 09]

AFP news agency
✔
@AFP
#BREAKING Turkey's Erdogan blames 'murderer Assad' for suspected Syria chemical attack

RT
✔
@RT_com
BREAKING: Russia to continue Syria military op in support of Assad in face of ‘chemical attack’ claims – Kremlin
https://on.rt.com/87yx

NOW Russia is fully and completely complicit in the nerve gas attack on civilians....

[OUTLAW 09]

Spain Seizes US$ 740m in Real Estate from Syrian President #Assad’s Uncle Suspected of Money Laundering
https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/6290-spain-seizes-us-740m-in-real-estate-from-syrian-president-s-uncle-suspected-of-money-laundering#
… via @OCCRP

Syria Rebels in northern #Hama destroyed T-72 Tank with ATGM

[OUTLAW 09]

Initial @amnesty report finds, #Khan_Shaykhun was bombed with Sarin "FROM THE AIR".
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/04/syria-un-security-council-must-take-decisive-action-after-idleb-chemical-attack/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=article&utm_term=&utm_campaign=social#

Israeli security officials: chemical attack approved by Syrian regime, for now unclear whether RU and Iran involved
http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/1.781564#

Trump was part of the effort to undermine the case for removing Assad.
Tillerson was also part of the undermining a well....

Marco Rubio: It's not a coincidence Syria chemical attack happened right after Rex Tillerson's comments on Assad
http://hill.cm/13EGZl0

[OUTLAW 09]

So Russia allowed the #IdlibGasAttack and attacked the hospitals afterwards to force the world to talk to it.
Typical Kremlin procedure.

[OUTLAW 09]

If confirmed...then a new form of chemical combination was used....

Witnesses in Khan Skeihkourn #Idlib say people were fine for two hours after strike, then they began to choke and faint. Many died later

White smoke signaled gas attack on Syrian town, according to an activist observing from nearby hilltop:
http://reut.rs/2nXVgMP


The Syrian army jet that hit the town of Khan Sheikhoun at dawn dropped three conventional bombs and a fourth one that made little sound at impact but produced a cloud of white smoke, according to an activist observing from a nearby hilltop.
Hussam Salloum, a volunteer with an air raid warning service in rebel-held areas, said the Sukhoi-22 that attacked on Tuesday approached at low altitude, leaving behind three columns of dark smoke and the white cloud nearer to ground level.
"The smoke was white and thick," he told Reuters from Khan Sheikhoun. "The smoke began to spread out across the town, until there was a layer over the town," he said, sending a video filmed from an observation point that showed the plumes of smoke.
The Syrian government has strongly denied launching a chemical attack on the town. While Western states have accused Damascus, the Syrian government's Russian allies say the deaths were the result of a Syrian air strike on a rebel arms depot where chemical weapons were being produced. Rebels deny this.
At least 70 people, many of them children, were killed by what the United States believes was sarin gas, in the deadliest chemical attack in Syria since the same nerve agent killed hundreds of people in a rebel-held area near Damascus in 2013.
Some of the dead, including children, showed no visible injuries, indicating the gas had killed them in their beds, said Mouin Abed al-Menem, a doctor who treated several victims.
Rescue workers found the bodies of a woman and two children on Wednesday in a cave where they had been sheltering, according to the civil defense emergency service that operates in rebel-held areas.
"The pilot carried out the bombing in one go, four bombs together," said Salloum, who said he observed the raid from about 1.5 km (one mile) away and used walkie-talkies to alert rescue workers.
The service he works for includes a network of volunteers who track aircraft movements and radio traffic in order to warn of potential air strikes, Salloum said.
"We discovered it was toxic gas from a civil defense worker who went to the place quickly," he added. "He told us there was an unusual smell. Less than a minute later, he told us he was dizzy and fainting. We lost contact with him."
Twenty of the dead were children, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The explosions woke up civil defense worker Khaled al-Nasr just after 6:30 a.m. (0330 GMT). He arrived at the scene to find several of his colleagues suffering from the effects of the gas.

"I COULDN'T BREATHE"
"We saw everyone was on the ground. People were squirming. Some had foam coming out of their mouths. We started picking people up," Nasr said. Shortly after arriving, he too felt a burning sensation in his eyes but kept working until he was unable to continue. "I couldn't breathe," he said.
Rescue workers undressed victims and doused them with water. "Immediately, apply water, then get them out," he said.
The victims were sent to hospitals and facilities around Idlib, including a medical position next to a civil defense operating center near the town. An air strike hit that medical position later in the morning, the civil defense and the Observatory said.
Some victims were also sent across the border to Turkey for treatment.
"There was a rocket, a rocket explosion that had a lot of smoke coming out of it," said one of the victims, speaking to Reuters TV at a hospital in Turkey.
Also In World News
Russia denies Assad to blame for chemical attack, on course for collision with Trump
North Korea test-fires missile into sea ahead of Trump-Xi summit
"There was a lot of smoke and there was a smell, it was very difficult to breath," she said. A second victim said he fell to the ground as the gas took effect.
A crater that rescue workers identified as the site of the chemical strike was about 1 meter in diameter. The surrounding ground appeared scorched, a Reuters photo showed.
Khan Sheikhoun was largely deserted on Wednesday. The casualty toll continues to rise.
Menem, the doctor in Idlib, said the medical facility where he works received 68 of the victims, 21 of them dead.
"Almost two thirds were children. Some of them were alive at the site of strike, but died on the way," he told Reuters. "Most had foam around their mouths, agitation and constricted pupils."
"We treated them with available medicine, mostly with cortisone," he added.
"We are still getting patients. Today we also admitted around 18 people, from areas a bit further from the site of the strike, in addition to two rescue workers," Menem said. "They were impacted 24 hours later."

[OUTLAW 09]

REMEMBER Trump critiqued Obama yesterday as the reason for the Assad/Putin chemical weapons air strike..

APPEARS Trump even himself stated in these tweets he was against bombing Assad in 2013.....

Asked whether #US will take action after chemical attack in #Syria, @POTUS says “You’ll see.”

REALLY.....?????

The Trump comment above contradicts this ....

https://www.nytimes.com/
For Trump, ‘America First’ and a Disdain for Moralizing
By PETER BAKER
After the worst chemical attack in years in Syria, the White House dismissed calls for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, saying it was “impractical.”

[OUTLAW 09]

Daraa: Pro-#Assad fighter captured by rebels in Al-Manshiyah District of #Daraa City today.

[OUTLAW 09]

The look of this father carrying his two killed by gas children after the chemical attack in Syria encompasses all of the injustice of this world

There was no US leadership under Obama for Syria and it will be even worse under Trump....as Trump wants to support both Putin and Assad....

Father in this picture, Abdulhadim, who lost his wife & twins, is now very sick himself in hospital from chemical exposure. Praying for him

[OUTLAW 09]

The White Helmets @SyriaCivilDef
A Joint Statement by the Syria Civil Defence and the Health Directorate in #Idlib #KhanSheikhun
https://goo.gl/WzBRTo

[OUTLAW 09]

"How many more children have to die before Russia cares?" UN Amb. Nikki Haley says at UN meeting on Syria attack
http://cbsn.ws/2k2WwLh

Russian ambassador to UN hits back after UK envoy says Syria "humiliated" Moscow with chemical attack
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39500319#

HTS using chaos in Idlib to move against moderate opposition rivals who reportedly have been preparing merger directed against radicals.

FSA Col Ali Al-Samahi confirmed KIA in assassination attempt targeting Lt-Col Saud, 13th Div, in #Idlib

[OUTLAW 09]

REMEMBER Trump critiqued Obama yesterday as the reason for the Assad/Putin chemical weapons air strike..

APPEARS Trump even himself stated in these tweets he was against bombing Assad in 2013.....

UNSC envoy
Haley on Syria: "When UN consistently fails in its duty to act collectively there are times..that we are compelled to take our own action"

Nothing but a bluff for the media.....
Haley talking tough against Assad & Putin just like predecessor. Q is whether Haley's boss will do anything different than his predecessorSen. Tim Kaine: President Trump won't call out Assad because of coziness with Russia
http://cnn.it/2o3jaID

The obvious question: Was Bannon removed because the pro-Assad tilt of Trump foreign policy has become embarrassing & unsustainable?

[OUTLAW 09]

The new #Russian base 15-kilometer south-west of Azaz does not even raise the #Syrian flag

http://mebriefing.com/#
.

[OUTLAW 09]

Northern #Hama with rockets and heavy artillery today.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35.322129&lon=36.622925&z=12&m=b#

[OUTLAW 09]

Assadists recycling old video footage from 4 years ago to blame the rebels for yesterday's chemical attack
https://twitter.com/AliHa_97/status/849330127871803393#

[Azor]

Wikipedia Page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Khan_Shaykhun_chemical_attack

According to the regime, it struck a rebel CW "factory" that was producing Sarin, even though Sarin is difficult to produce, has never been used by anti-regime forces and would most likely have been neutralized by the explosion. I have also read of people alleging that a "CIA aircraft" dropped the CW.

Firstly, wouldn't the US, Russia (e.g. The lengen-wait-for-it-dary S-400 and naval S-300), Turkey and Israel all have a complete view of the battlespace, enabling any one to provide evidence on whose aircraft was present?

Secondly, is this a test of Trump's resolve or a way to keep Russia engaged in Syria? Or both?

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian special forces from 18th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade starring: Crimea "self-defense", "DNR" militia, then military police in Syria.

[OUTLAW 09]

Did Russia deceive international community in allowing ally Assad to keep some chemical weapons?

Hope Tillerson asks Putin next week.

Russia did in fact actually lie about the amount of chemical weapons and precursors they had removed....a number of CW experts noted that then but were largely ignored....because Russia made such a big show of it at the UNSC...

[OUTLAW 09]

Kremlin warns against "hasty conclusions" on Syria incident. Yet Moscow was quick to claim chemicals were from bombed 'terrorist' arms depot

Sputnik
✔
@SputnikInt
#SyrianArmy has never used and will never use #chemicalweapons against civilians and terrorists – Syrian FM
https://sptnkne.ws/ead

Guess all those chlorine attacks carried out in 2016 by Assad do not count.....

BUT WAIT.....
Assad Atrocities include:

Gas attacks;

Siege & starvation;

Ethnic cleansing;

Mass executions;

Torture;

Targeting hospitals…

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/world/middleeast/syria-bashar-al-assad-atrocities-civilian-deaths-gas-attack.html#

[OUTLAW 09]

Here's where Russian "objective monitoring" showed they didn't bomb a mosque, but actually they just lied about it
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2015/11/01/fact-checking-russias-claim-that-it-didnt-bomb-a-mosque-in-syria/#

[OUTLAW 09]

Location of the crater as a result of the #chemical attack that targeted Khan Shaykhun - Video #evidence
https://syrianarchive.org/database/60538/

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria's "Presidend" #Assad to newspaper "Vecernji List" today: "The total Victory is the only option...end of negotiations with Opposition"

Russian assistance to #Syria is honest against terror threats, says FM Walid Muallem during presser.

[OUTLAW 09]

KafrZita shortly ago.
"No gas, no problem", I guess.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK9FqwjGeWY#

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: Rebels have killed an #Iran|ian Brigadier General and one of the main pro-#Assad commanders for the battle in Northern #Hama.

[OUTLAW 09]

Simplified, there are three designated terror groups on ascendancy in Syria: AQ/HTS among rebels, YPG/PKK in Rojava, Hezb/IRGC in regime.

Not only are all three trajectories above real and ongoing, but mutually reinforcing. Advances by one side empower radicals across line.

AQ affiliate in Syria continues to consolidate armed opposition. One major successful offensive and we may have another Emirate.

Then consider prospect of larger-scale Turkish action vs YPG/PKK: Could trigger Kurdish war, disrupt ISIS campaign, threaten US soldiers.

Most obvious: Israeli intervention vs rapidly expanding IRGC network in Syria has potential to set Levant on fire, draw Lebanon into war.

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA #Southern_Front took control of regime HQs in Manshia district, #Daraa, defeating regime with its Iranian & Lebanese Hezbollah militia

Daraa: Al-Bunian Al-Marsous op. room declares whole area is under its control, which means an important advance towards W. Al-Manshiyah.

Daraa: VBIED levelled several buildings in Faez Al-Adib block in heart of Al-Manshiyah.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=32.613446&lon=36.089739&z=18&m#…

Daraa: #RuAF is back with intensive airstrikes after weeks of absence. Significant as Rebels keep gaining ground in Al-Manshiyah.

Latakia: Rebels launched a new offensive against the #Assad regime in Northern #Latakia.

Seems not just the 5th corp in #Syria getting new #Russia|n weapon deliveries Fawj Maghawir al-Bahr with T62Ms, new looking BMPs & howitzers

As usual RuAF most concerned about the sensitive axis between nabi yunis & Kbanah giving support all day. #Lattakia

[OUTLAW 09]

.@RussianEmbassy—Syria chem attack staged to turn US against Russia, just like MH17 staged for sanctions
http://www.rusemb.org.uk/fnapr/6033

In the Russian world there exists only false flags carried out by others..BUT not Russian false flags....

[OUTLAW 09]

E. #Damascus: close call with a T-72 Adra in #Barzeh urban warfare.

Daraa: Al-Bunian Al-Marsous op. room announces control over Air, Military and Security HQs in Al-Manshiyah district.

Daraa: fierce clashes raging in W. part of Al-Manshiyah district as Al-Bunian Al-Marsous op. room started assault on area. Heavy airstrikes

Aleppo: Faylaq Al-Sham striking Regime fortifications in Al-Zahraa district with SPG-9, destroying a 23 mm gun.

E. #Damascus: Faylaq Al-Rahman using its Omar cannon to blow up Regime fortification in #Jobar.

Daraa: Al-Bunian Al-Marsous op. room using new kind of weapon ("explosive pipe") to strike Regime fortifications in Al-Manshiyah.
Refers to a mine clearing charge....

Latakia Offensive: fierce clashes on several axes in Jebal Al-Akrad. Rebels imposed media black out.

Latakia Offensive: Rebels targeted Regime operation room in Qalaat Shalif (#Kinsabba axis) & reportedly killed its head, a Brig. General.

S. #Aleppo: Faylaq Al-Sham destroyed with a #TOW a position with 23 mm gun on Tell Mutah. http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.150039&lon=37.096796&z=15&m#…

Statement says those pro-Regime foreign militias displaced residents to use #Muhardah residential areas as platform to launch attacks. #Hama

Hama: "Syrian Christians for Peace" statement asking Hezbollah, #Iraqi|s & #Iran|ians to leave #Muhardah, caling them "occupation forces".

[OUTLAW 09]

Turkey Justice Minister:

- "Autopsies" of bodies “confirms that chemical weapons were used” in #KhanSheikhoun.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/turkey-says-chemical-weapons-used-syria-attack-090001245.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw#…

Former #Obama officials defending the [failed] 2013 CW deal but now calling for "action" against #Assad's CWs:
Please shut up. Seriously.

The death toll from #KhanSheikhoun chemical attack continues to rise - now at 83 dead in total, including:

- 28 children
- 19 women

[OUTLAW 09]

This is why #Assad must go. There needs to be outrage. This needs to be a priority. Otherwise, we have lost our compass as a nation.

US Senator Rubio...

[OUTLAW 09]

Kyle Orton‏
Verified account
#@KyleWOrton Apr 5

My latest for the @Telegraph: No response to the latest CWMD attack will formalize the West's pro-#Assad policy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/04/idlib-attack-effort-regime-formalise-wests-pro-assad-policy/

The White Helmets‏#
@SyriaCivilDef
3rd joint report between SCD & Idleb health directorate in regards to Khan Shaykhun chemical attack. 84 killed (27kids & 19wmn), 546 injured

[OUTLAW 09]

#Israel thought she was out from under the shadow of chemical WMD after the 2013 "deal" in #Syria. Now realizes that that was a mistake.

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin spokesman tells AP that Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar Assad is not unconditional.
http://apne.ws/2oIM0Pw

Unusual Russian statement...

The Associated Press
✔
@AP
BREAKING: Kremlin spokesman tells AP Russia wants a full investigation into the chemical weapons attack in Syria.

BUT WAIT......
Syria chemical "attack": Damascus attaches conditions to UN inquiry
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39517960#

AFP news agency
✔
@AFP
#UPDATE Syria, Russia hit back at accusations that Damascus was behind a deadly chemical weapons attack
http://u.afp.com/4Qk2

BREAKING Putin slams 'unfounded accusations' over Syria chemical weapons 'incident': Kremlin

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Naval Express....

Russian Navy Grachonok Class (Project 21980) anti-saboteur ship Unarmeec Kryma 836 & Project 733 Tug MB-174 southbound on the Bosphorus

[OUTLAW 09]

NEW - @CNN's @DanaBashCNN reporting that @POTUS #Trump has informed some members of Congress that military action in #Syria is now possible.

[OUTLAW 09]

NEW video of the CWs impact site...drone also used.....
https://youtu.be/0_1fkKEEJ5E

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING Turkish President Erdoğan promises support if Trump decides to take action against the Assad regime

Syria chemical weapons UNSC draft resolution put in blue, which means vote imminent

ISIS has coined a new epithet for al Qaeda: "the Jews of Jihad" - it doesn't look like these groups are mending fences anytime soon.

[OUTLAW 09]

ISIS has coined a new epithet for al Qaeda: "the Jews of Jihad" - it doesn't look like these groups are mending fences anytime soon.


ديرالزور24‏#
@DeirEzzor24
BREAKING: Military landing by US SOF forces in western rural areas of #DeirEzzor.

Military landing was near of Tabny and Qasaby area W #DeirEzzor on the road to #Raqqa.

Military landing duration was about 30 min and targeted a car of #Daesh

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo: Several #ISIS ATGM strikes against #Assad tanks and BMPs near #Deir_Hafer in Eastern #Aleppo.
By @warsmonitoring

Russian envoy suggests Syrian chemical attack may have been faked. Evidence says otherwise
http://nyti.ms/2oMPNZr

Nonstop #AssadPutin air force strikes on civilians in #Daraa, #EastGhouta, #Hama and #Idlib provinces today.
No talks can stop them.

Battles for the #Tabqa dam.
Mostly #YPG troops, some Sunni "#SDF" forces.
Unthinkable #Turkey and #ES joins them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y059Qm_b2MU#…

Fresh air strikes in #Lataminah, looking quite differently.
Still: No gas used, acc. to most sources now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyFrK8XOpkM&feature=youtu.be#…

First videos show yellow smoke over #Lataminah.
Reports of 3 killed, 25 injured so far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om-buItaNNs#…

The #AssadPutin army fires ballistic missiles (SS-21) at #Daraa province since the morning.

[OUTLAW 09]

Wikipedia Page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Khan_Shaykhun_chemical_attack

According to the regime, it struck a rebel CW "factory" that was producing Sarin, even though Sarin is difficult to produce, has never been used by anti-regime forces and would most likely have been neutralized by the explosion. I have also read of people alleging that a "CIA aircraft" dropped the CW.

Firstly, wouldn't the US, Russia (e.g. The lengen-wait-for-it-dary S-400 and naval S-300), Turkey and Israel all have a complete view of the battlespace, enabling any one to provide evidence on whose aircraft was present?

Secondly, is this a test of Trump's resolve or a way to keep Russia engaged in Syria? Or both?

The US military watched a Syrian fixed wing aircraft drop the bombs on Idlib that hit a hospital with nerve agent, @ckubeNBC is reporting.

Syria 'chemical attack': What can forensics tell us? Article by CBRN expert @DanKaszeta
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39513193#

The New York Times
✔
@nytimes
Breaking News: Autopsies of victims of the attack in Syria show the banned nerve agent sarin was used, Turkey said
http://nyti.ms/2oFaTfi

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria: Christians of Mhardah want regime militias to leave town, complaining they occupy schools, provoke attacks
http://syriadirect.org/news/%E2%80%98we-want-them-out%E2%80%99-northern-hama-residents-call-for-regime-forces-to-leave-their-city/#

IS up-armored & camouflaged SVBIED (SUV) used against YPG East of Tabqah. Frontal armor mounted on interior & wheel armor painted black
In order to protect the engine block, the front of the vehicle was cut off. A steel plate was placed there and then front was reattached

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad trolls are busy reporting photos of gassed #Syria|n children as "too graphic" for Twitter.

They hope Twitter blocks the accounts.

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama: Rebels have killed the #Iran|ian #IRGC fighter Heydar Jannati in Northern #Hama.

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria #CNN claim now "US forces launch military strikes on #Assad's positions within hours"

-I believe when I see-

REMEMBER Trump critiqued Obama for signaling when he was striking IS....

[OUTLAW 09]

Wikipedia Page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Khan_Shaykhun_chemical_attack

According to the regime, it struck a rebel CW "factory" that was producing Sarin, even though Sarin is difficult to produce, has never been used by anti-regime forces and would most likely have been neutralized by the explosion. I have also read of people alleging that a "CIA aircraft" dropped the CW.

Firstly, wouldn't the US, Russia (e.g. The lengen-wait-for-it-dary S-400 and naval S-300), Turkey and Israel all have a complete view of the battlespace, enabling any one to provide evidence on whose aircraft was present?

Secondly, is this a test of Trump's resolve or a way to keep Russia engaged in Syria? Or both?

US radar analysis showed #Assad aircraft & explosions during chemical attack on civilians in #Khan_Shaykhun (#Idlib).

NBC News: Syrian aircraft dropped those chemical weapons on civilians; U.S. military saw the aircraft on radar & watched them drop the bombs

The radar picked up flashes & booms; soon after—civilians began responding in a way that is consistent with a nerve agent, @ckubeNBC reports

CNN
✔
@CNN
US official: Radar intelligence followed radar track of regime airplanes & the infrared heat signature of the bombs
http://cnn.it/2p63oKP

Syrian opposition TV identifies the pilot who allegedly conducted the Khan Shaikhun chemical massacre
http://www.orient-news.net/en/news_show/134606/Perpetrator-of-second-largest-chemical-attack-in-Syria-identified#


Observatories operating in the provinces of Hama and Idlib revealed the identity of the commander of the aircraft that carried out the massacre on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib countryside, which marked the second largest chemical attack in Syria after the August 2013 attacks on both eastern and western Ghoutas in Damascus.

Orient Net contacted a number of field, independent and even Syrian Civil Defense observatories in the countryside of Idlib and Hama, and all testimonies indicated that the Assad terrorist who dropped toxic gas-filled barrels on Khan Sheikhoun was colonel pilot, Muhammad Yousef Hasouri.

Colonel Hasouri is the commander of the Sukhoi 22 Squadron at al-Sha’yrat airport. His warplane carries Quds 1 banner. He hails from the villages of Talkalakh town from Homs countryside and currently resides with his family in the Assad-controlled al-Sakan al-Shababy neighborhood in Homs city.

At approximately 06:30 am on Tuesday (April 4), Colonel Hasouri took off with his Sukhoi 22 and dropped barrels filled with toxic chemicals on the town of Khan Sheikoun in Idlib countryside, killing more than 100 civilians as they slept and injuring more than 400.

The majority of those who fell victim to the toxic gas were children.

Yesterday’s chemical attack is the largest of its kind since the civilians of eastern Ghouta also suffered from sarin gas attack perpetrated by Assad terrorists on August 2013 which killed more than 1500 civilians.

It is worthy to mention that the walky-talkies and wireless connections have become an essential part of the lives of Syrians living in the liberated areas because of their effective role in reporting any sudden assault by Assad or Russian warplanes.

In addition, the Syrians use them to announce urgent appeals from hospitals or civil defense stations and report information on the location of the expected Assad or Russian targeting, which contributes to the safety measures and could possibly reduce the number of victims.

The observatories operating in the provinces of Hama and Idlib countryside were able to intercept the aviation talks with the operations room of the airport, decipher the code and determine the area the Assad warplane bombed.

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad-forces target #Daraa city in southern #Syria with SS-21 ballistic missiles (able to carry WMD (chem/nuke/bio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JANXj5YlZdE#

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad supporters are upset, crying and condemning the gassed victims, the rebels, the #US, #Trump, #Israel, #Turkey, #NATO etc.

[OUTLAW 09]

"Moscow and Tehran tell Washington to #### off!" There's a #Russian headline for you on #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

This Is How The Next World War Starts
http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/trump-russia-putin-military-crisis/#

Tillerson: There’s no doubt in our mind Syrian regime under the leadership of Asad is responsible for this horrific attack.

IMPORTANT - US military monitored by radar #Syria aircraft as they dropped chemical/nerve agent munitions on #KhanSheikhoun. Clear evidence.

[OUTLAW 09]

In 2013, Mattis was very skeptical about attacking Assad without a clear strategy and a plan for the day after
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/21/former-commander-of-us-central-command-cautions-against-u-s-military-involvement-in-syria-without-an-endgame/#

[OUTLAW 09]

This picture of Russia's deputy ambassador at UN covering his ears during Security Council debate on #Syria speaks a thousand words. (AFP)

U.S. Embassy Syria
✔
@USEmbassySyria
SecTillerson: It’s time that the Russians really need to think carefully about their continued support of the Asad regime. #Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Daraa: Rebels have captured 20 houses today and 65 houses since yesterday in Al-Manshiyah District of #Daraa City.

[Azor]

From Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKBN1782S0

https://news.usni.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/syria5_copy-e1491533016133.jpg


U.S President Donald Trump said on Thursday he ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airfield from which a deadly chemical weapons attack was launched, declaring he acted in America's "national security interest" against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

U.S. officials said the military fired dozens of cruise missiles against the airbase controlled by Assad's forces in response to the poison gas attack on Tuesday in a rebel-held area...

Some 50 Tomahawk missiles were launched from U.S. Navy warships, the USS Porter and USS Ross, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, striking multiple targets - including the airstrip, aircraft and fuel stations - on the Shayrat Air Base, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Damage estimates from the strikes, which were conducted at 8:45 p.m. EDT, were not immediately known.

Syrian state TV said that "American aggression" had targeted a Syrian military base with "a number of missiles and cited a Syrian military source as saying the strike had "led to losses."

Trump said: "Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched.

"It is in the vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons," Trump said.

"There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention and ignored the urging of the U.N. Security Council," he added.

Trump ordered the strikes just a day after he pointed the finger at Assad for this week's chemical attack, which killed at least 70 people, many of them children, in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun. The Syrian government has denied it was behind the attack...

The relatively quick response to the chemical attack came as Trump faced a growing list of global problems, from North Korea to China to Iran and Islamic State, and may have been intended to send a message to friends and foes alike of his resolve to use military force if deemed necessary...

According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Shayrat_strike):


The United States targeted an airfield near Shayrat where the CW strike had come from
The airfield in February 2017:
https://news.usni.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/syria4.png
Two USN Destroyers, Ross and Porter, conducted the attack (quite the land-attack loadout!)


Questions:


How many SyAAF aircraft were destroyed?
Any casualties?
Any Russian/Iranian/Shia mercenary casualties?

[OUTLAW 09]

From Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKBN1782S0

https://news.usni.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/syria5_copy-e1491533016133.jpg



According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Shayrat_strike):


The United States targeted an airfield near Shayrat where the CW strike had come from
The airfield in February 2017:
https://news.usni.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/syria4.png
Two USN Destroyers, Ross and Porter, conducted the attack (quite the land-attack loadout!)


Questions:


How many SyAAF aircraft were destroyed?
Any casualties?
Any Russian/Iranian/Shia mercenary casualties?


Nothing as of yet from Syrian side sources in and or near the strike zones...but if 50 plus missiles were fired then they were fired at more than just the airfield.......

For those that have seen me bash Obama here and will continue bashing trump's ME FP because both are truly not answering the problem and or trying to resolve the problems especially in Syria...

If Trump wants me to believe he had the largest inaugural audience then he had the largest after this missile strike....

HAD Obama actually followed through with his strikes in 2013..we would not be where we are in Syria today and Russia would not have been deeply rooted now in the ME.....

NOW if Trump can wake up to his direct support of the Kurdish PKK...Hezbollah and Iran we might get a Syrian solution...finally and finally show Putin he must slow down his war on the US and Ukraine....

[OUTLAW 09]

'Russia may terminate all military contacts with the US in Syria after missile strike,' state media reports.

Militarily the US strike was against Assad. Politically it was as much against Putin. Could not defend its ally.

Head of Rus upper house Def Cmte: Russia will call for urgent UN Sec Counc session; Strikes could undermine efforts to fight terror in Syria

Rus MOD warned last year Syria had "effective" air defence systems // R. deploying new systems 2 Syria that "also intercept cruise missiles"

[OUTLAW 09]

NOW a very serious question MUST be asked.....SINCE WHEN does a US ultra right wing conspiracy blogsite REPEAT virtually word for word Russian state media propaganda...AND still claim to be a Us right wing media site????

InfoWars now promoting stories saying the Syrian gas attack was a hoax & Trump shouldn't yield to neocon pressure to strike.

[OUTLAW 09]

IMPORTANT....

In this strike the US had clearly identified a chemical weapons depot that was used to support the CW strike....located at the HOMS airfield and it was not struck in order to avoid civilian deaths through Sarin...

NOW Putin has a choice to either publicly admit they knew about the depot and or admit they lied to the US and UNSC that ALL Assad CWs had been removed in 2013...WHICH was not the case...

They cannot now argue they knew nothing about the CWs....

Russia demanded evidence and they got it fully and yet they assumed the US would not nothing.....so what they will now do is quite interesting to watch....

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia's state-run Vesti FM radio on the US missile strike: "This could be an event that changes the course of history."

.@realDonaldTrump becomes the first president in history to take America to war right after he finished dinner at the country club he owns.

Russia calling for urgent UN Security Council meeting after US missile strike it calls an "act of aggression."

BUT WAIT...the US warned the UNSC that if nothing was done then the US would act...and they did and what is now what is Russia to say...we did not know that Assad had CWs????

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Syrian Naval Express.....

FAST TURNAROUND; Redeployed to Eastern Mediterranean in 9 days: #ВМФ #ЧФ frigate Admiral Grigorovich departs BlackSea & transits Bosphorus

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Syrian Express....

ВМФ #ЧФ BSF Tapir class LST Nikolai Filchenkov 152 transits Med-bound Bosphorus en route to #Tartus #Syria for its 4th deployment in 2017

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin spox says US attacks on #Syria are "aggression," a violation of international law "under an invented pretext."
http://www.interfax.ru/russia/557306

NOW Putin is suddenly at a loss of words.....

1. The use of sarin nerve gas against civilians is a clear and concise violation of all international laws..WHICH Putin seems to forget

2. Putin and China have blocked repeated attempts to get UNSC Resolutions against Assad on his use of CWs....seems Putin has forgotten that simple fact....

3. Putin is in fact with total Russia support of Assad's genocide...starvation ....ethnic cleansing and the Russian use of cluster munitions and thermobaric weapons against civilians JUSY as complicit as it Assad is in war crimes.

4. Putin has evidently forgotten he told both the US and UNSC ALL and I mean ALL Assad CWs were removed from Syria....EVIDENTLY they were not.

THUS Putin lied....and then he complains about international laws...really????

BTW...he demanded evidence of Assad in the CW strike and he got it and it was thoroughly backed up by radar and other intel means...WHICH he ignores it seems....

SEEMS Putin is lying as much as does Trump these days....

FROM a well known journalist...who got to the CW site from Turkey yesterday.....

I visited in Khan Sheikhoun the warehouse that Russia said manufactured chemical weapons. Nothing but empty grain silos, dust and rubble.

My report from inside Khan Sheikhoun, site of chemical attack two days ago.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/06/the-dead-were-wherever-you-looked-inside-syrian-town-after-chemical-attack?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other#

[OUTLAW 09]

INTERESTINGLY......

Russia/Putin claims this.....

BREAKING: Kremlin says Putin sees US airstrikes on Syrian airbase as aggression against sovereign nation - @AlArabiya_Eng

BUT THEN forgets this........

1. military annexation of Crimea

2. Russian military invasion into eastern Ukraine with 24,000 Russian troops...tanks and artillery......

BUT WAIT....you cannot claim broken international law on one hand AND then ignore what you did then in Ukraine.....

Let's not even get into the ongoing cyber war and information war against Europe and US....

[OUTLAW 09]

Azor....first Syrian losses are coming in......

Four Syrian soldiers killed in #US strikes on airbase. The airbase itself is almost completely destroyed.

WHAT is extremely important and many on the Putin side are forgetting this....HOW many Russian air strikes....cruise missile strikes...strategic bomber strikes later...WHAT was totally destroyed by Russian forces...not much really....

BUT 59 US cruise missiles later an entire Syrian AF airfield and it's aircraft was totally and effectively destroyed....all from the middle of the Med....

If that is not a military capacity slap in the face for the Russian MoD I do not know what will get their attention....

[OUTLAW 09]

Iran condemns air strike in Syria; Britain, Australia give support
http://reut.rs/2nj9J9e

[OUTLAW 09]

Nothing but Russian lies again and again and again.....

Kremlin: Putin believes US strikes are serious obstacle to creation of international coalition to fight terrorism
http://p.dw.com/p/2aq5l

WHEN one looks at the total number of air strikes Russia has conducted inside Syrian against IS and AQ (HTS).....

I am 300% sure they were not attacking international terrorism....THEY were together with Iran 300% supporting Assad and targeting 300% the Syrian rebels under FSA.....

[OUTLAW 09]

NOW if the Russian MoD WANTS to fully understand the accuracy of US cruise missiles they just need to look at the Syrian airfield this morning and what exactly what hit AND OR NOT hit....

Russian news reporting that US officials agreed to not strike parts of Shayrat base where Russians were present

Pentagon: A total of 59 TLAMs targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars

NOT a single Russian military member nor Russian equipment was hit....

BUT WAIT......all the Russians left the airbase...so much for defending their own stated ally Assad....

Russia|n army personnel along with senior Assad's army officers all evacuated al-Shuayrat air-base hours before the strikes; sources #Syria

[Azor]

Nothing as of yet from Syrian side sources in and or near the strike zones...but if 50 plus missiles were fired then they were fired at more than just the airfield...

Yeah. That’s way too many Tomahawks for one airbase…


For those that have seen me bash Obama here and will continue bashing trump's ME FP because both are truly not answering the problem and or trying to resolve the problems especially in Syria...

Trump can’t solve Syria on his own. Neither Syria nor Iraq can be solved in isolation. Trump did take action to circumscribe some of Assad’s barbarity, however.

I know that you dislike him, but he does seem to be a man of action. Punishing Assad without leaving the Alawis defenseless is preferable to establishing a permanent No-Fly/No-Drive Zone over Aleppo or other parts of Syria. Keep in mind that the Iraqi Kurds were American clients for 23 years before becoming allies in the fight against Daesh. Do we want a presence in Syria lasting more than a generation? I’d say no.


Militarily the US strike was against Assad. Politically it was as much against Putin. Could not defend its ally.

It was a signal to Putin, as well as Khamenei, Kim and Xi.

It was an inexpensive way to warn off would-be provocateurs. The Sarin attack was clearly a test of Trump’s resolve, but also I believe, a way to keep Russia engaged. Assad knew that America would react in some fashion and that Putin would stay put if only to counteract any American diplomatic or military efforts. Nevertheless, I don’t think that Assad expected a strike or so soon.

[OUTLAW 09]

Azor......

Does Hezbollah have Sarin gas -stored in the newly dug bunkers south of Lake Homs west of the airbase?

These bunkers while associated to the airfield WERE not hit.....as normally would have been the case if viewed as airfield support....

[OUTLAW 09]

When you're on the alt-left and or you are a Putin supporter and it hits you that Trump wasn't the peace candidate...what is then your response to the cruise missile attack....?

The alt right is calling this action driven by neocons....the left calls it what again.....silence is what is being heard.....

[OUTLAW 09]

57 cruise missiles sound a lot like Kerry's "limited and narrow" strikes he was calling for in 2013.

Iran FM denounces US strikes in #Syria, saying "unilateral action is dangerous, destructive & violates intl. law." (INSA news agency)

Department of State
✔
@StateDept
.@POTUS: There can be no dispute that #Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

[OUTLAW 09]

Still, 17 warplanes reported destroyed:
Reuters citing source: Syrian Army evacuated most planes from airbase before U.S. missiles struck

Appears Russian intel was very good OR Trump let Putin know exactly what was to be struck......

[OUTLAW 09]

France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Britain express support for American attack on Syrian air base
http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/1.782188#

[OUTLAW 09]

BUT WAIT.....FROM 2013........

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin – watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.

[OUTLAW 09]

The Pentagon says these documents detail the flight path of the Syrian warplanes that carried out chemical weapons attack on Tuesday

To avoid "red line" crossing, White House downplayed earlier #Syria small sarin attacks--prelude to mass Aug 21 2013 sarin attack.
http://trib.al/uhpQn2a

[OUTLAW 09]

Don't forget, the Russian parliament celebrated Trump's win with champagne. Literally.

The US war of rhetoric is truly reaching levels not previously seen under Obama and company....

ABC News
✔
@ABC
Rex Tillerson has harsh words for Russia on Syria: "Either Russia has been complicit or
… simply incompetent."
http://abcn.ws/2ofBCON

[OUTLAW 09]

WOW...from the same US Democratic Congresswoman who recently illegally visited Assad and praised Assad as a true leader in Syria....that one could work with....

Hawaii congresswoman says Trump 'acted recklessly' with Syria missile strikes
http://read.bi/2nKhuR1

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria seems to be talking this down, at moment. Info Min on state TV - I don't expect a military escalation; strike was limited & expected.

BUT WAIT...if I were this spokesperson I would be a tad more concerned as the US did not state this was a one off strike as they left it open ended....

[OUTLAW 09]

BY THE WAY...Putin kept threatening WW3 if the US got actively involved in Ukraine and or Syria.....

Kyle Orton
✔
@KyleWOrton
So it was possible to punish #Assad for gassing children without World War Three ...

Syrian army says U.S. attack killed six and led to big material losses

Syria Picture from Shayrat AB shows significant fire ongoing. Fuel storage hit. © Wassim Jadid.

[OUTLAW 09]

Pentagon: Shayrat airbase was used to store chemical weapons; Russians notified in advance of the strikes. Damage currently being assessed.

US officials said 'measures' had been put in place to avoid hitting sarin gas they say was stored at this Assad regime airfield.


It is what is not being said that is far more interesting....no flat statement concerning no further strikes.....

CrowBat.....for you....

Shayrat airbase is (or was, was) the maintenance centre for Syria's Su-22 aircraft, according to a former engineer. HT @elemcee69.

Besides being of high importance to the Syrian Air Force, Shayrat airbase was also used by the IRGC and Hezbollah.

Destroying Shayrat airbase is no minor strike. One of the largest and most active Syrian Air Force bases, with large number of assets.

[OUTLAW 09]

AND now Russian propaganda machine kicks in.....

Sputnik
✔
@SputnikInt
US commited a 'blatant act of agression' against #SyrianArmy base - General Staff #USStrikesSyria

[OUTLAW 09]

This is the entrance to the Khan Sheikhoun hospital that got bombed shortly after the chemical attack

[OUTLAW 09]

This was the warehouse in Khan Sheikhoun that supposedly produced chemical weapons

If one goes back to the Russian intel statements that it was the rebels and their chemical weapons factory that was hit...one must really question just how good Russian intelligence is overall these days

[OUTLAW 09]

Gen. Jack Keane: Assad has 6 air fields; this takes out 1. It's a warning to the regime. If we wanted, we could've taken out all 6 tonight."

No Russian personnel injured in US Syria air strikes.
http://m.kp.ru/online/news/2707851/#

[OUTLAW 09]

Tillerson visit to Russia can not be canceled over Syria strike, now more significant-govt advisory body's Lukyanov.
https://ria.ru/politics/20170407/1491708481.html#

BREAKING: #IDF says they were told in advance of #US strikes on #Syria & "express support for decision".

@netanyahu on #Syria strikes: "#Israel fully supports President Trump's decision." Rare statements by #IDF & PM will further anger #Russia

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage from Syrian Air Force Shayrat Airbase, Homs Countryside this morning
https://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2017/7-april-footage-from-syrian-air-force-shayrat-airbase-homs#
pic.twitter.com/MKfNm2JrS5

This bot-op (from Feb) started in Macedonia. It bears similarities to today's #SyriaHoax hashtag.
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/832551506092105728#

Another way to identify involvement of bots in promoting a story/hashtag (in this case, #SyriaHoax): Activity patterns that look like this:

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria Rocket/Missile attack on #Hama airbase reported now
Unclear if only Grad (rebels) or #US (cruise missiles)

Appears Syrian AF is now dodging virtually anything that looks like a incoming missile....

[OUTLAW 09]

RUSSIAN AND IRANIAN BASING IN SYRIA: MARCH 21, 2017 @TheStudyofWar
http://post.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-and-iranian-basing-syria-march-21-2017?utm_source=Russian+and+Iranian+Basing+in+Syri a%3A+March+21%2C+2017&utm_campaign=Russian+and+Iranian+Basing+in+Syria%3 A+March+21%2C+2017&utm_medium=email#

Russia|n Airstrikes in #Syriahoax : March 1 - April 3, 2017
@TheStudyofWar
http://iswresearch.blogspot.de/2017/04/russian-airstrikes-in-syria-march-1.html?utm_source=Russian+Airstrikes+in+Syria:+Mar ch+1+-+April+3,+2017&utm_campaign=Russian+Airstrikes+in+Syria:+March+1+-+April+3,+2017&utm_medium=email&m=1#

[OUTLAW 09]

Netanyahu seeks buffer zones on Syria’s borders with Israel and Jordan
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.782143#

[OUTLAW 09]

German For Min Gabriel calls US air strikes "comprehensible", following the "failure" of the UN Security Council.

[OUTLAW 09]

AFP news agency
✔
@AFP
#BREAKING Russia 'halts' agreement with US to avoid clashes in Syria airspace: ministry

USAF better tighter their helmets....going to get a tad rough over the next few days over Syria....Turkey is indicating more aircraft to be also over Syria.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Israel'i newspaper Yediot Ahronot: #Assad's army cleared most of its planes from the airport before #US strikes

WELL Trump did give enough of a notice to them and Russia..what was incoming...

[OUTLAW 09]

Syria #Assad-forces try to block #FSA advance against #IS along #Damascus - #Palmyra road

[OUTLAW 09]

Intact planes at Syrian airbase targeted by US overnight; runway looks largely intact from What seen so far.

[OUTLAW 09]

Intact planes at Syrian airbase targeted by US overnight; runway looks largely intact from What seen so far.

Homs: All of the #Assad warplanes on #Shayrat Airbase that were not destroyed by #US cruise missiles are out of service since years.

Hollande-Merkel joint communique: Assad bears responsibility; UN should play central role; focus chemical weapons and political transition

Trump’s troll army isn’t ready for war in Syria
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/04/trump-alt-right-syria-war-214998#

BREAKING: Iranian FM @JZarif accuses United States of fighting on the same side as Al-Qaeda and ISIS in Syria/Yemen.

[OUTLAW 09]

Boss of Russia Today, which heaped praise on Trump and said Hillary would start WW3: "We had a chance. But now it's ####ed. And not by us."

[OUTLAW 09]

This thinly veiled @mod_russia threat from October last year certainly did not age well.

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING: Putin agrees with his country's national security council to continue Syria deployment

Now: Intense bombings, apparently Russian, on the northern outskirts of Khan Sheikhoun, the town targeted in the chemical weapons attack

That #Russia troops & possibly aircraft were in Al-Shayrat adds weight to the accusation of #Moscow’s complicity in #Assad’s CW program.

Entirely unsurprising to hear hard rhetoric from #Russia this AM - but it’s likely to be largely bluster.
What’s said behind scenes = key.

US military believes #SyriaSrikes knocked base out of commission; no need for more unless there's another chemical attack -

Shayrat was also known chemical weapon storage facility back then. Obama admin likely knew that CW stockpile was never fully removed

There is another audience for US strike in #Syria & he's currently in Florida on a state visit. WH likely wants Xi to know it follows thru

[OUTLAW 09]

We should never forget that prior to this nerve gas attack on civilians Assad had carried out over 161 chemical weapons attacks on civilians since 2013....

After US strike in Syria, Russian official tells me Moscow is ready to "back away," because "nobody needs escalation."

If Russian personnel and sarin were both present at Shayrat, as McMaster says, hard to believe Moscow didn't know Assad had CW capability.
.@AP BREAKING ALERT: Second attack on Syrian town hit by chemical weapons reported after Trump strikes in Idlib

[OUTLAW 09]

Shayrat Airbase had on Feb. 18 at least 10 (operable) #SyAF warplanes outside Shelters (incl. 4 L-39s) & 2 helicopters (vs 6 usually).

S. #Homs: after recycled pics emerged to prove no damage done by #US tomahawks on #Shayrat AB, new pics show wreckages in Aircraft Shelter.

The Russian reporter filming Shayrat airbase post-US strike showed the same surviving hangars at different times
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow5Ux17YKdM#…

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama Battle: Jaish Al-Nasr pounded #Hama Airbase with a new wave of Grad rockets.

S. #Homs: Regime officers/fighters & a pilot killed by US tomahawks on #Shayrat Airbase.

Latakia Offensive: First Coastal Division's T-55 targeting pro-Regime forces in on Nahashba front.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.730349&lon=36.197205&z=14&m#…

Hama Battle: Free Idlib Army destroyed with a #TOW a #Kornet launcher on #Maardes front.

E. #Damascus: Jaish Al-Islam repelled an attack on #Barzeh orchards & destroyed an armored bulldozer. BREM-1 spotted near Hafez street.

Hama Battle: Jaish Al-Izza destroyed with a #Fagot an armored bulldozer on #Majdal front.

Latakia Offensive: First Coastal Division shelling pro-Regime forces on Qalaat Shalif with Grad rockets.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.731673&lon=36.174889&z=14&m#…

Daraa: Bunian Marsous op. room announces takeover of 20 buildings in Al-Manshiyah, destruction of ammo depot & new spoils. Battle goes on.

[OUTLAW 09]

WOW...now the US alt right blogsites and conspiracy theory sites are working together with Russian propaganda medial outlets....

Trump’s alt-right allies say Trump is being tricked by #fakenews to intervene in #Syria.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/04/06/trump-loves-a-conspiracy-theory-now-his-allies-in-the-media-say-hes-falling-for-one-in-syria/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_fix-media-620a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.b0eec52e4e96#

The New York Times
✔
@nytimes
"I'm officially OFF the Trump train." Trump's far-right supporters turn on him after the Syria missile strike.
http://nyti.ms/2njDFBX

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin via Peskov says that Trump is seeking to distract attention from civilian deaths in Iraq by rocket attack on Syria.

Odd line

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian MoD: Measures will be taken to strengthen Syrian air defenses for protection of "most sensitive Syrian infrastructure."

BUT WAIT...cruise missiles flew right through Russian and Assad ADs.....so what did they do wrong the first time that will be improved for a second go?????

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia's response seems to be to escalate. They are testing Trump's commitment to his new plan. Huge risks everywhere.

Russian MoD says ISIS and al-Nusra start full-scale attack after US strike, "hopes" there was no previous agreement with Americans.

BUT WAIT...Russian Mod has it all wrong it seems....
Trump's strikes can't be helping ISIS. @mod_russia defeated ISIS 13 months ago and THEN they announced their pullout did they not????

[OUTLAW 09]

REMEMBER this?????

October 2016: “Russian S-300s have closed the Syrian sky to American missiles.”

April 2017: “U.S. launches missile strikes against Syria.”

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian MoD: US strike destroyed warehouse, training facility, mess, 6 MiG-23s under repair, radar station. Runway, parked jets untouched.

Aircraft not touched were derelicts....thus unusable....

Russian video suggests SyAF had moved its aircraft into the open to evade US Tomahawk attack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKtJjPypT7I&feature=em-uploademail#

Although it appears that nine functioning aircraft were hit....

[OUTLAW 09]

The Kremlin's spox was asked 2 days ago what Russia would do if the U.S. attacked Syria. "That's an apocalyptic premise," he answered.

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING: Russian Defense Ministry calls effectiveness of US strike "extremely low," says only 23 of 59 Tomahawks reached Syrian base.

BUT WAIT...JUST another Russian lie.....

There was a night time Syrian video released on the net that if one slows down the speed you can actually count 59 explosion blasts lighting up the nighttime sky....


The MOST the Russian MoD has fired at anyone time into Syria was 12 with only three actually hitting anything of value....

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad warplanes strike FSA forces fighting IS near Dakwa mountain south Syria
https://youtu.be/sGsJ4EutENk

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKINGNEWS
Intense #AssadPutin air strikes on #Qaboun, #Idlib, #Hama & #Daraa.
They retaliate against civilians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl-czcae-Lg …

BREAKING: Syria's armed forces were warned about US military action hours before strike on Shayrat, military source tells @AFP

Russia knew these air strikes were coming before Congress did.

More than 55,000 children have been killed in the Syrian war, mostly by the Assad regime
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/07/trump-just-discovered-the-slaughter-of-syria-s-beautiful-babies.html

12 hours after the limited #US air strikes on #Shayrat airbase, it is already back to action.

Trump ... surrendered the element of surprise by warning Russia of his planned Syria strikes
https://theintercept.com/2017/04/07/trump-surrenders-element-surprise-warning-russia-planned-strike-ally-syria/

Syria strike brings rare criticism for Trump from France's Le Pen
http://reut.rs/2nSAiyk

EXCLUSIVE: Red Cross says situation in Syria constitutes 'international armed conflict'
http://reut.rs/2ogyYZa

New chemical attack by chlorine gas on #Harasta and Qaboon eastern #Damascus
#Syria

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian disinformation hard at work....


Russia's #Zhirinovsky, yuge #Trump fan, slams #SyriaStrikes, tiptoes around Trump: 'New pres may have been misled'

https"//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICM5xzHboLo#

[OUTLAW 09]

Hama Battle: Al-Lataminah still heavily bombed (on daily basis) while clashes continue on #Maardes & #Helfaya fronts without any change.

[OUTLAW 09]

Moscow is presenting an entirely alternative narrative.

“Both Trump and Tillerson know perfectly well that it was not Assad who used chemical weapons against peaceful Syrian people, but the forces of Jabhat al Nusra [the former name of an al Qaeda affiliate] with the help of CIA,” said Sergey Markov, a member of the Russian parliament’s Public Chamber.

[OUTLAW 09]

UN says #Assad regime has been escalating its military activities against the opposition, talk of "alarming reports" of chemical attacks.

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING: U.S. investigating whether Russian plane bombed hospital after gas attack to hide evidence of gas attack.

YES they did in fact attempt to hide the chemical evidence....

[OUTLAW 09]

When Putin felt "humiliated" by the West in 2000s he didn't attack USA or NATO -

He attacked Chechnya and Georgia.

More danger for Ukraine

[OUTLAW 09]

Someone just named his restaurant in Kobane after Trump. Wonder if he'll be charged a licensing fee:

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian MoD claimed a high US cruise missile failure rate....

Military officials at Pentagon say that 59 missiles hit intended targets. One more malfunctioned, and a 61st was aborted prior to launch.

[OUTLAW 09]

Homs: Targets on the #Shayrat Airbase that were hit by #US cruise missiles:

SO much for the Russian MoD lies about cruise missile failure rates.....

Pentagon says 20 Syrian aircraft were destroyed in strikes at Shayrat air base. Russian helicopters located at base too, but not targeted.

US UN Ambassador Nikki Haley vowed Friday US "is prepared to do more" in response to Assad's regime

[OUTLAW 09]

WOW....whoaaaaa..........

UNSC - Russia Ambassador lash out at UK Ambassador: "all Arab countries recall your colonial hypocrisy."

AND Russian Communist imperialism at the end of WW2....????

[OUTLAW 09]

UN Syria Commission
✔
@UNCoISyria
We detailed prohibited #ChemicalWeapons use throughout #Syria, including in #Aleppo. We continue to support all efforts for #accountability.

[OUTLAW 09]

Charles Lister
✔
@Charles_Lister
.@washingtonpost Widespread reports of multiple chlorine bombs dropped on areas of East Ghouta outside #Damascus.

#Assad continues to act with impunity.

BREAKING
#SAA TERRORISTS SHELLING #CHEMICAL_WEAPON ON #alQABOUN NEIGHBORHOOD MOMENTS AGO
CASUALITIES REPORTED
#DAMASCUS CS #SYRIA APRIL 7

Unconfirmed reports of a new chemical attack by govt. forces on opposition in #Qaboun, suspected chlorine.

[OUTLAW 09]

US military officials say #Russia agreed to maintain hotline aimed at preventing midair collisions in #syria
http://apne.ws/2oJYPK7

Rus MoD refutes information given by American media agencies that Russia allegedly kept "hot line" with Pentagon
http://s.mil.ru/2nTrF6x


The Grim Logic Behind Syria’s Chemical Weapons Attack
https://nyti.ms/2oON6qa

Garry Kasparov
✔
@Kasparov63
Yes. As I wrote in 2015, Putin cannot afford a direct battle with a superior force because a loss could end his rule in Russia.