WHILE the YPG/PYD/PKK/CENTCOM/US SOF attacks towards Raqqa are getting strong western MSM coverage as well as a CENTCOM Commander visit .......
It is the major fighting of JaN and the other FSA groups that are killing large numbers of Iranian led troops and IS and gaining strategic territory..and the western MSM coverage is for all purposes ...ZERO.
As well as defending Aleppo which Iran declared this week they were going to capture along with the entire area.
ALL under a massive Assad and Putin bombing campaign that the US has not come close to ever delivering in the entire Syrian AO.
Jaish al-Fatah took Al-Humayra and several positions E and N-E from Khan Tuman from pro-#Assad forces.
Coalition of 2 extremist and 2 moderate islamist groups involved.
Especially Sham Corps and FSA Central Division...but all seem to get moderate and extremist islamist groups somewhat confused with the term "moderates"...well after five long years of genocide and a massive Assad and Putin bombing campaign I am not so sure what the "moderate" term means.....
No idea right now, sorry. Alone the rumour about Erdo sacking the boss of the MIT might mean there is a major game change there.Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09
BTW, have you seen this?
IslamicState ATGM hit his convoy ystrd + #US Special Forces team, no confirmation on US casualties so far
Then this: Faysal Abu Layla, of top cmdrs #Manbij op #ShamsShamal, med-evacd to #Erbil for treatment (GRAFFIC)
Then Abu Layla was declared dead... and finally:
Aleppo : Sources confirm the death of a #US soldier who was accompanied by two SDF commanders south of.
In regards of this question:
I have no idea.
I'm wondering about exactly the same, because it's making no sense - except one starts wondering about all sorts of conspiracy theories (like, say, since Daesh is cooperating with Assad, why not make him that favour and, in turn, receive 'help' in form of regime not launching any new offensives on Daesh... considering IRGC/BPM/SSNP offensive in direction of Tabqa, this version is 'not working' though).
So, I'm leaning towards the theory of Daesh attempting to gain any kind of symbolic victory in order to bolster morale of its troops. It's under immense pressure from the PYD/YPG/SDF conglomerate in northern Syria; it's under immense pressure in Fallujah, and it needs a 'quick and cheap' success. From that standpoint, depleted FSyA units (depleted because they were supposedly withdrawn to Turkey for rest and reorganization) were an 'ideal', at least a 'promising' target.
Here it is important to keep in mind the Daesh's military structure, which is two-fold:
- only central, major units are used for offensive operations, while
- local units are used for defence alone.
Which means, they must've sent one of contingents from Jaysh al-Qalifa (Caliph's Army) - which has 3-6 months of training - all the way to Mare'a and Azaz. Once there, this was then reinforced by units of the Halab Division (primarily its 'cubs', with 3-6 weeks of training) for that attack.
This is imposing the question: why do so - especially under given circumstance? And, as mentioned above, the sole logical answer is: 'to achieve a quick and cheap victory against a weakened opponent'.
CrowBat...great flying weather here at the ILA........clear skies and no clouds...yet.
Sending from smart phone as I am taking a number of photos want to see the Ukrainian An124 and drones.
This maneuver you probably have already at some point seen before.
I was the first Army OSINT reporter of the "Cobra maneuver" done by a MiG29 back in about the 1988 timeframe I happen to be monitoring over a ground satellite dish with video the Soviet Army TV channel and caught a Soviet AF air show in the Soviet Far East put on for the locals and the announcer kept talking about the "Cobra" being performed so I perked up and hit record.
Was totally surprised to see a MiG29 in full flight suddenly pull up and the pilot literally walked the 29 perpendicular for period of time at almost stall speed and then it fell off to the side and went into a full power dive again. Actually amazed as I knew what our fighter ac could do and this air combat maneuver had never entered their minds.
Immediately notified national intel and they had not even heard nor seen the maneuver before.
Video went out as fast as it could be sent in those days.
MiG29 will be flying the maneuver today so I finally to to see it flown "live" after 28 years.
Will see if I can catch a video of it.
Will catch up with posting later this evening
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 06-04-2016 at 08:01 AM.
CrowBat
wanted to get this out to you as it goes to something you posted here and the US government does not lie right?
Aleppo : Sources confirm the death of a #US soldier who was accompanied by two SDF commanders south of #Manbej.
So it was a VBIED or ATGM
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 06-04-2016 at 08:21 AM.
Aleppo : Sources confirm the death of a #US soldier who was accompanied by two SDF commanders south of #Manbej
The article does not mention the #US soldier or the Jund al Haramein commander Ibrahim Al Bannawi
Aleppo : Abu Layla commander of both the SDF and Shams al Shaaml was critically wounded by an #ISIS AT missile
Homs : Fierce fighting at the front line of loyalist #Jaborin as the Opposition press their assault on the village in darkness.
S. Aleppo : Opposition halts counterattacking Regime forces with Katyusha at #Humayriya.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgqRg0tAouc …
Homs : Regime forces fie mortars, tank shells and Shilka 23mm cannons into the town of #Ghanto.
S. Aleppo : Opposition completely liberate the village of #Khalsa after a day of fighting.
S. Aleppo : 10 prisoners were taken by Jaish al Fatah in #Khalse including a Brigadier General.
Damascus : Regime forces fire two surface-to-surface missiles into the city of #Daraya yesterday
evening.
S. Aleppo : Opposition catches Regime forces with an anti-tank missile at #Talat_Qarrasi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4CRpX9f_NE …
Aleppo : Crops burn on the outskirts of #Anadan as the Regime's scorched earth policy continues.
S. Aleppo : Opposition killed more than 50 Regime militiamen at #Humayra and seized a tank.
S. Aleppo : Jubilant fighters with some of the prisoners taken at #Humayra today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOZhjDsxfjg …
S. Aleppo : Opposition completely liberate the village of #Khalsa after a day of fighting.
S. Aleppo : 10 prisoners were taken by Jaish al Fatah in #Khalse including a Brigadier General.
Damascus : Regime forces fire two surface-to-surface missiles into the city of #Daraya yesterday
evening.
S. Aleppo : Opposition catches Regime forces with an anti-tank missile at #Talat_Qarrasi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4CRpX9f_NE …
Aleppo : Crops burn on the outskirts of #Anadan as the Regime's scorched earth policy continues.
S. Aleppo : Opposition killed more than 50 Regime militiamen at #Humayra and seized a tank.
S. Aleppo : Jubilant fighters with some of the prisoners taken at #Humayra today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOZhjDsxfjg …
Assad media: JAF "attacked east…of Khan Tuman…an area…defended by Iranian…paramilitary fighters who were unable to offer much resistance".
From battles in W-#Ghouta 18+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmz4B3lBc34 …
Last edited by davidbfpo; 06-04-2016 at 07:21 PM. Reason: remove duplicate text
At least 8 civilians killed & more wounded in Russia/Assad airstrikes on Sakhour district in #Aleppo again today
Russian cargo planes again airdropped aid/supplies (+20 parachutes) over #DeirEzzor, #Syria
Assad’s assault on besieged #Daraya continues, at least 13 IRAM rockets launched at the town today. #Damascus #Syria
What’s great is that rebels finally took out the Assad ops room on Sheikh Yusuf hill in #Aleppo, major source of destruction
Airstrikes/barrel bombs continue on Rastan & Talbiseh in #Homs + #Idlib + many areas in #Aleppo (Castello, Haidaria, Sakhour, Qaterji, etc)
Impressive gains by JaF yesterday in S. rural #Aleppo; Humeira, Khalsa, Qal’ajiah, Ma’arata & others, +100 Assad/Iran-backed fighters killed
Acc. to @TheStudyofWar, rate/breadth of #Russia airstrikes in #Syria tripled in last 5 days:
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?
So far #SDF/#YPG seized 34 villages from #IslamicState in eastern countryside of #Manbej
Take this with a grain of salt as Assad and Putin have never been accurate with their reporting.....
Assad-forces ~40km away to cut the #IslamicState in 2 halfes in #Syria (advance toward al-Tabaqah dam/airbase) south west of #Raqqa
A massive explosion.....
Fateh #Aleppo claims destruction of Regime operations room in Tell Sheikh Yussuf + ammo warehouses.
Must Watch: gigantic explosion by #Kornet ATGM, wiping out whole Regime area w/ ammo depots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOaLfgFgZck …
Also a 130 mm cannon & rocket launcher who shelled Castillo road destroyed by Rebels with mortars & rockets.
CrowBat.....mentions foreign officers any idea if Russian.....??
Fateh #Aleppo cmdr: Tell Sh. Yussuf massive explosion wiped out main source of shelling on Castillo road. ~50 dead incl. 3 foreign officers
Seems the #SDF-advance on #IS held #Manbij city in eastern #Aleppo prov. take a break
Heavy ground battle continues southern #Aleppo today
Usbek members of Nusra captured #Assad-forces in S- #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S350RRt4a4E …
Russia'n cluster bombs on Anjarah NW of #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovHX-EJWz8Q …
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36...50626&z=14&m=b …
JaF seized a mix of weapons & ammo in southern #Aleppo
https://youtu.be/OU5v95oxnjE
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 06-04-2016 at 02:32 PM.
Since 2 years we hear of an "imminent Turkish ground invasion" in northern Syria.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20...urdish-entity/
Ankara: Potential ground intervention in Syria to prevent establishment of Kurdish entity
June 3, 2016 at 12:08 pm | Published in: Europe & Russia, Middle East, News, Syria, Turkey, UK
Turkish sources have confirmed that Ankara will confront any attempts to establish a separate entity in north Syria that separates Turkey from its Syrian neighbours, criticising the United States for supporting the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).
Turkey considered the PYD crossing west of the Euphrates River a red line and a threat to Turkish national security, according to London’s Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
Sources from the Turkish government also stated that Turkey reserves its right to defend its national security and has hinted at bilateral measures it would take in order to prevent the establishment of a separate entity in north Syria.
The sources noted that these measures include a ground intervention that may occur in order to prevent the separate entity being formed.
Ankara claims the PYD is linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
And now #Iran is facing the surprise of getting overwhelmed by their Sunni Jihadist counterparts in #Syria.
https://twitter.com/clausen_taylor/s...20390490390528 …
Reddit is teaching me today that SAA losing DeZ is part of the master plan to bleed ISIS resources away from Raqqa. Oh. Okay.
Two of our best, Ned Parker and @JonathanLanday: U.S. falters in campaign to revive Iraqi army, officials say
http://reut.rs/25F0ZK8
Not having as much luck with their Kurdish proxy YPG as well....
Well this is like saying the State of North Carolina is in the USA........with such a MSM fanfare they still are still over 100kms away from Raqqa and are losing badly in southern Aleppo......and may in fact have to stop and turn back to rescue southern Aleppo.....
The Syrian army has entered the province of Raqqa during a Russian-backed offensive against IS
http://trib.al/iuHSvPV
South #Aleppo #حلب Map
Rebels/Terrorists captured Marata #معراتة & Hamirah #الحمیرة
HD:http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/422...cy6c4o6bzg.jpg …
BLUF:
Jihadist coalition battling SAA in Aleppo is obviously receiving qualitative intelligence&military planning,having the edge over Iranians.
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 06-04-2016 at 02:50 PM.
Naval Forces Europe
✔ @USNavyEurope Video of yesterday's counter ISIL strikes in support of OIR
https://youtu.be/Fj-mrJmVFz8
Free Alawite Brigade takes responsibility for assassinating Alaa Makhlouf (Assad’s wife new bodyguard) w/ car bomb
This was reportedly on the Damacus Sweida road
Nour al-Din Zinki destroys an #ISIS tank on the Kafrkalbin front in north rural #Aleppo with a Kornet missile
https://youtu.be/KZGGKfHYq14
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 06-04-2016 at 05:54 PM.
Kyle W. Orton @KyleWOrton
#IS and the #Iran|ian revolution: both theocratic, use extreme violence, want to break down region's borders.
One gets Western air support.
Kyle W. Orton @KyleWOrton
In terms of forming a durable Islamist imperium that can function as a launchpad for attacks against the West, #Iran's way ahead of #IS.
Just two U.S.-designated terrorists waiting on that U.S. close air support
KyleWOrton
Suleimani is with his deputy, Jamal Ebrahimi (Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis), an Iraqi who's been an Iranian agent since the early 1980s.
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is wanted by the US over the bombing of Western targets in Kuwait in 1983, murder of 00s US soldiers 2003-11
U.N. Security Council to formally request Syrian approval of humanitarian airdrops
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...204_story.html …
Awkward! State Department report finds Iran is top state sponsor of terror
Washington (CNN) — The State Department on Thursday released its annual report on global terrorist activity, listing Iran as the top state sponsor of terrorism and labeling ISIS "the greatest threat globally."
The report also includes statistics on terrorist activity worldwide, and said 11,774 terrorist attacks in 92 countries occurred in 2015.
The department's acting coordinator for counterterrorism, Justin Siberell, briefed reporters Thursday on the report's content, saying the document was used to assess the effectiveness of the effort to combat terrorism and to determine where to best place resources.
On Iran, the report said that country "remained the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2015, providing a range of support, including financial, training, and equipment, to groups around the world."
The report also said that Iran was continuing to provide arms and cash to terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Iraqi Shia terrorist groups, including Kata'ib Hizballah (KH). Both groups are designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations in the report.
Iran is one of three listed state sponsors of terrorism, the others being Syria and Sudan. Cuba was removed from the list last year.
Siberell added that the department was "concerned about a wide range of Iranian activities to destabilize the region."
Iran's designation and continued sponsoring of terrorism is bound to fuel criticism of the Iran nuclear deal. Critics of the deal have charged that the removal of economic sanctions would allow Iran to increase its support of terror groups.
During an interview in Davos, Switzerland, Secretary of State John Kerry admitted in January that some of the money made available to Iran by the removal of sanctions would "end up in the hands of the IRGC or other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists," referring to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The report also described the global terrorist threat in 2015 as "increasingly decentralized and diffuse," noting that ISIS once again was "the greatest threat globally."
It included a statistical annex prepared by the University of Maryland, which said that worldwide there were 11,774 terrorist attacks in 92 countries in 2015 which resulted in more than 28,300 total deaths.
The report noted that the total number of terrorist attacks in 2015 decreased by 13% when compared to 2014.
Siberell said, "This represents the first decline in total terrorist attacks and resulting fatalities worldwide since 2012."
However, he added that terrorist activity had increased in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Syria and Turkey in 2015.
While the State Department lists the Middle East and North Africa as the "primary theater for terrorist activity," it also highlights the terrorist threat posed to Europe "from foreign terrorist fighters who returned home to Europe to plot and carry out attacks."
The report says that in 2015, ISIS and al Qaeda "increased their focus on staging mass-casualty attacks," noting attacks in Paris, Lebanon and Turkey.
The State Department recently issued a travel alert to U.S. citizens considering traveling to Europe, warning about the risk of potential terrorist attacks throughout the continent ahead of the busy summer travel season.
The report notes that Sub-Saharan Africa also "experienced significant levels of terrorist activity" from groups like Boko Haram in West Africa and Somalia-based al-Shabaab in east Africa.
Overall, the report lists 13 "terrorist safe havens" around the world where "terrorists are able to organize, plan, raise funds, communicate, recruit, train, transit and operate." These safehavens include remote areas in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South America.
The report lists 58 "Foreign Terrorist Organizations," including ISIS, al Qaeda and various affiliates and branches of those two organizations.
Critical read on Ahrar al Sham by @hxhassan
AhrarAlSham is proof that 'Salafi-jihadism is a fluid movement, not a static one'
Jihadist Legacy Still Shapes Ahrar al-Sham
By: Hassan Hassan
06-03-2016
Over the past five years in Syria, Ahrar al-Sham has emerged as an important political and religious experiment. As one of the most powerful groups in Syria, Ahrar al-Sham has struggled to reconcile the legacy of many of its founders as jihadi veterans with the need for an acceptable political discourse in the war-ravaged country. As the group engages cautiously in the political process for a transition, it is also important to understand whether it has really broken away from Salafi-jihadism.
The ideology of the group is further muddled by the fact that it works closely with al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, though Ahrar al-Sham participates in political conferences and pacts that appear to deviate from the canons of jihadist organizations. After the death of its top leaders in an explosion that took place during a high-level meeting in September 2014, Ahrar al-Sham has also sought to present itself to the outside world as a moderate group and an indispensable fighting force on the ground.
Countries involved in the conflict in Syria are split about the organization. Some, primarily Russia and Iran, are pushing for its designation as a terrorist organization. Others, such as Qatar and Turkey, tried to present the organization as a moderate group and include it in the international funding scheme for nationalist rebel forces. The latter effort entailed the involvement of sponsors and clerics close to the group to steer it in that direction, combined with a public relations offensive to present the group as such.
But is Ahrar al-Sham merely a conservative Syrian faction immersed in an armed struggle against the regime of Bashar al-Assad? Or is it still a bastion of Salafi-jihadism, the movement to which its top echelon once subscribed? Ali al-Omar, the group’s deputy leader, answered some of these questions during an hour-long talk he gave on Friday, “The Place of Ahrar al-Sham Among Islamist Currents.”
Three points in the presentation stand out. First, al-Omar began by laying out three main Islamist movements that emerged after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. He said the movements differ in their approach but the objective is one: the restoration of the Islamic caliphate. Two of these movements, namely the Muslim Brotherhood and the Tablighi Jamaat, seek to establish an Islamic state through political participation and proselytization, respectively. According to al-Omar, the failure of the Muslim Brotherhood’s model led to the rise of a third one: jihadism (also known as Salafi-jihadism), which combines fundamentalist religious concepts with a political ideology that seeks to establish a caliphate through jihad and the mobilization of the Muslim masses against existing political orders.
Ahrar al-Sham belongs to a new movement that sees merits in each of the movements he mentioned. The group combines, rather than departs from, the approaches of all of its predecessors—and that is a key distinction. Al-Omar pointed out that the difference between Ahrar al-Sham and jihadists is that the group does more than just jihad. The difference between the two is not that jihad is a temporary tactic for them, al-Omar said—a key clarification because some observers think that Ahrar al-Sham’s engagement in armed struggle is dictated by the reality in Syria, as the war against the regime rages. Al-Omar prefers the word “mujahideen” instead of jihadists, even if shortly after the sentence he describes members of al-Qaeda in Iraq after 2004 as mujahideen.
“We are mujahideen, not jihadists. This is important,” he said. “The difference is that we seek jihad in Syria because we view it as the main tool to attain our rights and to defend Islam and Muslims. But we are not jihadists in the sense that we limit ourselves to jihad to attain our rights. Jihad is the main factor. There is no doubt that jihad will continue until the Day of Judgement, but we don’t limit ourselves by armed jihad.” Al-Omar added that the fall of the Assad regime is a “medium-term objective” not a long-term one.
Despite al-Omar’s attempts to draw a distinction, the group’s position on jihad is heavily shaped by Salafi-jihadism. According to a recent 78-page study by Ahmad Abazeid, one of the group’s closest observers, the group “adopts the writings of Salafi-jihadism in its training camps and discourse.”
A second prominent point in al-Omar’s lecture is his group’s real stance on political participation. He explains that Ahrar al-Sham’s participation in political talks, conferences or pacts is designed as a form of takhtheel (disruption, subversion, or disorientation). This is a particularly telling statement, considering that it is such “flexibility” that led many to rethink the group’s ideology and to conclude that it broke away from Salafi-jihadism—the “crucible from which it emerged,” in the words of one of its media activists.
Third, al-Omar singled out the Taliban as a model worth following. This is the second time Ahrar al-Sham has officially praised the Taliban in this way. Last August, the group paid tribute to former Taliban leader Mullah Omar, describing him as “the noble prince” and his group as “the blessed movement” when the Taliban acknowledged his death.
“When we speak about the Taliban, the group included all Sunnis from different spectra in Afghanistan,” al-Omar said. “It included Sufis, including in leadership levels, and Tablighi Jamaat. It succeeded in establishing a Muslim state. It is true that it did not last, but it did establish one, one that is worth contemplating and studying. … We have to regard this project as a project for Sunnis, to mobilize all Sunnis for it; otherwise we will be left on our own.” While such views may be shared by other Islamist forces, they indicate that Ahrar al-Sham sees itself as part of a broader global effort even if the focus is local.
Throughout his talk, al-Omar emphasized that his group’s objectives are part of a broader global Islamist project, and echoed common beliefs among Salafi-jihadists that Syrian society’s Islam has been distorted by decades of a Baathist education system. In his view, Syrian society is not Muslim enough—another manifestation of the discourse common among jihadist organizations. Al-Omar also clarified that political engagement and flexibility are a ploy, as part of the Ahrar al-Sham’s strategy of combining the approaches followed by the three movements he cited as influencers of his group.
“[Ahrar al-Sham] has dealt with [the Syrian conflict] as a pan-Islamic project,” he said. “To emphasize the pan-Islamic project, it consults religious clerics and other specialists from Syria and from the region. Syrians are conducting a battle on behalf of Sunnis in the entire world. It’s no longer a Syrian issue.”
He also echoed numerous arguments frequently made by Jabhat al-Nusra, such as the importance of the “social base,” or “social incubator” as they call it, to justify the delay of implementation of sharia. Al-Omar further pointed out that the group should encourage everyone to be involved in the project but that the struggle should be led by “the elite” and and those who have the “right methodology.” (Methodology, or manhaj, is a common term in Syria since 2013 to describe Jabhat al-Nusra, Islamic State, and Ahrar al-Sham, who are known as ikhwat al-manhaj or brothers in methodology.)
“Which is better,” al-Omar asked, “to fight under the banner of someone whose faith is not perfect or that he fights under your banner? Of course the latter. When Ahrar al-Sham followed this [logic], critics started to criticize it.”
Before regional countries pushed last year to include Ahrar al-Sham as a mainstream group, very few disputed the organization was in al-Qaeda’s ideological orbit. Discussions about the organization’s changes led some to argue the group was abandoning the canons of Salafi-jihadism. Even the eulogy of the Taliban’s Mullah Omar issued by Ahrar al-Sham last August, at the height of the so-called changes, was justified by observers as a sign of moderation, that the group was somehow trying to show it was pragmatic and willing to engage with the Americans. Even if Ahrar al-Sham tried to break away from a strict understanding of Salafi-jihadism last year, the effort has hitherto been stalled. According to Charles Lister, a Syria expert with the Middle East Institute who follows the group closely, the current represented by leaders such as al-Omar has won the internal debate and is the dominant one today.
People in rebel-held Syria still see Ahrar al-Sham as it is, as a jihadist organization. Yes, the group’s tactics differ from those of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, in the same way that the latter deviated from its jihadist predecessors. Such differences should be examined as an example of how Salafi-jihadism is a fluid movement, not a static one, as some mistakenly label it. If the remarks made by al-Omar were intended to represent a shift from jihadism, the apple has not fallen far from the tree.
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 06-04-2016 at 06:29 PM.
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