Syria in 2018-2019

[Azor]

The strikes themselves: https://theaviationist.com/2018/04/1...ikes-on-syria/

Claims about successful strikes/missiles lost: https://theaviationist.com/2018/04/1...ing-to-the-us/

[davidbfpo]

A scholarly overview of Russia's place in Syria and nearby - presumably written before the latest allied air attack, as it is not mentioned.
Link:https://defenceindepth.co/2018/04/20...mediterranean/

[davidbfpo]

Professor Paul Rogers overview after the three allies action:

The 14 April missile strike by the United States, France and the UK on three Syrian chemical weapons facilities aimed to enforce a much-scuffed red line on use of chemical weapons. But it was achieved in breach of international law and accompanied by a coordinated political message that the Western allies had no wider intention to oppose the Assad regime or its Russian and Iranian allies in Syria. As such, Trump is already advocating new actors like Egypt take the place of US troops in northeast Syria. While little has changed for Assad, Russia, or Iran in Syria, Israel and Turkey are increasingly dissatisfied with the West’s lack of apparent post-Islamic State strategy there and will act accordingly,

Interesting comments on the French strike:

. In logistic terms the French component was far more complex and wide-ranging, even though it only involved eleven cruise missiles.

Link:http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.u...d_consequences

[AdamG]

IDF claims to have clobbered Iranian missiles on the ground.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/syria-...tack-missiles/

[AdamG]

ISIS might be an Army of drooling 7th century Troglodytes, but you do have to hand it to them in the Creativity Department.

ISIS butchers have carried out one of the most chilling executions in the terror group's history - by turning a captive into an airborne bomb. Images released on its propaganda channels show a captured and bound Syrian soldier being dropped head-first from a height and exploding on impact with the ground. His body is bound tightly with cords and straightened with long, wooden planks - seemingly to keep him upright and aerodynamic. He was then fitted with a helmet filled with explosives, complete with an impact fuse on the top to trigger the device when his head hit the ground. The man was then thrown off a building in ISIS-controlled territory in the Yarmouk area of Syria, close to the capital Damascus.

Yes, there are photos.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/05...ssing-him.html

[AdamG]

Reuters appears to have only this headline and no supporting text

ISRAEL SAYS SPOTS IRANIAN MILITARY MOVEMENT IN SYRIA, ORDERS READYING OF BOMB SHELTERS ON ISRAELI-HELD GOLAN
https://af.reuters.com/article/commo...1ALTJ7N1PG01N2

BEIRUT — Syrian state-run media said Israel struck a military outpost near the capital Damascus on Tuesday, saying its air defenses intercepted and destroyed two of the incoming missiles. The reported attack came an hour after President Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, calling Tehran a main exporter of terrorism in the region.
The official news agency SANA said without elaborating that the attack occurred in the countryside in Kisweh, just south of Damascus, an area known to have numerous Syrian army bases. Syrian TV earlier reported large explosions in the area.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the missiles targeted depots and rocket launchers that likely belonged to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards in Kisweh, killing nine people. The group, which closely monitors the Syria war through a network of activists on the ground, said it was not clear whether those killed were Revolutionary Guard members or members of a pro-Iranian militia. The report could not be independently confirmed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...2ce_story.html

[davidbfpo]

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-44271676