Syria in 2016 (April-June)

[OUTLAW 09]

Not really.

It's actually so that
- Russians are running one operation (theoretically: 'interdiction of insurgent re-supply routes into Aleppo', and 'softening insurgent positions north-west of Aleppo'),
- regime is running another operation (advance on Tabqa)
- and the IRGC is running... well, actually running away in southern Aleppo.

So, each of them is doing something entirely different, and nobody is supporting the other party. Makes me wonder what was the point of that meeting of three MODs in Tehran, five days ago...

The US-supported PYD/YPG/SDF conglomerate is fighting its own battle against Daesh in NE Aleppo, which is entirely disconnected from what's going on further south. If at all, it acted as a good distraction: the massive regime concentration of forces trying to race to Tabqa and Raqqa could've proved much more useful somewhere else (whether in NW Aleppo or in southern Aleppo).

It does appear that the combat dynamics have shifted back to FSA/JaF

[OUTLAW 09]

FSA 13th Brigade blow a groups of IRGC seems like Hezbollah fighters in south Aleppo with TOW missile.
https://twitter.com/SharefSarmada/st...891282433?s=09 …

Rebels launch offensive on southern parts of east ghouta Damascus lost to Assad army and allied militias recently.

DeirEzzor: Another massive #ISIS VBIED has hit pro-#Assad forces at 137th Artillery Brigade south of the Airport, the second in 24 hours.

Heavy clashes in Zaytan village as a group of Shiite militiamen were uncovered hiding, now being taken care of

After fall of Khalsah and Zaytun today, regime lines in South #Aleppo nearly back to what they were in Nov. Jaysh al-Fatah making impact.

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo death toll rises to 31 yesterday +40 Russia/Assad airstrikes & +60 barrel bombs targeted over 25 areas today

TOW destroyed technical with 23mm gun in southern #Aleppo
https://youtu.be/zdIAgzI_07w

ATMG hit another tank in southern #Aleppo
https://youtu.be/qHhfbMxa2kE

Damascus #SAA Brigadier Abdul Aziz Saqer- commander for southern part of eastern Ghouta killed

Reports saying Opposition factions (mainly Faylaq Rahman) took control of Hatitat Jarash village and several positions near #Mleha town.

Reports saying that Opposition #JaF trying to encircle Regime+allies inside Birnah village. Heavy clashes still ongoing in Khalsah. #Aleppo

Footage from #JaF assault today in southern #Aleppo
https://youtu.be/_PXwWUPuy4E

[OUTLAW 09]

Not really.

It's actually so that
- Russians are running one operation (theoretically: 'interdiction of insurgent re-supply routes into Aleppo', and 'softening insurgent positions north-west of Aleppo'),
- regime is running another operation (advance on Tabqa)
- and the IRGC is running... well, actually running away in southern Aleppo.

So, each of them is doing something entirely different, and nobody is supporting the other party. Makes me wonder what was the point of that meeting of three MODs in Tehran, five days ago...

The US-supported PYD/YPG/SDF conglomerate is fighting its own battle against Daesh in NE Aleppo, which is entirely disconnected from what's going on further south. If at all, it acted as a good distraction: the massive regime concentration of forces trying to race to Tabqa and Raqqa could've proved much more useful somewhere else (whether in NW Aleppo or in southern Aleppo).

CrowBat.....appears to me that many of the FSA units are now working closely with JaF meaning each group is supplying it's own particular strength's into the operations...meaning one has artillery, one has TOWs and ATGMs, one has foot soldiers, another has armor and they then divide up the elements of the operation........and apparently field coordination has improved vastly to allow for sudden shifts in moves by the Assad/Iranian side where JaF is exploiting them immediately.

We saw this work very effectively for AQI, and the Iraqi Sunni insurgent groups Ansar al Sunnah, Islamic Army of Iraq and Revolution 1920 up through 2009 in Iraq.

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that for the last several days, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are deleting videos and accounts from those supporting the anti Assad side BUT somehow are "overlooking" proAssad and proRussian trolls who are just as active....amazing how Russian oligarch black money and the Russian bot info war network has control of US social media....

US social media falls for it every time......or do they just answer to the black money??

[OUTLAW 09]

Jaish Al-Fateh announced it has full control of Northern section (hill) of Khalasah village, S. #Aleppo.

Central Division blew up with #TOW a tank firing on JaF ~100 m away in Khalasah, S. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyRHwc4nUqY …

Central Division blew up with a #TOW an ATGM position on rooftop in Khalasah, S. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Thuwar Al-Sham targeted with a #Fagot an entrenched tank on Khalasah front, S. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHhfbMxa2kE …

As clashes continued amid intense airstrikes 4 control of Khalasah, Jaish Al-Fateh blew up w/ a SVBIED the main pocket of foreign militias.

JaN used another US Humvee with DIY armour during storm of Khalasah, S. #Aleppo. #JaF.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PXwWUPuy4E …

ANOTHER possible ATGM hit on an alleged T90......this new Russian MBT is not holding up well when ATGM and TOWs are being used against it... from the smoke trail or lack thereof...appears to be TOW that was fired.

Faylaq Al-Sham #ATGM strike on a tank (claimed T-90) in Khalasah, S. #Aleppo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFPthbMxIh8 …
Tank profile as it moves in two directions before being hit in fact confirms T90.....hit was solid and destructive.

Should make purchasers of this Russian MBT a little nervous about their investment....

[OUTLAW 09]

Report from battlefield in southern #Aleppo
https://youtu.be/toBp4vNDV_k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCGii9WJrLM … (Faylaq Sham)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_B-v6HWvm8 … (JaN)
From fighting in southern Aleppo which has been hard and heavy with high Assad loses especially IRGC and Hezbollah.

[OUTLAW 09]

Results of to much "vodka"........

Assad's Political Security Chief in #Syria fell from high building
-too much Sympathies with separatist kurds?
http://en.eldorar.com/node/2528

Or maybe he was just "sleep walking" and made the wrong turn????

[OUTLAW 09]

Iran announced the death of
1 Iranian soldier
1 Basij militia man
2 Afghan Fatimiyoun members
3 Pakistanj Zainabiyoun men
in #Syria.

[OUTLAW 09]

Regardless of what the West thinks about AQ in Syria (JaN) they have earned in the eyes of the Syrian anti Assad forces a high level of respect for their fighting abilities against Assad forces and YES even against their declared near enemy IS......

Footage
Crazy head-to-head fighting of Syrian rebels and foreign militias in #Khalasah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCGii9WJrLM …

Same scene from another (this time Nusra) drone.
Dense air space ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_B-v6HWvm8 …

AND as someone who has been following jihadi battle videos since 2003 for the OSINT JaN and company produce some of the best drone videos on their fighting...you could even use them in West Point to highlight armored infantry attacks as they are classics in the use of armor and infantry in a fast urban warfare fight.

[OUTLAW 09]

Aleppo #JaF took northern part of Khalasah -clashes now in southern remaining parts
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36...53623&z=15&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

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

ВМФ BSF #ЧФ Yamal 156 returned from #Tartus &transited Bosphorus towards the BlackSea 14/6/16 06:15GMT
https://youtu.be/Rz4JrRTh0Yg via @YouTube

[OUTLAW 09]

That much vaulted and with great fanfare by CENTCOM and 300 US SOF boots on the ground launched YPG/SDF/PKK offensive on Manbij and Raqqa seems to be going absolutely nowhere after the first failed attack on Raqqa.....

Heavy airstrikes on #Daesh at southern entrance of
#Manbij
Arab fighter of #SDF only with sporadic gunfire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWf874Zlps0 …

BUT WAIT they are maybe deliberately supporting the combined FSA/JaN southern Aleppo offensive against Iranian and Shia militias by drawing a large Assad force towards Raqqa which takes away manpower from southern Aleppo......

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad and #Putin hunt down women and children in #Aleppo city.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwM24u4pR6E …

Not confirmed which tribe they are talking about.....
Syria 400+ arab tribe fighters in Tell Abyad/ northern #Raqqa join #SDF-forces

Yesterday, 31 civil. were killed & 54 injured in #Assad&#Putin attacks on #Aleppo prov.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34bkVhoy59Q …

MaaratAlNuman
Despite 1000s of #Assad air strikes,ppl. keep protesting #Nusra & the regime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pIYUfmtNZ4 …

EastGhouta yesterday.
Massive air strikes by the #Assad air force.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJkX1XF0ISE …

Graphic!
#Mother and her 4 #children killed in air strike on #KafrHalab.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U1kCqeDkW4 …

Aleppo city yesterday.
SHAME ON YOU WORLD, especially EU and US govts!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWFSLcWEqwc …
GRAPHIC

East of #Damascus yesterday (#Qaboun).
Heavy #Assad air strikes as always.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52vaw8BogwI …

[OUTLAW 09]

Reports from yesterday that rebels took large parts of Baraghidah from #ISIS in north rural #Aleppo

Hara in #Daraa was targeted again by regime barrel bombs this morning, civilian casualties reported

Breaking: JN carried out a martyrdom operation inside what is left of Khalsa..

[OUTLAW 09]

UN attacked for giving control of aid 'to Assad regime' in Syria
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...gime-in-syria/ …

How sweet. UN official reviews room service in Damascus Four Seasons a few kms away from besieged Ghouta/Darayya


Taking sides: The United Nations’ loss of impartiality, independence and neutrality in Syria. A 28 page PDF documentation of these allegations.....

http://takingsides.thesyriacampaign....king-sides.pdf

[OUTLAW 09]

At least 8 people killed mostly children under 15 in Assad army airstrikes targeted small town al-Bara in #Idleb.
https://youtu.be/8dMc-1tNmVY

Remains of unexploded Assad army barrel bomb dropped on Aleppo.
https://youtu.be/DdcwBzpz8tM

[CrowBat]

CrowBat.....appears to me that many of the FSA units are now working closely with JaF meaning each group is supplying it's own particular strength's into the operations...meaning one has artillery, one has TOWs and ATGMs, one has foot soldiers, another has armor and they then divide up the elements of the operation........and apparently field coordination has improved vastly to allow for sudden shifts in moves by the Assad/Iranian side where JaF is exploiting them immediately.

Something like that, though it's not 'many' FSyA units:

- Faylaq ash-Sham (ind. & Islamist) & Furqat 13 (FSyA) are providing ATGM-support
- Central Division FSyA is providing artillery support
- Ajnad ash-Sham (Islamist) is around too, but no clue what is it doing.

All the other units are JAN and Ahrar. The JAN is meanwhile using really lots of armour. They should've lost some 4-5 T-72s and several BMPs in southern Aleppo of the last 2-3 weeks, but columns of 4-6 BMPs supported by 2-3 T-72s are still a regular sight.

We saw this work very effectively for AQI, and the Iraqi Sunni insurgent groups Ansar al Sunnah, Islamic Army of Iraq and Revolution 1920 up through 2009 in Iraq.

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with AQI: the AQI transformed and expanded itself into the Daesh.

JAN has learned a lots of lessons too, and is meanwhile better supported than ever before (see body armour, ballistic helmets, really well-trained infantry and armour-drivers etc.).

That aside, the IRGC simply can't stop botching up - and its strategy in Syria (plus that of the regime) - is in complete disharmony with that of Moscow, as explained here before, now also at WiB: Russia, Syria and Iran Have Made a Mess of Their Military Alliance.

At the first look, the alliance between Iran, Russia and Syria seems to be based on decades-old friendship and plenty of mutual interests. However, the Syrian civil war is revealing ever-bigger differences between the governments in Moscow and those in Damascus and Tehran.
...

[OUTLAW 09]

Something like that, though it's not 'many' FSyA units:

- Faylaq ash-Sham (ind. & Islamist) & Furqat 13 (FSyA) are providing ATGM-support
- Central Division FSyA is providing artillery support
- Ajnad ash-Sham (Islamist) is around too, but no clue what is it doing.

All the other units are JAN and Ahrar. The JAN is meanwhile using really lots of armour. They should've lost some 4-5 T-72s and several BMPs in southern Aleppo of the last 2-3 weeks, but columns of 4-6 BMPs supported by 2-3 T-72s are still a regular sight.

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with AQI: the AQI transformed and expanded itself into the Daesh.

JAN has learned a lots of lessons too, and is meanwhile better supported than ever before (see body armour, ballistic helmets, really well-trained infantry and armour-drivers etc.).

That aside, the IRGC simply can't stop botching up - and its strategy in Syria (plus that of the regime) - is in complete disharmony with that of Moscow, as explained here before, now also at WiB: Russia, Syria and Iran Have Made a Mess of Their Military Alliance.

CrowBat...the article while short due to size limits was quite good.....it would make a great doctorial thesis after this is over....

[OUTLAW 09]

Damascus Rebels advance in Al-Maliha & Hatita Al Jarsh areas
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=33...95559&z=15&m=b …

Jabhat al-Nusra claims to have captured 75% of Khalsa in south Aleppo --