Syria in 2016 (July-September)

[OUTLAW 09]

Loot captured from Regime forces in #Hama. Noticed the multiple @UNHCR tents used by SAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkEGsHbYPL8 …

Russian incendiary munition strikes targeted Taftanaz village in #Idleb -

[OUTLAW 09]

Twitter is playing the proAssad/proPutin game again with their accounts....they suspended a number of quality reporting and commenting accounts and the question is WHO pushed the suspension and WHY did Twitter react....there has been solid "rumors" of heavy Russian oligarch black investments into Twitter.....

Oh my God @twitter @Support what have you done. Of all users to suspend you killed @KyleWOrton? @Dalatrm @BlogsofWar


During the height of the heavy 2015 fighting in eastern Ukraine Twitter suspended over 10,000 accounts that were commenting from a proUkraine perspective.....AND they are at it again......

[OUTLAW 09]

PKK/SDF Use a Child for Propaganda Videos. Child fired on Rebel held areas West of #Mare. #Aleppo

Syria #Hama 3 barriers & Tell Bizam taken south & west of #Maan so far

Now Jaish Tahrir, Faylaq Sham, Division 101 & Jaish Mujahiden join offensive in N.Hama, taking 6 barriers n. of Souran town

[OUTLAW 09]

N. #Hama: massive Jund Al-Aqsa SVBIED detonated N. of Taibat Al-Imam yesterday.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35....701546&z=12&m …

Interesting comments concerning this particular video which I am trying to get a url link on...

1. the HME and or military grade explosives or combination thereof being used in the SBVIED packs a punch not seen before during the US military time in Iraq.....based on the size of the VBIED being used....lately equaling from the videos... in the range of a 2 or 3 ton bomb impact
In late 2006 IS started using dump trucks carrying the equivalent of over 10 tons...in HME (home made explosives) which Is had gotten extremely good at doing as had a number of the Sunni insurgent groups...by 2010...they were producing literally tons of HME....

2. the departure celebration of the SVBIED driver is the same as seen in Iraq in the 2005/2006 timeframe

3. the Salafists have copied IS's use of the SVBIED as a tactical weapon....ie a human cruise missile used to destroy a key tactical point in the Assad defense lines....and lately hugely successful when employed in that tactical role...as it has led to a number of highly successful break throughs

4. since the opposition fighters have also been hit by the same IS tactic they have lately been very good at spotting and then destroying the IS inbound SVBIED...evidently using a sort of an anti SVBIED recon team....

When I have some spare time I will post comments on these individuals who volunteer on their own with no pressure to be a SVBIED driver taken from my interview experiences with them in Iraq....

Link for SVBIED attack video.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10cCz9OhMFc

[OUTLAW 09]

Stunning rebel advances in #Hama province continue.
Despite massive regime reinforcements, it lost #Souran.

Russian Deputy FM stated today that US and Russian military were meeting to hammer out whatever the joint concept is to be.....EVEN though DoD "claims" they were against the joint venture....????

BUT WAIT.....
Russia is under extreme pressure.
It either closes the rebel corridor to E #Aleppo or it has NOTHING to offer.

THAT is exactly WHY Putin and Assad are literally throwing armor and troops into a grinding "killing fields" environment and Assad regime troops are losing counterattack after counterattack with armor wrecks everywhere and in the end just weakening their overall fighting abilities in Aleppo....

That rebel held corridor is here to stay and is the political alternative to the Russian controlled Castello Road....

[OUTLAW 09]

Assad air force attacks on civilians in al-Ghantu (#Homs province) today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FccuRjO5ccg …

Pro-#Assad forces blocked the #Ramouseh corridor for some time.
Unclear if still.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu7_b18ZaoI …
Block was cleared....

[OUTLAW 09]

Kyle W. Orton ‏@KyleWOrton
My obituary for Taha Falaha (Abu Muhammad al-Adnani), one of #IS's most important members:
http://bit.ly/2bZqkbO

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels gains in #Hama show more #Assad benefit from @UN / @UNHCRinSYRIA aid ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HQ7KHtrO-o …

SDF/#YPG attack on Umm Hosh (north of #Aleppo) w/ #Russian air cover yday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9cBUzCoEfU …

Jaish Al-Nasr activist :
"We captured a warehouse full of ammo and light/medium weapons"

Syria Exodus from regime held villages north east of #Souran after more rebel-forces enter northern #Hama battle

[OUTLAW 09]

Ajnad al sham annouce they have captured Bizam hill, West of Ma'an in northern #Hama

Sham Legion seems to have been involved with the capture of Bizam hill as well. Seems more and more groups joining.

Sultan Murad and other forces continue to push with the Turkish army against IS. Turkish armor shown firing.
https://youtu.be/_XgeSvJg_bA

North Division #FSA destroy a regime bull dozer on al-Qrasi front with a TOW ATGM #Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIWNjtvrbLE …

Heavy regime shelling/airstrikes on the Village of #Skaik
https://youtu.be/DDUMUmo-2Bo

Engineering and Missle Batallion target #Daraa courthouse with a 122 mm cannon.

Red Crescent enters Houla in Northern #Homs with aid for residents
https://youtu.be/r4BQrKEpXr0

Charities begin project to turn abandoned and empty land inside of E. #Aleppo into farm land to relieve food shortages
https://youtu.be/UCPb5hKfvPQ

[OUTLAW 09]

Hezbollah is frustrated, they say they're Assad's vanguard, and they're losing battles in Aleppo
https://twitter.com/ajaltamimi/statu...43275134398464 …

Syria #Hama Rebels seized ammo/weapons depot ~5km NE of #Souran

[OUTLAW 09]

Secret exemptions in the 'Iran deal'. I guess Putin is not the only one bluntly lying to the public.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ir...+World+News%29 …

Huge regime attack on rebel held parts of south-west #Aleppo yesterday didn't show much results. They'll try again.
EVEN after almost human wave like ground attacks...they barely moved forward.

Not that anyone cares but the only bakery in Taftanaz that provides bread to 12K+ people was also directly bombed by the Russian airstrikes
Footage of the Russian attack with incendiary munitions in Taftanaz, rural #Idlib earlier today
https://youtu.be/EwKWPThnTsA

Multiple Russian airstrikes with incendiary & cluster munitions targeted civilian areas in Taftanaz & Binish in rural #Idlib

Looted Darayya furniture for sale in streets of neighboring town
http://syriadirect.org/news/looted-d...ghboring-town/ …
Looting and ethnic cleansing...go hand in hand in Assad/SDF controlled areas AND the WEST says nothin....

[OUTLAW 09]

Battle for Ma'an started.

Groups involved for this operation :
Ajnad Al-Sham
Jaish Al-Fateheen
Faylaq Al-Sham
Central Division

Ajnad al Sham showing off weapons captured in Ma'an surroundings #Hama

Rebels captured 4 positions West of Ma'an and also captured Tal Bazam fully.

[OUTLAW 09]

Regime forces flee from the town Maa’rdis and the factions advance to about 11 km away of #Hama city
http://www.syriahr.com/en/?

IS retook Wesiyê & Umm Qurah from #SDF/#YPG in orthern #Aleppo
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36...24598&z=14&m=b …

N. #Hama: Jaish Al-Nasr took out with a #TOW an armored vehicle w/ 23 mm gun N. of #Souran. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EMeruTK5hc …

Syria TOW hit regime BMP in northern #Hama
https://youtu.be/mjqD49RsOFo

Hama Rebels destroyed tank at Ma'ardas entrance
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35...55705&z=14&m=b …

Syria Truce now in #Homs suburb al-Waer

Hama al-Tarabee' Checkpoint south of #Halfaya taken by rebels
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=35...03806&z=16&m=b …

Syria Rebels storm barrier in northern #Hama
https://youtu.be/aiyrXONdGp8

Russian jets used cluster bombs vs. civilians in #Lataminah, far from the front.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yum9T_MO8Pg …

*relatively far.
Lataminah is 12 km from Souran.
Also crops near Kafr Zita, 15 km from Souran, were bombed.
https://youtu.be/gb2VjL9oSso

Su-24 bombs rebel troops north of #Souran.
Didn't help much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGnfYAGGym8 …

The manpower ratio in the Hama battle was between 1:5 to 1:10 in favor of pro-#Assad forces.
Determination is everything in that war ...

N. #Hama: some spoils made by Rebels today including several #ATGMs + launcher (#Metis-M & #Malyutka).

N. #Hama: Jaish Al-Nasr destroyed with a #TOW a moving BMP on highway N. of #Souran.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjqD49RsOFo …

[CrowBat]

The manpower ratio in the Hama battle was between 1:5 to 1:10 in favor of pro-#Assad forces.
Determination is everything in that war ...

I'm not sure if the manpower ratio was that high: the regime's side of this frontline is held by what is officially called '11th Armoured Division'. This is actually the HQ of the former 11th Armoured Division, controlling two 'brigade-like' formations (officially designated as the 66th and the 87th) consisting of IRGC-recruited & trained 'NDF battalions', that are actually militia of the SSNP.

In essence, these are Christian militias from north-western Hama, corsetted by whatever was left of the 11th AD after this was smashed in Idlib, in spring 2015.

'However'... While the 87th Brigade is including no less but three armoured and two infantry battalions, the tank battalions in question were down to about 20 vehicles each already by the time Russians rushed them into that offensive in October-November last year, in which they were decimated (mind the famous 'tank-slaughter' in northern Hama, back then). Similarly, the 66th Brigade is only about 1,000 strong.

Although the '11th' should still have its (depleted) artillery regiment, other units of that 'division' - such like the 47th Brigade or the 555th (Reserve) SF Regiment - were re-deployed elsewhere already in December last year.

That was one of major reasons why the second line of defence (the one about 9-15km north of Hama, and running, roughly, in west-to-east direction) is protected by elements drawn from the Russian 28th, 32nd, and the 34th Motor Rifle Brigades, and the 810th Marines Brigade.

Insurgents and Jihadists might have pitted as many as 4,000 own combatants against them. And the JAA blasted the way open by at least one massive VBIED, causing such a panic, that some of defenders are still running away, four days later.

So, I would say the balance of forces is quite equal, actually.

...or at least it was - until the regime began hauling all the additional gangs of its 'Volkssturm' into the area, two days ago (supposedly, they should now come under the command of Brig Gen Sohail 'Tiger' Hassan)...

...or at least until the Jaysh al-Izza, Jaysh an-Nasr, and Jund al-Aqsa (meanwhile reinforced by contingents from the Central Division, Faylaq ash-Sham and Ajnad ash-Sham) run into Russians, of course.

BTW, the latter is the probable reason for rumours about Russians 'offering ground troops' (to IRGC-controlled 'loyalists'). Namely, I guess, Moscow needs an 'excuse' to officially get its army involved in ground fighting (of course, actually, this is involved in ground fighting at least since battles in NE Lattakia, in November last year).

EDIT: for better understanding of what am I talking about here, below a map prepared back in November last year, and based on a Russian 'military map', officially released by Keystone Cops in Moscow (see: 'MOD'). It's a 'lil bit obsolete' by now, because some of mentioned units are not there any more, but essences of the 'loyalist' defence system in northern Hama are still the same.

[CrowBat]

...this is almost as when Rommel advanced in direction of Alexandria, after the VIII Army lost nerves at Marsa Matruh, back in July 1942...

Namely, after reports that the regime forces fled from the town Maa’rdis and the factions advance to about 11 km away of Hama city, there are meanwhile reports about the military telecom base atop Jebel Zain al-Abideen coming under 'heavy shelling' (by insurgents).

Mind: this is a dominant feature about 5km otuside of Hama (city limits).

Guess, somebody will have to rush plenty of (exhausted) forces from Aleppo, then even three battalion groups of the Russian Army might not be enough to stop this (all provided they're still where they used to be as of March-April this year).

Otherwise, Jaysh al-Izaa, Jaysh an-Nassr, Jund al-Aqsa & CO KG Gesmbh are going to drive all the way down to Hama...

[OUTLAW 09]

Is the UN in fact supporting Assad, Putin and Khamenei in a large scale ethnic cleansing of Arab Sunni's to change the demographics of Syria?????

Syria's opposition HNC on how the local truces are a cover for ethnic cleansing
THIS is exactly what the HNC is stating what the UN is up to.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian airstrikes also targeted a convoy of displaced civilians on the Souran Latamna road in rural #Hama, many killed inc. large number of children.

WILL NOT POST video and or photos....the children are burned beyond recognition as are their parents.....

Graphic & horrible photos of the aftermath of Russian airstrikes targeting displaced civilians today in rural #Hama

Airstrikes hit convoy of displaced people from #Soran town in northern #Hama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-c5Zj3lHEc …

[OUTLAW 09]

...this is almost as when Rommel advanced in direction of Alexandria, after the VIII Army lost nerves at Marsa Matruh, back in July 1942...

Namely, after reports that the regime forces fled from the town Maa’rdis and the factions advance to about 11 km away of Hama city, there are meanwhile reports about the military telecom base atop Jebel Zain al-Abideen coming under 'heavy shelling' (by insurgents).

Mind: this is a dominant feature about 5km otuside of Hama (city limits).

Guess, somebody will have to rush plenty of (exhausted) forces from Aleppo, then even three battalion groups of the Russian Army might not be enough to stop this (all provided they're still where they used to be as of March-April this year).

Otherwise, Jaysh al-Izaa, Jaysh an-Nassr, Jund al-Aqsa & CO KG Gesmbh are going to drive all the way down to Hama...

WOW....not confirmed....CrowBat..anything on your end on this field comment...looking for some sort of confirmation......

Rebels have completely liberated Ma’ardas in N rural #Hama & reports now that the Russian missile battalion in NE Ma’ardas has been captured

Syria #SAA Major General Ali Sharaf Makhlouf Commander of mech. brigade 87 (former in Wadi Deif base /Maart) killed in northern #Hama
Rebels shelling fortification on Mount Zayn al-Abdeen -protecting #Hama city behind
note Shiite Shrine on top

[OUTLAW 09]

Large number of Russian/Assad airstrikes across Hama, Aleppo, Idlib & Homs this morning

In #Idlib & suburbs Jisr al-Shugour, Bashiriya, Khan Sheikhoun, Kafr Sijna & Sheikh Mustapha were targeted. Even a sheep market was bombed.

Retired #Syria intelligence official murdered outside #Latakia
http://mme.cm/1LBW00

Map update2: North #Hama province Rebel offensive, #Syria #سوريا #حماة
http://mediafire.com/convkey/45c1/m5ttd7v8cres6ptzg.jpg …

Syria Rebels took silos near Mare' town in northern #Aleppo from #IS
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=de&lat=36...14384&z=16&m=b …

[OUTLAW 09]

Rebels started shelling Mt. Zayn al-Abdeen. IF the mountain base falls, liberation of #Hama can start.
Hama: Rebels heavily shelling Regime positions on Mount Zayn Al-Abdeen 5 km N. of #Hama
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35....765747&z=13&m …

S. #Aleppo: no Regime gain in 1070 Project & Artillery Base. Tells Oum Qara & Mahrouqat under pro-Regime control.

Syria #Hama Rebels took mills camp south of Ma'ardas

Syria #Assad regime lost 4 towns, lots villages & bases north of #Hama city -only in 4 days

Propaganda: pics of Regime forces in Arti Base from same vid showing them retreat under fire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXK2XC4CC6M …