Syria and allies Iran and Russia prepare for Aleppo offensive

[webfact]

Syria and allies Iran and Russia prepare for Aleppo offensive

DAMASCUS: -- Russian jets and Iranian soldiers are said to be getting ready to support a major Syrian army ground offensive in the northwest of the country targeting rebels in Aleppo.

The Kremlin says that two weeks of Russian strikes have been targeting the so-called Islamic State (ISIL)..

A group monitoring the war said ISIL fighters took partial control of two towns north of Aleppo before being pushed back.

Hama offensive in progress
Meanwhile in Hama province the Sryian army and its allies Iran and Russia have been trying to reverse rebel gains made over the summer.

Senior regional officials told Reuters news agency that Iran has sent thousands of additional troops in recent days to bolster the Hama offensive and to prepare for the one in Aleppo.

The Russian defence ministry said its warplanes made 41 sorties in the last 24 hours and attacked 40 ISIL targets.


-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2015-10-15

[AlexRRR]

And thats how it should be....let the neighbouring nations of Syria deal with the issues at hand....everyone else can butt out.

[craigt3365]

And thats how it should be....let the neighbouring nations of Syria deal with the issues at hand....everyone else can butt out.

Last time I looked at a world map, Russia wasn't a neighbor to Syria. So you are right. They should butt out.

[AlexRRR]

Your right of course but there a hell of a lot closer than the other interested party who shall remain nameless, should have said nations in Syria's region.

[webfact]

Iran sends fighters to Syria, escalating its involvement
By ZEINA KARAM and SARAH EL DEEB

BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of Iranian troops are being deployed in northern and central Syria, dramatically escalating Tehran's involvement in the civil war as they join allied Hezbollah fighters in an ambitious offensive to wrest key areas from rebels amid Russian airstrikes.

Their arrival, a regional official and Syrian activists said Wednesday, highlights the far-reaching goals of Russia's military involvement in Syria. It suggests that, for now, taking on Islamic State extremists in eastern Syria seems a secondary priority to propping up President Bashar Assad.

The development is almost certain to increase pressure on Western-backed rebels, who are battling multiple foes, and push more civilians out of the areas of fighting, potentially creating a fresh wave of refugees.

Russia began its air campaign Sept. 30, and Syrian troops and allied militiamen launched a ground offensive against rebels in central Syria a week later. Russia says its airstrikes are meant to weaken the Islamic State group and other "terrorists" in Syria, but Western officials and Syrian rebels say most of the strikes have focused on central and northern Syria, where the extremist group does not have a strong presence.

The official, who has deep knowledge of operational details in Syria, said the Iranian Revolutionary Guards — currently numbering around 1,500 — began arriving about two weeks ago, after the Russian airstrikes began, and have accelerated recently. The Iranian-backed group Hezbollah has also sent a fresh wave of fighters to Syria, he told The Associated Press.

Iranian and Syrian officials have long acknowledged Iran has advisers and military experts in Syria, but denied there were any ground troops. Wednesday's statements were the first confirmation of Iranian fighters taking part in combat operations in Syria.

The main goal is to secure the strategic Hama-Aleppo highway and seize the key rebel-held town of Jisr al-Shughour in Idlib province, which Assad's forces lost in April to insurgents that included al-Qaida's Nusra Front.

The loss of Jisr al-Shughour, followed by the fall of the entire province, was a resounding defeat for Assad, opening the way for rebels to threaten his Alawite heartland in the coastal province of Latakia. The official suggested the Syrian army's alarmingly tenacious position around that time is what persuaded the Russians to join the fray and begin airstrikes two weeks ago.

The Syrian government and Iran had been asking Russia to intervene for a year, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss military affairs. He said the Russian "tsunami wave" has given allies such as Iran the cover to operate more freely in Syria.

His account of Iranian troops arriving ties in with reports from Syrian opposition activists, who reported a troop buildup in the northern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported Wednesday that Iranian troops were arriving and being transported to a military base in the coastal town of Latakia, in the town of Jableh outside the provincial capital.

At least two senior Iranian commanders were killed in Syria in recent days, including Gen. Hossein Hamedani, a senior Revolutionary Guard commander, who died Oct. 8 near Aleppo.

"Syria will witness big victories in coming days," said Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, speaking Monday at Hamedani's funeral.

"Sending more troops from Hezbollah and Iran only increases the shelf life of the Syrian regime, which is destined to end," Maj. Jamil Saleh, the leader of Tajammu Alezzah, a CIA-backed Free Syrian Army faction, told the AP. "It will only add more destruction and displacement."

He said their presence in Syria is not new but had been kept quiet.

"Now they are taking cover behind Russia since it is a super power and strengthens their position," Alezzah said.

The Syrian army began its offensive a week ago against rebels on three major fronts in areas between Idlib and Hama. To the north, the Islamic State group capitalized on the strikes against rebels in northwestern and central Syria to capture a string of villages and a main military base from insurgents that brought them closer to Aleppo, Syria's largest city.

"They took advantage of the vacuum," said Lt. Colonel Ahmed Saoud, commander of 13th Division, a rebel group that is part of the Free Syrian Army. The group is a staunch IS opponent and operates in Aleppo.

J.M. Berger, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, said the moderate rebels "are in a pretty bad spot, unless the West is prepared to sponsor them over the long term in a full-on proxy war against the Russians."

Such support would be "a complicated proposition," he added, given that a lot of the materiel the U.S. has sent to moderate rebels has ended up in the hands of jihadists.

Mathew Henman, head of IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre, said the Russian airstrikes against more moderate, nationalist elements of the opposition has facilitated IS territorial gains in these areas, ultimately "leaving the government and its allies principally in a conflict with hard-line, fundamentalist actors."

The official who spoke to AP all but confirmed that the Islamic State is not the priority for the Syrian troops and their allies, saying most areas held by the group in eastern Syria are desert regions considered to be on the periphery.

A week into the multipronged offensive, insurgents say they are overstretched, exhausted and their ammunition is depleted. There have been hundreds of sorties in an area that stretches for about 60 kilometers (about 35 miles), and a significant mobilization of ground troops.

And yet, rebel commanders say the offensive has failed to dislodge the various insurgent groups from territory they control that leads to the heartland of Assad's power. The rebels are backed by the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, including some ultraconservative groups and al-Qaida affiliates.

Instead, the rebel groups are still pushing back. Some are using U.S.-delivered TOW anti-tank missiles, while others are resorting to tactics such as booby-trapped cars.

Charles Lister, a Syria expert at the Brookings Doha Center, said much will depend on how quickly and efficiently the rebels' weaponry can be replenished by the states supporting them.

The CIA-backed rebels shrugged off criticism of cooperating with al-Qaida.

Saoud, the 13th Division commander whose fighters received TOW missiles, said he worked in the same trench with a faction from the Army of Conquest. That umbrella group includes militants from the Nusra Front.

"There is now something bigger than our differences and disagreements. It is the Russian invasion," he said. "It is an emergency situation. Everyone would understand that."

Saoud said only one of his bases was hit by the Russians, with few casualties. The rebels have kept a lid on their casualty figures, just like the Syrian government.

"With all that firepower, with new launchers and a hail of airstrikes ... they were not able to advance," Saoud said of the government troops. "In my mind, that is a victory."


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-10-15

[ezzra]

And thats how it should be....let the neighbouring nations of Syria deal with the issues at hand....everyone else can butt out.

So according to you, every county in the world has the right to meddle in its neighboring country?

send troops, and armaments to fight on another sovereign country soil without the UN mandate

causing death and destructions at will?

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been removed.

[Orac]

And thats how it should be....let the neighbouring nations of Syria deal with the issues at hand....everyone else can butt out.

So according to you, every county in the world has the right to meddle in its neighboring country?

send troops, and armaments to fight on another sovereign country soil without the UN mandate

causing death and destructions at will?

It would depend if the sovereign government that is recognised by the UN had approved it or not surely - the UN mandate would only be a requirement if the sovereign government did not agree.

[NeverSure]

Putin and Iran are really beotch slapping Obama. This right after Obama's executive order lifting sanctions on Iran and giving them money.

BTW Iran has never signed that agreement even though the sanctions were lifted and they got the money. This is an agreement between Obama and himself, as no one else has agreed to it.

Now the arming of rebels is backfiring because Putin and Iran know that Obama won't do anything to them. It's probably not real smart to arm those people anyway. Sometimes what appears to be the lesser of two evils is still an evil.

What a mess. What a Real. Big. Mess.

[craigt3365]

Go get em Russia, good job. Most of the world not under Khazarian rule are with you.

Actually, most of the world not under the rule of a dictator are not with them.

[simple1]

Putin and Iran are really beotch slapping Obama. This right after Obama's executive order lifting sanctions on Iran and giving them money.

BTW Iran has never signed that agreement even though the sanctions were lifted and they got the money. This is an agreement between Obama and himself, as no one else has agreed to it.

Now the arming of rebels is backfiring because Putin and Iran know that Obama won't do anything to them. It's probably not real smart to arm those people anyway. Sometimes what appears to be the lesser of two evils is still an evil.

What a mess. What a Real. Big. Mess.

Iran has just agreed to the Nuclear Accord, so I assume, subject to final sign-off by IAEA, US sanctions will be lifted early 2016.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/nuclear-deal-wins-final-iran-approval-151014164725034.html

Interesting article talking to the realities of frozen Iranian assets and Iranian access to markets.

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/irans-frozen-assets-exaggeration-on-both-sides-of-the-debate

Getting back to the OP: With the deployment of Syrian militias with their known record of sectarian war crimes without doubt will add to the number of refugees crossing neighbouring borders and the flow on effect. Syrian Kurdish forces have announced they are coordinating with the US led coalition to launch an attack to retake the Daesh 'capital' Raqqa in the coming weeks; have to hope Russian intervention will not stop the offensive.

[khunken]

From the Op:

"Sending more troops from Hezbollah and Iran only increases the shelf life of the Syrian regime, which is destined to end," Maj. Jamil Saleh, the leader of Tajammu Alezzah, a CIA-backed Free Syrian Army faction, told the AP. "It will only add more destruction and displacement."

The CIA-backed rebels shrugged off criticism of cooperating with al-Qaida.

So amidst all the propaganda about the 'good' rebels, they are in bed with Al-Qaeda which indirectly means the CIA supporting their worst enemy. Or should that read former enemy.

[farmerjo]

Well its just about time for the Russians to blow an American plane out of the air in Syria and tell them to get out of the way.

If the Americans dont want to talk, they deserve what they get.

[Scott]

Troll post removed.

[Pakboong]

And thats how it should be....let the neighbouring nations of Syria deal with the issues at hand....everyone else can butt out.

Last time I looked at a world map, Russia wasn't a neighbor to Syria. So you are right. They should butt out.

looking at the same map, it appears that the USA is not really that close to Israel. Syria is a Russia ally in the same context. Russia has military bases in Syria and have for a long time.

[Aussieroaming]

This doesn't bode well for Syrian peace or word peace for that matter.

[craigt3365]

And thats how it should be....let the neighbouring nations of Syria deal with the issues at hand....everyone else can butt out.

Last time I looked at a world map, Russia wasn't a neighbor to Syria. So you are right. They should butt out.

looking at the same map, it appears that the USA is not really that close to Israel. Syria is a Russia ally in the same context. Russia has military bases in Syria and have for a long time.

So having a military base there is justification for bombing of innocent civilians there and massively supporting a brutal dictator? One of the worst in the world based on human misery? Impossible to justify that, right?

[Pakboong]

And thats how it should be....let the neighbouring nations of Syria deal with the issues at hand....everyone else can butt out.

Last time I looked at a world map, Russia wasn't a neighbor to Syria. So you are right. They should butt out.

looking at the same map, it appears that the USA is not really that close to Israel. Syria is a Russia ally in the same context. Russia has military bases in Syria and have for a long time.

So having a military base there is justification for bombing of innocent civilians there and massively supporting a brutal dictator? One of the worst in the world based on human misery? Impossible to justify that, right?

We don't agree but that is okay. I don't think it is our call regarding the evil dictator issue. If the UN gets involved and deems it appropriate, the UN will attempt to resolve the matter. My country and its allies have no authority to do anything. Russia is an ally and has been invited in to deal with the insurgents.

This matter gets difficult for me because I am an American and would like to have the moral high ground but I don't believe we do at this point in time. I would like to see us back out of this mess and let the UN deal with it.Obviously, Russia has every legal right to be in Syria and we do not. That is not an opinion, it is international law.

My end game is to stop WW3. We are much closer than people think IMO.

[Pakboong]

And thats how it should be....let the neighbouring nations of Syria deal with the issues at hand....everyone else can butt out.

Last time I looked at a world map, Russia wasn't a neighbor to Syria. So you are right. They should butt out.

looking at the same map, it appears that the USA is not really that close to Israel. Syria is a Russia ally in the same context. Russia has military bases in Syria and have for a long time.

So having a military base there is justification for bombing of innocent civilians there and massively supporting a brutal dictator? One of the worst in the world based on human misery? Impossible to justify that, right?

We don't agree but that is okay. I don't think it is our call regarding the evil dictator issue. If the UN gets involved and deems it appropriate, the UN will attempt to resolve the matter. My country and its allies have no authority to do anything. Russia is an ally and has been invited in to deal with the insurgents.

This matter gets difficult for me because I am an American and would like to have the moral high ground but I don't believe we do at this point in time. I would like to see us back out of this mess and let the UN deal with it.Obviously, Russia has every legal right to be in Syria and we do not. That is not an opinion, it is international law.

My end game is to stop WW3. We are much closer than people think IMO.

[simple1]

Last time I looked at a world map, Russia wasn't a neighbor to Syria. So you are right. They should butt out.

looking at the same map, it appears that the USA is not really that close to Israel. Syria is a Russia ally in the same context. Russia has military bases in Syria and have for a long time.

So having a military base there is justification for bombing of innocent civilians there and massively supporting a brutal dictator? One of the worst in the world based on human misery? Impossible to justify that, right?

We don't agree but that is okay. I don't think it is our call regarding the evil dictator issue. If the UN gets involved and deems it appropriate, the UN will attempt to resolve the matter. My country and its allies have no authority to do anything. Russia is an ally and has been invited in to deal with the insurgents.

This matter gets difficult for me because I am an American and would like to have the moral high ground but I don't believe we do at this point in time. I would like to see us back out of this mess and let the UN deal with it.Obviously, Russia has every legal right to be in Syria and we do not. That is not an opinion, it is international law.

My end game is to stop WW3. We are much closer than people think IMO.

Post removed to enable reply.

On the question of US led coalition forces operating in Syrian airspace, as well as some special forces for specific missions, the areas of attack within Syria have been legally defined as "ungoverned" as they are not under the control of a recognised State entity. The Iraqi government requested support to interdict Daesh forces so under international law US coalition forces are operating with a legal mandate, even in the event of committing ground forces to attack Daesh controlled areas within Syria. e.g. to establish safe zones for refugees in parallel to the Turkish and Jordanian borders.

Edited October 16, 2015 by simple1

[craigt3365]

Very interesting article. A must read!!

http://m.spiegel.de/international/world/a-1056263.html#spRedirectedFrom=www&referrrer=https://www.google.co.th/

Iran has long been sending troops and material to help Syrian autocrat Bashar Assad wage war against his own people. But now Tehran is busy establishing a state within a state -- which is why Assad now wants help from Russia.

It is, however, primarily in the civilian sector where significant changes are afoot. Just as in Damascus, Latakia and Jabla, increasing numbers of hosseiniehs -- Shiite religious teaching centers -- are opening. The centers are aimed at converting Sunnis, and even the Alawites, the denomination to which the Assads belong, to "correct" Shiite Islam by way of sermons and stipends. In addition, the government decreed one year ago that state-run religion schools were to teach Shiite material.