After Palmyra, Syrian troops take another IS-controlled town

[webfact]

After Palmyra, Syrian troops take another IS-controlled town
By ALBERT AJI and BASSEM MROUE

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A week after taking back the historic town of Palmyra, Syrian troops and their allies on Sunday captured another town controlled by the Islamic State group in central Syria, state media reported.

The push into the town of Qaryatain took place under the cover of Russian airstrikes and dealt another setback to the IS extremists in Syria. An activist group that monitors the Syrian civil war said that government forces are in control of most of the town after IS fighters withdrew to its eastern outskirts.

The advance came a week after Syrian forces recaptured Palmyra from IS and is strategically significant for the government side. The capture of Qaryatain deprives IS of a main base in central Syria and could be used by government forces in the future to launch attacks on IS-held areas near the Iraqi border.

Qaryatain used to be home to a sizable Christian population and lies midway between Palmyra and the capital, Damascus. Activists said last summer that Qaryatain had a mixed population of around 40,000 Sunni Muslims and Christians, as well as thousands of internally displaced people who had fled from the nearby city of Homs. Many of the Christians fled the town after it came under IS attack.

Dozens of Qaryatain's Christians and other residents have been abducted by the extremists. While the town was under IS control, some were released, others were made to sign pledges to pay a tax imposed on non-Muslims.

While IS extremists blew up and destroyed some of the world's most precious relics at Palmyra's archaeological sites during their 10-month reign there, the ancient Saint Eliane Monastery near Qaryatain was also bulldozed and destroyed shortly after IS took the town in August.

Christians make up about 10 percent of Syria's prewar population of 23 million people.

The Syrian army command said in a statement that troops have "restored security and stability to Qaryatain and farms surrounding it." The statement, read by an army general on state TV, said the oil and gas pipelines in the area will be secured and IS supply routes between eastern desert and the Qalamoun region will be cut.

A Syrian army general, speaking live from Qaryatain with the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV, said troops are now dismantling bombs placed by extremists and will prepare to launch fresh attacks on areas held by IS.

"Fighting was going from one house to another," another army officer told Al-Mayadeen TV also speaking from inside Qaryatain. He added that IS had suicide attackers who were trying to block the push by the army into the town.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said intense fighting was underway in Qaryatain as government troops fight to capture all parts of the town. The Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said that IS fighters are still in control of small areas east of the town but "are on the verge of collapse." Abdurrahman added that the extremists are withdrawing toward eastern parts of the mountainous Qalamoun region.

The Observatory reported later in the day that IS fighters have withdrawn from much of the town toward the eastern suburbs of Qaryatain.

IS has suffered major defeats in Syria in recent months amid intense airstrikes by Russian warplanes.

Earlier Sunday, the Observatory reported that fighting in northern Syria the previous day killed several fighters belonging to the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. Hezbollah has been fighting alongside President Bashar Assad's troops in Syria's civil war.

The Observatory said 12 Hezbollah fighters were killed and dozens were wounded in Saturday's attack by militants led by al-Qaida's Syria branch — known as the Nusra Front — on the northern village of al-Ais.

In southern Lebanon, social media postings on Sunday carried photos of seven Hezbollah fighters said to be among those killed in al-Ais.

Though Nusra Front is not part of a U.S.-Russia-engineered truce between the Syrian government forces and Western-backed rebels, the fighting has threated to undermine the cease-fire that has largely held for over a month.

Separately, a monitoring group said a leader of the Nusra Front was killed in a U.S. air strike Sunday in a northern part of the country along with his son and several other people.

The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites, says that Abu Firas al-Souri, a spokesman for the Nusra Front, was killed in the attack in the province of Idlib. The report could not be independently verified.
___

Mroue reported from Beirut.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-04-04

[craigt3365]

And in other news:

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/030420161

Russian-backed Syrian forces clear town of ISIS sixty miles west of Palmyra

I thought the Russians were drawing down?

[Usernames]

Looks like Putin was able to do what Obama, McCain, and the Neocons only blabbered on about doing. Wonder why?

[craigt3365]

Looks like Putin was able to do what Obama, McCain, and the Neocons only blabbered on about doing. Wonder why?

Because they had ethics and freedom of the press. Easy to commit crimes against humanity when nobody in your country can talk about, protest against, report the truth, or do anything else against the "master".

Amazing how some support the actions of Putin. How many innocent civilians are dead in Syria now due to Russian bombs????

[craigt3365]

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/18/middleeast/syria-khorasan-leader-killed/

The leader of an al Qaeda-linked group allegedly bent on attacking the West has been killed in an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition in Syria, U.S. officials said Sunday.

Sanafi al-Nasr, a Saudi citizen whose real name is Abdul Mohsen Adballah Ibrahim al Charekh, was the highest-ranking member of the Khorasan Group -- a collection of veteran al Qaeda jihadis which had moved into Syria, the Pentagon said in a statement.

He was killed in an airstrike in northwest Syria on Thursday, the statement said.

[Usernames]

Looks like Putin was able to do what Obama, McCain, and the Neocons only blabbered on about doing. Wonder why?

Because they had ethics and freedom of the press. Easy to commit crimes against humanity when nobody in your country can talk about, protest against, report the truth, or do anything else against the "master".

Amazing how some support the actions of Putin. How many innocent civilians are dead in Syria now due to Russian bombs????

So, ISIS is being pushed back. The mass slaughter of non-believers being stopped. And it's a crime against humanity. Got news for you. War is a crime against humanity. If you want to stretch things out over years and decades and see tens, if not hundreds, of thousands killed clinically, then do it the Obama/Neocon way. If you want the problem solved, then address the matter and go to the heart of it. That's how wars are won, as opposed to long drawn out, murderous, destructive police actions.

[how241]

Maybe the tide is turning.

[Johnpound46]

Looks like Putin was able to do what Obama, McCain, and the Neocons only blabbered on about doing. Wonder why?

Because they had ethics and freedom of the press. Easy to commit crimes against humanity when nobody in your country can talk about, protest against, report the truth, or do anything else against the "master".

Amazing how some support the actions of Putin. How many innocent civilians are dead in Syria now due to Russian bombs????

So, ISIS is being pushed back. The mass slaughter of non-believers being stopped. And it's a crime against humanity. Got news for you. War is a crime against humanity. If you want to stretch things out over years and decades and see tens, if not hundreds, of thousands killed clinically, then do it the Obama/Neocon way. If you want the problem solved, then address the matter and go to the heart of it. That's how wars are won, as opposed to long drawn out, murderous, destructive police actions.

So it would be OK with you if ISIS (or anyone else that Putin sees fit to bomb into smithereens) had invaded your neck of the woods and Russia carpet-bombed the whole lot and wiped out most of your family and friends? It got the job done, the bad guys are gone, so what's the problem, right?

[Grouse]

This is REALLY complex issue. On the one hand, I am delighted to witness the demolition of ISIS. On the other hand, I despise Assad and Putin.

I think the West now knows that it is unrealistic to get rid of the world's bad guys. Contain them yes, but if you remove them, who is going to take over? This where Bush senior got it right and George W got it so wrong

These days, I think Americans generally are tired of being the world's policeman. And who can gain say that? However, by not responding after a line in the sand was drawn, the West generally lost the initiative

So now we NEED to control the final solution. That's going to require massive soft power from USA and EU. We can crush Assad's and Putin's nuts. Solution will require splitting up Syria (and Iraq) into independent (possibly federated states ( including Kurdishstan)

Next time, DONT draw a line in the sand without backing it up. School boys know that!

[Hammock]

This is REALLY complex issue. On the one hand, I am delighted to witness the demolition of ISIS. On the other hand, I despise Assad and Putin.

I think the West now knows that it is unrealistic to get rid of the world's bad guys. Contain them yes, but if you remove them, who is going to take over? This where Bush senior got it right and George W got it so wrong

These days, I think Americans generally are tired of being the world's policeman. And who can gain say that? However, by not responding after a line in the sand was drawn, the West generally lost the initiative

So now we NEED to control the final solution. That's going to require massive soft power from USA and EU. We can crush Assad's and Putin's nuts. Solution will require splitting up Syria (and Iraq) into independent (possibly federated states ( including Kurdishstan)

Next time, DONT draw a line in the sand without backing it up. School boys know that!

The only thing the USA can do - splitting and destroying countries. Bravo!

[Steely Dan]

I don't trust the Russians as far as I can throw them. Here is one view that the Arab league special ops troops are the ones taking ISIS to the cleaners. There is also a mention of Alawites finally cutting Assad loose. Whatever the truth is I think the Syrian war is thankfully coming to a close.

http://www.thomaswictor.com/terminators-begin-final-phase/

[geriatrickid]

Looks like Putin was able to do what Obama, McCain, and the Neocons only blabbered on about doing. Wonder why?

Because they had ethics and freedom of the press. Easy to commit crimes against humanity when nobody in your country can talk about, protest against, report the truth, or do anything else against the "master".

Amazing how some support the actions of Putin. How many innocent civilians are dead in Syria now due to Russian bombs????

So, ISIS is being pushed back. The mass slaughter of non-believers being stopped. And it's a crime against humanity. Got news for you. War is a crime against humanity. If you want to stretch things out over years and decades and see tens, if not hundreds, of thousands killed clinically, then do it the Obama/Neocon way. If you want the problem solved, then address the matter and go to the heart of it. That's how wars are won, as opposed to long drawn out, murderous, destructive police actions.

I draw your attention to the many, many protests , usually violent that the left wing and "moderates" held in the west to protest against any action taken by the west against ISIL. None of these people protested against Russia. None of these people launched court challenges either. The west undertook great expense and effort to avoid the death of non combatants. The Russians don't care.

[Thorgal]

Looks like Putin was able to do what Obama, McCain, and the Neocons only blabbered on about doing. Wonder why?

Because they had ethics and freedom of the press. Easy to commit crimes against humanity when nobody in your country can talk about, protest against, report the truth, or do anything else against the "master".

Amazing how some support the actions of Putin. How many innocent civilians are dead in Syria now due to Russian bombs????

So, ISIS is being pushed back. The mass slaughter of non-believers being stopped. And it's a crime against humanity. Got news for you. War is a crime against humanity. If you want to stretch things out over years and decades and see tens, if not hundreds, of thousands killed clinically, then do it the Obama/Neocon way. If you want the problem solved, then address the matter and go to the heart of it. That's how wars are won, as opposed to long drawn out, murderous, destructive police actions.

I draw your attention to the many, many protests , usually violent that the left wing and "moderates" held in the west to protest against any action taken by the west against ISIL. None of these people protested against Russia. None of these people launched court challenges either. The west undertook great expense and effort to avoid the death of non combatants. The Russians don't care.

Palmyra was captured by ISIS on 21st of May 2015. To know that the ISIS militias were capturing the towns between Raqqa and Palmyra with little or no resistance from the Allied Coalition.

Many crimes against humanity were perpetrated before the fall of Palmyra, while a top EU and NATO delegation was singing 'We are the world' in Istanbul...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/world/europe/nato-officials-sing-we-are-the-world-at-summit-in-turkey.html?_r=0

It took the Russians and Syrian armies some six months to establish in 3/4 of Syria some military stability that was really needed like OP.

Russian targets were all military targets. The FSA can't be seen as civilians...

Edited April 4, 2016 by Thorgal

[arjunadawn]

Looks like Putin was able to do what Obama, McCain, and the Neocons only blabbered on about doing. Wonder why?

Because they had ethics and freedom of the press. Easy to commit crimes against humanity when nobody in your country can talk about, protest against, report the truth, or do anything else against the "master".

Amazing how some support the actions of Putin. How many innocent civilians are dead in Syria now due to Russian bombs????

Its clear from this and other posts you think strongly on this issue, and opposite to me and some others. Noting some behavior of Putin that posters support, and juxtaposing it with dead civilians, does not make posters support Putin in spite of those dead.

Putin did not cause the problem in Syria. Its only feebly argued now, but the west did in extending its contrived Arab Spring and Circle of Pearls strategy to break Iranian hegemony. For years it appeared Obama dithered until he finally conceded last year he had no strategy at all. How exasperated must citizens get? Putin, a late arrival to the Syrian debacle, articulated goals, executed the goals, and appears to be carrying it out. The behavior alone, the discipline alone, contrasts with failing leadership of the West.

I do not think any support innocents dying, or repression of "truth" at home. Also, It is hard to indict Putin without appropriate context: Obama drone strikes has killed thousands of people and kills innocents 90% of time. Its hard to rationalize the failed qualities of anyone else in this game besides the leader of the USA. Much of what you say about Putin may be true; it just pales beside the US and its allies.

IMO, the US/West is also complicit in erasing history. I have spent a very long time around world militaries and without question once it was realized that ancient sites such as this were a target, and forces moving in to destroy, all avenues of approach could have been destroyed indefinitely by air alone, or so terribly interdicted as to make them re think their tactics. While DAESH is solely responsible, the West is grossly complicit.

[gerry1011]

Looks like Putin was able to do what Obama, McCain, and the Neocons only blabbered on about doing. Wonder why?

Because they had ethics and freedom of the press. Easy to commit crimes against humanity when nobody in your country can talk about, protest against, report the truth, or do anything else against the "master".

Amazing how some support the actions of Putin. How many innocent civilians are dead in Syria now due to Russian bombs????

Personally I support Putin.

- IS has been gaining ground for months, causing death and misery everywhere.

- The west did not stop IS progression because it would have indirectly helped Assad. Death and misery did spread even more because of the west's inaction.

- The Russians decided to do something about it.

- Since then IS is quickly losing ground.

- And on top of that the Russians initiated the ceasefire between Assad and the rebels.

As a European I feel happy that Putin came up to stop the IS massacres, made so that the US and Europe came back to a more sensible position (except the UK that stubbornly keeps focusing on Assad), brokered a ceasefire, and keeps helping the Syrian Army to push back and destroy IS.

I wonder how big IS territory would be now if the Russians had not intervened.

Edited April 4, 2016 by gerry1011

[craigt3365]

Palmyra was captured by ISIS on 21st of May 2015. To know that the ISIS militias were capturing the towns between Raqqa and Palmyra with little or no resistance from the Allied Coalition.

Many crimes against humanity were perpetrated before the fall of Palmyra, while a top EU and NATO delegation was singing 'We are the world' in Istanbul...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/world/europe/nato-officials-sing-we-are-the-world-at-summit-in-turkey.html?_r=0

It took the Russians and Syrian armies some six months to establish in 3/4 of Syria some military stability that was really needed like OP.

Russian targets were all military targets. The FSA can't be seen as civilians...

The UN Security Council was trying to stop the flow of arms into Syria. Guess why it didn't work. Russia vetoed the action. Along with China:

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/09/09/2587861/brief-history-russia-blocking-international-action-syria/

Too much money involved for Russia...

Sorry, but to say Russian targets were all military targets is trolling. Impossible to carpet bomb and only hit military targets. This carpet bombing is what's fueled the exodus of innocent civilians. Horrible.

[craigt3365]

Personally I support Putin.

- IS has been gaining ground for months, causing death and misery everywhere.

- The west did not stop IS progression because it would have indirectly helped Assad. Death and misery did spread even more because of the west's inaction.

- The Russians decided to do something about it.

- Since then IS is quickly losing ground.

- And on top of that the Russians initiated the ceasefire between Assad and the rebels.

As a European I feel happy that Putin came up to stop the IS massacres, made so that the US and Europe came back to a more sensible position (except the UK that stubbornly keeps focusing on Assad), brokered a ceasefire, and keeps helping the Syrian Army to push back and destroy IS.

I wonder how big IS territory would be now if the Russians had not intervened.

If the West had gone in like Putin did, and killed masses of innocent civilians. You'd be OK with that? No complaining? Just congratulating Obama for a good job?

I can guarantee the citizens of each of those countries involved would have protested violently and forced the bombing to stop. Which is great! That can't happen in Russia as Putin owns the media and doesn't allow dissenting protests. He controls what's published and it ain't always the truth.

[happy Joe]

...These days, I think Americans generally are tired of being the world's policeman...

Yes.

I also think that the world is tired of the US policeman.

In this case, Russians have shown that with very much lower means they are more effective.

ISIS is the result of multiple western interventions in North Africa under the aegis of the United States. It is high time now to replace the captain.

[mrwebb8825]

Personally I support Putin.

- IS has been gaining ground for months, causing death and misery everywhere.

- The west did not stop IS progression because it would have indirectly helped Assad. Death and misery did spread even more because of the west's inaction.

- The Russians decided to do something about it.

- Since then IS is quickly losing ground.

- And on top of that the Russians initiated the ceasefire between Assad and the rebels.

As a European I feel happy that Putin came up to stop the IS massacres, made so that the US and Europe came back to a more sensible position (except the UK that stubbornly keeps focusing on Assad), brokered a ceasefire, and keeps helping the Syrian Army to push back and destroy IS.

I wonder how big IS territory would be now if the Russians had not intervened.

If the West had gone in like Putin did, and killed masses of innocent civilians. You'd be OK with that? No complaining? Just congratulating Obama for a good job?

I can guarantee the citizens of each of those countries involved would have protested violently and forced the bombing to stop. Which is great! That can't happen in Russia as Putin owns the media and doesn't allow dissenting protests. He controls what's published and it ain't always the truth.

Yea, that worked during viet nam didn't it?

I have an idea; why don't we get a petition together to have the "war mongers" in syria fighting isis to all take a break while we let you go in and talk them down?

[craigt3365]

Yea, that worked during viet nam didn't it?

I have an idea; why don't we get a petition together to have the "war mongers" in syria fighting isis to all take a break while we let you go in and talk them down?

Actually, protests had a major influence on ending the Vietnam war.

http://socialistworker.org/2007-1/615/615_08_Vietnam.shtml

FROM 1965, when the first U.S. combat troops landed in Vietnam, to 1973, when the last troops left, there were thousands of protests, large and small, against the Vietnam War. These protests grew from representing a small minority of American students to the majority of the country.

While the major force to defeat the U.S. was the Vietnamese resistance struggle itself, the American antiwar movement--one of the most successful in history--played a major role in ending the war.

I remember these well. They were all over the country. Gotta love freedom of the press and freedom of assembly.

There are no easy answers to the problem in Syria. Just saying carpet bombing innocent civilians isn't a good solution. Which is agreed by every Western nation.

[Usernames]

Looks like Putin was able to do what Obama, McCain, and the Neocons only blabbered on about doing. Wonder why?

Because they had ethics and freedom of the press. Easy to commit crimes against humanity when nobody in your country can talk about, protest against, report the truth, or do anything else against the "master".

Amazing how some support the actions of Putin. How many innocent civilians are dead in Syria now due to Russian bombs????

So, ISIS is being pushed back. The mass slaughter of non-believers being stopped. And it's a crime against humanity. Got news for you. War is a crime against humanity. If you want to stretch things out over years and decades and see tens, if not hundreds, of thousands killed clinically, then do it the Obama/Neocon way. If you want the problem solved, then address the matter and go to the heart of it. That's how wars are won, as opposed to long drawn out, murderous, destructive police actions.

I draw your attention to the many, many protests , usually violent that the left wing and "moderates" held in the west to protest against any action taken by the west against ISIL. None of these people protested against Russia. None of these people launched court challenges either. The west undertook great expense and effort to avoid the death of non combatants. The Russians don't care.

I very much agree with you. And I even made precisely this point on TVF when Putin first announced his Syrian intervention. You can't bomb your enemy with food and medicine and expect to win. But American intervention, it seems, must always be characterized as an aid program, instead of a fight, and, as such, since Korea, most major American actions dither, wilt, and end in failure.