The ISIS terrorist group has successfully counter-attacked in the province of Raqqa, re-taking from the Assad forces the Thawrah oil field, the Sfaiyeh oil field, the Sfaiyeh crossroads and Bir Anbaj.
How comes? Were SAA units not supposed to be “quite good” and IS ragtag outfit?
The SAA is “quite good” but IS is not ragtag outfit – not yet.
There was such an attack, but it was repelled:
“The ISIL offensives to penetrate into the government forces’ strongholds in al-Thowrah oilfield and along Ithriya-al-Rasafeh road were repelled by the Syrian army. Scores of the ISIL members were killed or wounded in the failed attacks and one of them was captured by the Syrian army.” http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950401001003
@anonymous..where’s the who, what, where, when ?? The 555th reg is airborne light infantry and is 1500 man strong and, as I read it, the SAA military structure shows it as part of the 4th mechanized division which has 5000-15,000 men.
Check out a map of that part of Syria, google earth it…lots of open spaces. Nobody can be everywhere at once, I suspect that the front lines are very fluid. From the SAA point of view it is better to retreat a few miles and solidify gains in other strategic places. This is my opinion as an observer, I have no actual military background and am interested in other people’s views on this.
“Russian and Chinese military forces now operating out of the Syrian port of Tartus and a Russian airbase in Latakia, Syria have enraged the CIA, Barack Obama, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia by hitting these Chechen and Uighur population centers. The Pentagon, which has provided military assistance to Uighurs and Chechens fighting under the banners of the Nusra Front and the Khorasan Group, both linked to Al Qaeda, complained that Russian war planes were striking Syrian “moderate” forces when, in fact, they were hitting Chechen and Uighur targets.”
Michele Flournoy, the US civil official predicted by many to head the Pentagon if Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton wins the US presidency in November, said she would alter American strategy to battle Daesh by assisting armed militias, called by Washington “moderate rebels,” to crush the legitimate Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
To justify her hawkish proposals, Flournoy took the traditional path, resorting to the Russian factor. She claimed that Moscow’s engagement since September 2015 in the war, at the invitation of the Syrian government, does not “support the kind of negotiated conditions we would like to get to.”
“Washington brilliantly conned Moscow into agreeing with the ceasefire in Syria in February, which provided a much-needed respite for opposition groups to recoup and regain some lost territories.”
The ISIS terrorist group has successfully counter-attacked in the province of Raqqa, re-taking from the Assad forces the Thawrah oil field, the Sfaiyeh oil field, the Sfaiyeh crossroads and Bir Anbaj.
How comes? Were SAA units not supposed to be “quite good” and IS ragtag outfit?
The SAA is “quite good” but IS is not ragtag outfit – not yet.
There was such an attack, but it was repelled:
“The ISIL offensives to penetrate into the government forces’ strongholds in al-Thowrah oilfield and along Ithriya-al-Rasafeh road were repelled by the Syrian army. Scores of the ISIL members were killed or wounded in the failed attacks and one of them was captured by the Syrian army.” http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950401001003
Reporters embedded with the SAA are saying the SAA 555th Regiment has been destroyed.
@anonymous..where’s the who, what, where, when ?? The 555th reg is airborne light infantry and is 1500 man strong and, as I read it, the SAA military structure shows it as part of the 4th mechanized division which has 5000-15,000 men.
Check out a map of that part of Syria, google earth it…lots of open spaces. Nobody can be everywhere at once, I suspect that the front lines are very fluid. From the SAA point of view it is better to retreat a few miles and solidify gains in other strategic places. This is my opinion as an observer, I have no actual military background and am interested in other people’s views on this.
“Russian and Chinese military forces now operating out of the Syrian port of Tartus and a Russian airbase in Latakia, Syria have enraged the CIA, Barack Obama, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia by hitting these Chechen and Uighur population centers. The Pentagon, which has provided military assistance to Uighurs and Chechens fighting under the banners of the Nusra Front and the Khorasan Group, both linked to Al Qaeda, complained that Russian war planes were striking Syrian “moderate” forces when, in fact, they were hitting Chechen and Uighur targets.”
CIA and Turks created caliphate to launch attacks on Russia and China
http://katehon.com/1227-cia-and-turks-created-caliphate-to-launch-attacks-on-russia-and-china.html
Michele Flournoy, the US civil official predicted by many to head the Pentagon if Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton wins the US presidency in November, said she would alter American strategy to battle Daesh by assisting armed militias, called by Washington “moderate rebels,” to crush the legitimate Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian men walk past a poster bearing a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad in the capital Damascus, on February 27, 2016, as the first major ceasefire of the five-year war takes hold and an international task force prepares to begin monitoring the landmark truce
© AFP 2016/ LOUAI BESHARA
How ‘Neocon-Hopeful’ Hillary Clinton Planned to Topple Assad
Speaking at a Center for New American Security (CNAS) think tank conference on Monday, Flournoy, a senior fellow of the organization, urged the US military to put boots on the ground in Syria to assist in toppling the al-Assad government, recently successful in reclaiming large areas of the country from Daesh.
To accelerate the defeat of the legitimate Syrian government, Flournoy introduced the notion of a “no bombing” zone for the moderate rebels. These so-called moderates are widely accepted as being, in reality, the US-backed armed militias that have been tearing the country apart since the beginning of the civil war in 2011.
To justify her hawkish proposals, Flournoy took the traditional path, resorting to the Russian factor. She claimed that Moscow’s engagement since September 2015 in the war, at the invitation of the Syrian government, does not “support the kind of negotiated conditions we would like to get to.”
A US fighter, who is fighting alongside with Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), carries his national flag as he stands with SDF fighters in northern province of Raqqa, Syria May 27, 2016
© REUTERS/ RODI SAID
US State Department Neocons Beating War Drums Over Syria, Memo Reveals
The “conditions” she was talking about remain unclear, especially in light of positive results brought about by the contribution of international militaries, including Russia, in stripping Daesh in recent months of 45 percent of the Iraqi territories and 20 percent of the Syrian lands it seized in 2014. Currently, the liberation of the crucial cities of Raqqah and Mosul from Daesh is being prepared, and is expected to inflict extensive damage on the extremists, according to Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Jamal.
The Pentagon, however, appears to have other plans in mind for Syria and Iraq. According to a CNAS report, prepared in cooperation with an “ISIS Study Group” co-chaired by Flournoy, Washington must “go beyond the current Cessation of Hostilities.” By that, the paper means a so-called no-bomb-zone, which suggests US retaliation against the Assad government, if Damascus continues to resist the American-backed militants. Proposed retaliation measures include airstrikes on “security apparatus facilities in Damascus.”
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160622/1041715790/michele-flourney-us-troops-syria-daesh.html
Iran just gave the US $25 million to buy Boeing planes. Why not Russian planes?
“Washington brilliantly conned Moscow into agreeing with the ceasefire in Syria in February, which provided a much-needed respite for opposition groups to recoup and regain some lost territories.”
http://atimes.com/2016/06/hawks-hog-the-syrian-skies-but-doves-need-not-despair/