The Syrian Arab Army (SAA), backed up by the Tiger Forces and the National Defense Forces, have liberated the town of Busra al-Harir, the village of Malihat al-Atash and advanced in the direction of the villages of al-Hirak and Nahita.
In Busra al-Harir, government troops captured at least 5 battle tanks – one T-72AV, one T-72 and three T-55M, which had been abandoned by retreating militants.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) carried out limited counter-attacks but failed to stop the government advance.
Meanwhile, pro-government sources said that the SAA is developing a new advance in an attempt to capture the siols and the Gharaz prison southeast of the city of Daraa. The goal of the advance is to outflank the militant-held part of Daraa and to cut off it from the village of Elnaymah, which is the main militant stronghold east of the provincial capital.
Two helicopters of the US-led coalition have evacuated two ISIS commanders from the area of Twaimin in the Syrian province of al-Hasakah, the Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported on June 25 adding that the goal of the move is “prolonging terrorist war on Syria”. The terrorists were allegedly transported to a US military facility in al-Shaddadi.
The Syrian government, Iran and Russia have repeatedly accused the US-led coalition of providing at least indirect assistance to ISIS terrorists. The SANA has released a number of reports saying that aircraft of the coalition evacuate ISIS members from the combat zones in Syria to the coalition-occupied areas.
The US-led coalition officially rejects all the accusations claiming that this is just a propaganda. At the same time, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have released a number of statements accusing the SAA and Russia of cooperating with ISIS and supporting the terrorism.
A weak media response of the coalition and the SDF to the SANA accusations is linked with the fact that almost all the remaining strong points of ISIS in eastern Syria are located on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, declared by the coalition as its zone of responsibility.
Thus, on one hand, the coalition is not hurrying up to fight ISIS because this move will undermine its already weak justification of the military presence in Syria. On the other hand, it has to show that it is fighting ISIS in an attempt to hide its current goals – to prevent the restoration of the Syrian territorial integrity under control of the Damascus government, to limit the Russian influence in the region and to assist Israel in opposing Iran.
The now 1-week old agreement to keep Iran & Hezbollah out of Southern Syria (1), continues to produce quick and decisive outcomes. The anti-Assad forces counted on Israeli/Syrian enmity to keep Syrian air power away. Assurances that the offense is Iran-free allowed Syrian aircraft & helicopters to operate freely near the border catching enemy forces on the ground in exposed positions.
So far the only controversy seems to be that Syrian forces grabbed a U.N. observation post. (2) No one is escalating the issue, which strongly indicates that an indirect back-channel between Syria and Israel is defusing tensions even though there is no direct contact.
In other related news, the John Bolton to ‘Russian officials’ contact expected today was up-rated to a personal meeting between Bolton and Putin (3). One has to imagine that Iran and Syria were discussed, but as yet no detailed contents of the meetings has hit the wires.
Prospects for continuing U.S.- Russian cooperation in the region and globally look good.
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(1) http://www.newsweek.com/iran-hezbollah-pull-back-israeli-border-russia-request-syrianwatchdog-group-989909
(2) https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/06/25/syrian-military-takes-over-abandoned-un-post-near-israeli-border/
(3) https://www.rt.com/news/431047-bolton-visit-russia-preview/
Prospects for continuing U.S.- Russian cooperation in the region and globally look good.
Really? Perhaps that’s why Medyedev has ordered anti-US sanctions to be prepared.
https://www.rt.com/politics/431050-russia-extension-sanctions-medvedev/
Tha AZ Empire has been at war with Russia ever since Crimea or even earlier; certainly after Crimea. Not a shooting war but a war nevertheless — a socio-economic and diplomatic war. Sanctions mean war. Why can’t we get our heads around that? Japan entered the Pacific War because economic sanctions were strangling it. The only difference is, we live in a different age now — the nuclear age — and that’s why great powers like Russia and China are treading carefully with the American bully. They know they’re dealing with a state that had no compunction in using nuclear weapons twice. Were there no nuclear weapons in the world, I have no doubt the RF and China would be slugging it out with US/Nato somewhere already. Such are the provocations the RF and China are facing from the Empire which, despite the dangers of nuclear war, is piling on as if there’s no tomorrow (pun intended).
In south Syria, the RF made a deal with the Jewish state and Iran — what’s the point of talking to the ZOG in Washington when RF can talk to the master? True to form, the US/Nato/Saudi/Israeli coalition have left the deluded terrorists fighting a bogus ‘jihad’ to hang out to dry and, also so true to form that’s it’s become predictable, not before evacuating the leaders first.
basil
New article from Elijah Magnier regarding the battle for southern Syria and overall implications. Uncle $cam’s doting over his spoilt brat of a nephew, Little Izzie, may land Uncle in trouble with the Law over Izzie’s theft from a neighbour:
“It seems once more that the US is not learning from past experience. Washington is taking off the gloves, and when US politicians arm terrorists for their own benefit and that of their allies in the Middle East (particularly Israel), morals and ethics go out of the window, and there are no limits. The US forces could land in serious jeopardy in Syria and Iraq.”
https://ejmagnier.com/2018/06/27/the-most-complicated-battle-of-southern-syria-us-forces-under-threat-due-to-israeli-interference/
Eastern Daraa.
Done deal. The SAA is fielding an impressive fighting force. Russia onboard. RuAF CAS support. Hezbollah & Iranian presence is purely symbolical. The Zionist proxy jihadis will fold quickly.
Western Daraa.
An altogether different animal. Israeli military doctrine demands a buffer zone between the buffer zone of occupied Golan heights and Syria. Russia will hesitate to get involved at this geopolitical hot spot beyond policing, negotiations, reconciliations, and the like.
Eastern Daraa – Zionist Proxies Collapsing as Expected.
“The situation in eastern Daraa is developing very fast, it seems now that the terrorists defenses collapsed all together in Hirak, west, south and east of it, as per the map below.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=32.706422&lon=36.256943&z=11&m=b&gz=0;362006378;326512274;267791;1129539;1847076;1143974;1867675;739706;1201629;369929;418853;0;0;0;34332;653053
Should this be confirmed until tomorrow, it means the SAA is now near Saida, the Daraa city eastern gate.
The confirmation can not be made right now since it is a mix of SAA at some villages door and civilians kicking the terrorists out, such as the people in Western & Eastern Ghariyah that have raised in support of Syrian Government. As tomorrow breaks, it will be clear whether these up rising are succeeding in pushing the terrorists out or the SAA would have to force them out. Excellent developments in southern Syria.” (Canthama)
Western Daraa – Civilians Fleeing to Gov. Controlled Areas.
“On western Daraa, thousands of civilians are either fleeing to the Syrian Government controlled area or rising against the terrorists, the two important villages of Ibtta and Dael are once again pushing the terrorists out (they tried in 2016 and many civilians were killed for it), after the SAA beat the terrorists in the epic battle of Shaykh Miskin.” (Canthama)
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=32.738772&lon=36.206818&z=11&m=b&gz=0;361017608;327003554;13732;1094291;20599;0;590515;410155;769042;1010607;473785;1166427
Another Ka-52 Attack Helicopter Crew Returns To Russia From Syria
“On Wednesday, the helicopter was prepared for transportation and loaded into an Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane at the Hmeymim airfield,” the ministry said. “By now, the pilots and the helicopter have returned to their home base in Russia.”
According to the ministry, the crews continue to return from Syria. Fifteen aircraft, aircraft maintenance personnel and medics have already returned to Russia.
https://southfront.org/another-ka-52-attack-helicopter-crew-returns-to-russia-from-syria/