If you’re able, and if you like our content and approach, please support the project. Our work wouldn’t be possible without your help: PayPal: southfront@list.ru or via: http://southfront.org/donate/ or via: https://www.patreon.com/southfront
Voiceover by Harold Hoover
Government forces have repelled a large-scale ISIS advance in the area of Humaymah and the T2 pumping station at the Syrian-Iraqi border.
The advance started on Wednesday with an attack by ISIS suicide bombers and 5 vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. The terrorists reportedly took 3 Syrian Arab Army (SAA) checkpoints, but failed to develop the advance. Pro-government troops, backed up by the Russian Aerospace Forces, counter-attacked and forced the terrorists to retreat.
According to ISIS, over 70 government fighters were killed in the clashes. Maj General Ghasan Yunis was reportedly among the killed servicemen. In turn, pro-government sources claimed that the SAA killed up to 80 ISIS members, destroyed several vehicles, and seized 11 other vehicles. The numbers provided by both sides look overestimated.
In July, the Russian Defense Ministry released a map showing the T2 pumping station and the village of Humaymah as being under the control of the SAA. However, in reality, both sites remain in the hands of ISIS despite SAA attempts to liberate the area.
The situation remains complicated in the area of Sukhna. ISIS continues counter-attacks on government troops in the town and prevents them from removing IEDs planted by terrorists and establishing fortifications. Thus, the area is now unsecured and ISIS stands a chance of taking back Sukhna.
In the city of Raqqah, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have isolated the old part of the city from the southern direction after retaking the whole Hisam Abdulmalik district. Now, the SDF will likely focus on breaking the ISIS defense inside Old Raqqah. If this area falls, ISIS will likely not be able to keep control over the rest of the city for much longer.
The Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported that Israeli officials held a series of secret meetings with representatives from the US and Russia regarding the cease-fire in southern Syria. Israel pushed the agenda of reducing the Iranian influence in Syria and of withdrawing Iranian and Iranian-backed forces from the war torn country as a key issue of the ceasefire. However, Tel Aviv failed to achieve its goal. This leak most likely shows that Israel is now preparing for further actions in order to defend that which it sees as its own interests in the region.
Significant ISIS ‘casualties’? Would be great if this one resource wasn’t effectively inexhaustible. The wahhabi idiots are cannon fodder- but sadly the ruination of once nice regions of the Middle East and North Africa and Asia by Tony Blair and the other demons of the Deep State ensures that for 50+ years the high birth rates and poverty in these places will replace the cannon fodder faster than they can be killed.
And the Israeli story is a MI6 red herring. Yes the infinitely vile Israel supports ISIS and assists the wahhabi butchers in ever small way. But the sum total of Israel’s direct involvement in the wahhabi terror activities are less than 1% of the West’s overall efforts.
Britain and America (and their direct proxies) are the 99% force behind wahhabi recruitment, training, arming. funding, and salaries. Tony Blair smashed Iraq to provide a factory for sunni terror manufacture directly aided by the new influx of Saudi money. Tony Blair invaded Iraq to persecute the sunni population to such a degree, a whole new way of thinking would infect large parts of it. And Iran (to its shame) was a willing ally in this endeavor.
Iran got to see its regional enemy bashed years after the USA supported Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war. And Iran fell into a very neat trap it now spends so much time trying to extract itself from.
Religious Iran is now in once secular Syria and Iraq- just as the Deep State wanted. Iran’s long standing policy of non-interference is dead and buried. The Deep State needs the region to ***want*** war with Iran and only a sea change in the political currents of the region could achieve this.
The biggest problem is this. Since the USSR collapsed, the world is no longer ‘bi-polar’. Russia is willing to stand up for nothing but its own direct interests and refuses to be an ‘Empire Power’ offering a choice from the West. So no nation can ‘align’ with Russia- Putin won’t allow it. Which means target states can ***try*** to be independent (like a N Korea, Iran or Venezuela), or choose to join the West. But an indy state has no way to ultimately defend itself against the West.
Most of the Middle East is in the pocket of the West. The bits that aren’t have been systematically destroyed. And Russia has usually voted at the UN for West resolutions that have assisted this destruction. In fact Russia still thinks the boundaries of the Ancient Roman Empire define the West’s rightful sphere of influence- and that already includes the entire Middle East and N Africa.
This means the coming war with Iran is seen by most players (Russia included) as the inevitable completion of the post-WW2 West’s Empire consolidation of its natural assets in the Middle East. The history of the Turkish Empire doesn’t alter this thinking- cos to Russia Islam was originally just another ‘church of Rome’. The catholic faith for Roman Empire West/ And the islamic faith for Roman Empire East.
Russia cares only for its traditional lands- and trading projects with the new economic powers. Likewise China. The rest of the Earth is at the mercy of the Deep State of the UK and USA- and mid to long term this certainly includes Syria.
Russia won’t stand with Iran, and the West intends to destroy Iran as a path to direct conflict with Russia. This is the irony. Only by doing everything to prevent a war on Iran will Russia ensure the West won’t/can’t attack Russia. Maybe decades later the Deep State could find a route for war with Russia that doesn’t first require war with Iran, but for the next 20 years at least a safe Iran is a safe Russia.
PS N Korea is also a red herring- the biggest. The West has moved all of its important engineering to the Far East, and will never risk its ‘factory district’. N Korea is the living definition of ‘blowhard’ – and while Korea is still prevented from reunifying because of the presence of the US military, Japan is happy and stable. Japan is a societal powderkeg nuked up to the nines. In any significant region war, Japan would even consider escalating to allow it to nuke rival no.1- China- in the fantasy of making Japan the dominant regional power again. The post-WW2 ‘stability’ of the Far East is the West’s proudest creation- and the West will do everything in its power to keep the status quo.
Attacking N Korea can never maintain the status quo unless the attack is a charade organised between the West and N Korea’s leadership- followed by a rapid ‘peace treaty’ that has the West funnel into N Korea tons of goodies that pacifies things for another good chunk of years. But while the zionist mainstream media reports on N Korea make you take your eye off the ball, new plans are being made and executed. And they include the option of a new ‘9/11’ to provide the justification for war with Iran.
So the question is once more on the table. How are the ISIS fighters being reinforced. According to all the maps we see they are losing out in Iraq. So the fighters there “should” be busy fighting for their lives as the Iraqi forces advance. They only have small areas of the Jordanian border under their control. So how hard would it be for Russian air forces to watch that area. And to get from anywhere else they would have to go through SDF or SAA controlled territory. One would think they could be seen and stopped if that was how they were coming through. Then there is the air. I would hope that Russian and Syrian radar would pick up planes flying in,and prevent that. So once again,we need the answer to how they are getting in. And who needs to be shot for allowing them in. I’m tired of hearing that ISIS constantly gets reinforcements coming to them. It seems to me that shooting the officers in charge of the areas they are coming through.Just might be the answer to the problem of them getting in.Their replacements might just be better at working to stop that with that “incentive” hanging over their heads.
I agree that there is something not right. I do wonder, though, whether the pattern of advances by the SAA is designed to draw ISIS fighters from their stronghold. Better to deal with them in the desert than in Deir Ezzor.
Would love to see an analysis by someone in the know.
\
Nobody controls the desert. These colors on the map are Just isolated outposts and the occasional way station.
ISIS is getting supplies. They are getting supplies from HTS sympathizers in idlib, and they are getting supplies from Jordan to the south. They are running supplies right thru red territory unseen.
They have billions of dollars in arms and money stock pilled, and such stored weapons is what the Russian and Syrian air forces have been bombing. ISIS also has arms manufacturing facilities taken over from the Iraqi and Syrian governments and machinery supplied by the Hegemon and ISISI still gets air drops from the Hegemon and full resupply including pay, for ISIS units along the proven by the fact they can go on the offensive against the SAA and maintain battle along many km of front lines. There are unlimited capitals and unlimited mercenaries to go and fight for a couple of dollars per month, and this will continue as long as the government tactics will let ISIS to withdraw, and not terminating them, sending the message that joining ISIS means getting Israeli border. So ISIS is not running out of any ammo etc. Maybe man power, but not ammo an One Way ticket to the HELL.