On February 26, The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Free Syrian Army linked the TAF-held area in western Aleppo and southwestern Afrin after they had captured the village of Anqalah and nearby points from the Kurdish YPG.
On the same day, the TAF’s general staff said that 2,059 so-called ‘terrorists’ had been neutralized in Operation Olive Branch.
Meanwhile, reports appeared that the YPG is ready to hand over the city of Manbij to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) under a wide-ranging deal which would involve the Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance in preventing further Turkish advances in Afrin. However, these reports are still unconfirmed.
The Tiger Forces, the Republican Guard and their allies opened a new front against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham in Eastern Ghouta, attacking their positions northeast of the Armoured Vehicles Base. The main clashes in the area are taking place the Harasta and Dawahirah fronts.
A daily humanitarian pause from 09:00 to 14:00 (local time) started on February 27 in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus. The pause, announced by the Russian Defense Ministry on February 26, is intended to allow civilians to leave the areas where a fighting is ongoing.
However, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other militant groups, who all use civilians as human shields, have already started taking measures to prevent this.
Earlier, the White Helmets, an infamous pro-opposition Syrian ‘civil defense agency’, claimed that government forces had carried out a toxic gas attack on February 25 in the town of Al-Shifoniya in the Eastern Ghouta region, near the country’s capital of Damascus. It’s interesting to note that the claim came just few hours after the Russian Defense Ministry had warned that Eastern Ghouta militants were “preparing a provocation that will involve the use of chemical weapons.”
More claims about alleged chemical attacks and mass civilian casualties are expected to come as militant groups loose ground in the region. The goal of these claims will be to halt the SAA offensive or even to trigger US strikes on Syrian government forces.
Check the internet for the following search term: “U.N. Links North Korea to Syria’s Chemical Weapons Program”
I’m refusing to open the web sites of the NYT, WaPo and all the other trash talking sites, otherwise I would’ve provided some links myself.
The situation gets worse with each passing day.
Considering the fact that the CIA is very active in North Korea and likes to play with chemical weapons in Syria above headline is perfectly correct.
Current situation in East Goutha with approximate location of the humanitarian corridor:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXEw431X0AIC6dP.jpg
Slow but steady progress in SAA’s campain in East Goutha.
“Important development happening in East Ghouta tonight. As a consequence of recent advances in the past few days, the RGs and Tiger Forces managed to break through the terrorist’s lines in the very important Al Shifuniyal-Hawsh ad Dawahirah axis, allowing the forces to approach south of Al Shifuniyal with some fight inside it but still very uncertainty on the results inside the village.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=pt&lat=33.550122&lon=36.453238&z=14&m=b&gz=0;364404916;335414304;72526;184907;0;159516;63514;65097;215435;0;217151;72251
The map above shows how this advance is important for the the control of the largest military base inside the pocket and the air defense base as well. Both commands key areas of farms toward the urban section.
Few days ago we mentioned the division of the pocket in 3 quadrants and the possibility for the SAA to try to isolate the main civilians center of Douma, and the move tonight seems indicating the task is on the way.
Further southeast, Nashabiyah is basically physically cut off, the Tiger Forces are advancing toward Autaya, this is another very critical objetive, that once liberated there is only farms for kms, excellent for armoured vehicles. The red line below indicates the actions tonight, 1) to cut off Nashabiyah and 2) to liberate Autaya.”
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=pt&lat=33.525440&lon=36.474609&z=14&m=b&gz=0;364580011;335182487;224876;1431;51498;0;0;38640