On January 11, the Tiger Forces, the Syrian Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) launched a final push to recapture the strategic Abu al-Duhur Airbase from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in southern Idlib.
Government forces reached the airbase on January 10 after capturing the villages of al-Baiyaiyah, al-Dabshiyah, Zafr Sagheer, Zafr Kabeer, Bayaa Kabeera, Bayaa Sagheera, Um jorah, al-Buwyti, Rasm Ayed and Um Jareen. Since then, intense fighting has been ongoing in the area.
Separately, the SAA, the NDF and Liwa Fatemiyoun liberated Ramla, Muzayila, Nawara, Rasm Sheikh and Tall Sabha. Should government troops capture Mazyunah or Qital, they will cut off HTS forces in northeastern Hama from their counterparts in Idlib. In northeastern Hama itself, government forces already captured the village of Umm Myal.
Reports also appeared that HTS started withdrawing its forces from Hass Mount northeast of the Abu Duhur airbase preparing for an inevitable collapse of its defense there.
However, this still has to be confirmed.
The ISIS-linked news agency Amaq claimed on January 10 that ISIS members attacked the SAA south of the Abu al-Duhur Airbase, killed 3 SAA members and captured 5 others. ISIS used the collapse of HTS to expand own influence in the area. According to pro-opposition sources, the total number of ISIS fighters operating there had recently grown to 900. Most of them are defectors from HTS and other groups of the so-called moderate opposition.
Over 80 members of Ahrar al-Sham, Faylaq al-Rahman and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham have been killed and over 100 others have been injured in clashes near the Armoured Vehicles Base in Eastern Ghouta over the last few days, according to an officer of the SAA’s 4th Armoured Division contacted by SouthFront. However, fighting is still ongoing in the base area and government forces will need to contribute more efforts to secure it.
According to opposition sources, the Syrian Air Force carried out over 353 airstrikes on the militants’ positions in the last 11 days.
Jaish al-Islam also attacked positions of the SAA near the village of Ayn Zuriqa in Eastern Ghouta unofficially assisting to the Ahrar al-Sham-led attack on the Armoured Vehicles Base.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) released 400 former ISIS fighters a few weeks only after they had been captured, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on January 10. The SHOR added that 120 released ISIS members then joined the ranks of the SDF. Previously, the SDF released 75 former ISIS members on May 8, 2017 and 86 on November 8, 2017.
On December 16, the Russian military said that the US-led coalition uses the al-Hasakah refugee camp as a base for training former members of ISIS, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other militant groups.
Ex-Donald Rumsfeld Aide to Land Middle East Policy Job in Trump Administration
https://sputniknews.com/us/201801121060692520-rumsfeld-aide-middle-east-job-trump/
“A former adviser to neoconservative darling Donald Rumsfeld is slated to become one of the highest ranking policy officials for Middle Eastern affairs in US President Donald Trump’s administration, according to a new report.
David Schenker, a director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, is expected to be named assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, the Hill reported Thursday, citing senior administration officials. Schenker was an adviser to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld from 2002 to 2006, when the US began its years-long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2012, Schenker called for an end to “the gratuitous opposition to arming the Free Syrian Army” and advocated for Washington to “take the lead in vetting and providing units of the Free Syrian Army with the weapons required to more quickly end the war.”
As Max Abrahms of the Council on Foreign Relations and John Glaser of the American Enterprise Institute wrote in a December column: “contrary to analyst predictions, [Daesh] imploded right after external support for the ‘moderate’ rebels dried up… fewer weapon shipments into the theater, moreover, meant fewer arms fell into the hands of Salafi jihadists,” an extremely conservative movement within Sunni Islam.”
Gee what a surprise….but, but, wait, it weely is that deep state thingy.
Mercouris on the drone attack and Putin’s comments about it.
Putin: Turkey not responsible for drone attack; Russia knows who was
http://theduran.com/putin-turkey-not-responsible-drone-attack-russia-knows/
“In these comments – made whilst meeting Russian media chiefs in Moscow – Putin categorically ruled out the possibility of Turkey being involved
“There were some provocateurs, but they were not Turks. We know who they are, who paid who for this provocation and what the actual sum was.
As for this kind of incidents, there is nothing good about them. These are provocations aimed at destroying previous agreements
[Those actions were also aimed at undermining Russia’s relations with Turkey and Iran].
We understand it perfectly well so we will work together….
[The unmanned aerial vehicles used in the attack on the Russian base in Syria were only disguised as homemade but were actually furnished with high-tech equipment]
As for these attacks, they were undoubtedly prepared well. We know when and where these unmanned vehicles were handed over [to the attackers], and how many of them there were. These aerial vehicles were disguised – I would like to stress that – as homemade. But it is obvious that some high-tech equipment was used”
Here is what Major General Alexander Novikov, the head of the Russian General Staff’s department for the development of unmanned aerial vehicles, is reported to have said about the drones used in the attack
“The creation of drones of this class is impossible in an improvised manner. Their development and usage involved specialists, who had undergone special training in the countries manufacturing and using systems with unmanned aerial vehicles.
[The assembly and usage of unmanned aerial vehicles is a difficult engineering task that demands] special training, know-how in various scientific areas and practical experience in creating these devices.
Special software is also needed to use these drones. For efficient usage of ammunition information on exact target location and such parameters as altitude, flight and wind speed is required. This information cannot be obtained from the Internet.
Moreover, the explosives from the bombs carried by drones that attacked Hmeymim and Tartus bases in Syria cannot be made in makeshift conditions. There are several places where this substance is manufactured and one of them is Ukraine
Preliminary analysis has shown that the main explosive used in the bombs was pentaerythritol tetranitrate (also known as PENT, PENTA or TEN), which has a far higher yield than hexogen. This explosive is manufactured in a number of countries, including Ukraine’s Shostka chemical agents plant. It cannot be made in makeshift conditions or extracted from other ammunition,” he said.
Russia’s military has deciphered route data from the drones that attacked Russian bases in Hmeymim and Tartus in Syria, confirming that they had been launched from one place.
The slide shows deciphered data from the captured drones on their programmed and real flight routes and points of dropping munitions. One drones was equipped with a video camera and designed for controlling and adjusting the strikes if needed.”
Putin says that the Russians know which intelligence agency this was, and in truth it is not difficult to join up the dots.
Almost certainly the Russians believe it was the intelligence agencies of either Israel or of the US, and most probably of the US.”
Canthama reports on SyrPer: “Abu Duhur is almost fully secured …. al Qaeda seems lacking ability and capability to defend. Soon good news will come to all of the free world.”
Current situation in Idlib:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTRigRNWsAAwLq3.jpg
Jim W. Dean – Syria Fight for Peace While China Invites the CIA into the Silk Road Project
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/01/11/neo-syria-fights-for-peace-while-china-invites-the-cia-into-the-silk-road-project/
Russian MoD says it has killed group of militants who attacked its airbase in Syria
https://www.rt.com/news/415721-russian-mod-militants-killed-syria/
Russian MoD: Militant Group That Attacked Base in Syria Liquidated (VIDEOS)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201801121060708674-russia-base-attackers-destroyed-drones/
“The Russian Defense Ministry has announced that the group of militants that conducted a massive mortar attack targeting the Russian Hmeymim base in Syria on December 31 were eliminated in the course of a special operation.
“During the final stage of the operation, a group of Russian Special Operations Forces established the location of the subversive group of militants near the western border of the Idlib province. Upon the terrorists’ arrival at the facility where they were preparing to board to a minibus, the entire sabotage group was destroyed by a Krasnopol high-precision artillery shell,” the Russian military said in a statement.
According to the Defense Ministry, the operation involved all the forces and means of a multi-level system of Russian military intelligence in Syria.
Separately, Russian military intelligence units have discovered and destroyed a depot in the Idlib province controlled by so-called “moderate opposition” used to store strike drones used to attack two Russian bases in Syria on January 6, the ministry added.
“Russian military intelligence has uncovered the site where terrorists assembled and stored unmanned aircraft-type drones in the Idlib province. The depot was destroyed by high-precision artillery ammunition ‘Krasnopol’.”
The same ‘Krasnopol’ shell, which is a large-caliber howitzer-launched guided projectile, was also used in the operation, according to the Ministry.”
Photo of projectile:
https://cdn4.img.sputniknews.com/images/106071/00/1060710025.jpg
It appears the Russian military isn’t as ineffective as the various ub1s here would like us to think. ;-)
Syrian Deputy FM Urges US, Turkey to Withdraw Troops From Syria
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201801121060707224-syria-occupation-presence/
“Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad has urged Ankara and Washington to withdraw their troops from Syria, dubbing the presence “invasive.”
The presence of foreign forces on Syrian soil without permission from Damascus is “unacceptable” and will be regarded as an “occupation,” the top official said Friday as quoted by PressTV media outlet.
At the same time, al-Mekdad criticized UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura for “doing nothing” to solve the Syrian crisis.
At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement earlier this week that “United States’ claims that their troops are allegedly in Syria to fight terrorists are unconvincing and do not stand up to criticism.”
The ministry also noted that the Rukban refugee camp on the Syrian-Jordanian border was de-facto controlled by the US armed forces and the entrance to which was effectively banned for the Syrian government forces or representatives of Damascus.”
The refrigerator is empty and the “guests” are now eying the pets. Time for the “guests” to go back home.