Syrian Civil War: News #9

KiloGolf wrote:There can be no effective fire control on the Ramouseh route opened by the terrorists. The area is way too densely built-up and provides cover to convoys. The result:

Hassan Ridha ‏@sayed_ridha  2 hours ago
Food from Idlib enters eastern Aleppo through Jaish Fateh corridor after breaking siege

https://twitter.com/sayed_ridha/status/762273942341955585

Congrats to SAA & friends on the ground.

That looks like cheap propaganda. Besides there are 300,000 people supposedly stuck in east Aleppo, and one "liberated" road. You need semis to sustain that population, not pickups.

zorobabel wrote:SVBIEDs can be stopped with a pair of balls and a bit of discipline. The YPG have proved that time and again.

And simple WW2 era anti-tank obstacles. Government bases and vital infrastructure on or near the frontlines are virtually naked of any kind of fortification whatsoever, it's all barrels and at best some weak trenches. Mines, claymores and other types of DIY booby traps are unknown words to the SAA (Snapchat Arab Army).

higurashihougi wrote:Syrian Army units comprised mostly of the elite Desert Hawks and the Syrian Marines captured Toubal Castle and Huwaysat Shams Mt. in Jabal Al-Akrad region of northeastern Latakia.

"Desert Hawks", "Syrian Marines"

lets not forget hipster Selfie Delta Force, Twitter Juicing battalions and Special Beard Operators.

Zivo wrote:That looks like cheap propaganda. Besides there are 300,000 people supposedly stuck in east Aleppo, and one "liberated" road. You need semis to sustain that population, not pickups.

Not really, it's the reality as of nearly 24 h ago. There is a solid land route established, and snapchat brigades were simply brushed aside by the terrorists. Pickups are only a start, tunnels will follow.

calm wrote:

Something on this map tells me the terrorists gladly exchanged the naked, exposed route in the north to hugely built-up and urbanised territory on the south. They ended up with more turf in Aleppo, of much more strategic importance.

KiloGolf wrote:

calm wrote:

Something on this map tells me the terrorists gladly exchanged the naked, exposed route in the north to hugely built-up and urbanised territory on the south. They ended up with more turf in Aleppo, of much more strategic importance.

Seriously, this is by far the biggest military f*ckup in recent human history and one of top 5 overall.

After months of combat SAA managed to put rebels in far better position than they could have hoped even in their wildest dreams.

I will no longer refer to rebels as terrorists. It is evident that they are well trained, dedicated and extremely competent fighting force. Results speak for themselves. In the middle east they are second only to Israel Defence Force.

Also, calling any of the SAA monkey corps ''elite'' is some serious comedy material.

PapaDragon wrote:

KiloGolf wrote:

calm wrote:

Something on this map tells me the terrorists gladly exchanged the naked, exposed route in the north to hugely built-up and urbanised territory on the south. They ended up with more turf in Aleppo, of much more strategic importance.

Seriously, this is by far the biggest military f*ckup in recent human history and one of top 5 overall.

After months of combat SAA managed to put rebels in far better position than they could have hoped even in their wildest dreams.

I will no longer refer to rebels as terrorists. It is evident that they are well trained, dedicated and extremely competent fighting force. Results speak for themselves. In the middle east they are second only to Israel Defence Force.

Also, calling any of the SAA monkey corps ''elite'' is some serious comedy material.

They are terrorists but these operations prove they can also operate as competent insurgent fighting force. And before anyone talks about those monster VBIEDs and saturation attacks, well their side doesn't quite have an air force, capable to deliver half a dozen of 500, 1,000 or 2,000 lb bombs within minutes. So they use a great amount of equally potent VBIEDs to smash enemy lines. This is how war works, nothing trivial about it. And SAA incompetence is what leads to these defeats, no uber weapon is employed to justify their poor performance. It's all the same since ages ago, just different delivery method.

KiloGolf wrote:

PapaDragon wrote:

KiloGolf wrote:

calm wrote:

Something on this map tells me the terrorists gladly exchanged the naked, exposed route in the north to hugely built-up and urbanised territory on the south. They ended up with more turf in Aleppo, of much more strategic importance.

Seriously, this is by far the biggest military f*ckup in recent human history and one of top 5 overall.

After months of combat SAA managed to put rebels in far better position than they could have hoped even in their wildest dreams.

I will no longer refer to rebels as terrorists. It is evident that they are well trained, dedicated and extremely competent fighting force. Results speak for themselves. In the middle east they are second only to Israel Defence Force.

Also, calling any of the SAA monkey corps ''elite'' is some serious comedy material.

They are terrorists but these operations prove they can also operate as competent insurgent fighting force. And before anyone talks about those monster VBIEDs and saturation attacks, well their side doesn't quite have an air force, capable to deliver half a dozen of 500, 1,000 or 2,000 lb bombs within minutes. So they use a great amount of equally potent VBIEDs to smash enemy lines. This is how war works, nothing trivial about it. And SAA incompetence is what leads to these defeats, no uber weapon is employed to justify their poor performance. It's all the same since ages ago, just different delivery method.

...and it only cost them 2,000+ casualties.

Don't treat this like some masterstroke, a week ago the Aleppo front was collapsing, and they had to pull soldiers from other important fronts to reinforce it. This offensive was an act of desperation, and they won it through suicide bombers and costly human wave tactics. And this route is equally exposed, it still has to cross through the west Aleppo countryside.

The biggest disappointment is the SAA could not repeat their successful defenses, like they have at Deir Ezzor.

Haraket al-Nujba, Iraq's Hezbollah, has announced that they are sending 2,000 fighters to reinforce Aleppo. Which if accurate, would open the door for a counterattack given that the rebels started with 5,000 fighters.

Zivo wrote:...and it only cost them 2,000+ casualties.

Don't treat this like some masterstroke, a week ago the Aleppo front was collapsing, and they had to pull soldiers from other important fronts to reinforce it. This offensive was an act of desperation, and they won it through suicide bombers and costly human wave tactics. And this route is equally exposed, it still has to cross through the west Aleppo countryside.

The biggest disappointment is the SAA could not repeat their successful defenses, like they have at Deir Ezzor.

2,000 casualties is very low given the scale and importance of the ground gained. This is SAA turf under control since 2011, where supposedly defense and fortifications were expected to be awesome, at the very least.

Then we have an opposition side that keeps thousands of fighters on standby holidays in Turkey, en-route from EU, Russia and 'stans or fully trained and kitted up next door in Idlib (a region virtually immune to government operations). By the end of the month, if not sooner, these losses on insurgents and kit will be replaced and bankrolled courtesy of Gulf economies.

As I said before, delivering 500 kg or 1000 kg of explosives, be it via air or VBIED makes no difference. Concerning human waves, I never really saw such footage. Using superior numbers of infantry properly =/= human waves, they just could pull it off. Unlike SAA that seems to know nothing on how to fortify/defend strategic locations along the front lines, as we saw on the footage.

Also a pro-SAA city filled with citizens and tribesmen vs. IS foreigners is very different to SAA defending their own bases and ending up running away within hours.

Zivo wrote:.........

The biggest disappointment is the SAA could not repeat their successful defenses, like they have at Deir Ezzor.

I am still baffled by the fact that that place is still holding. Must be something in the water. Probably combination of ISIS halfassing it and SAA having no place to run otherwise they would have been half way to Kabul by now.

KiloGolf wrote:
.......... . By the end of the month, if not sooner, these losses on insurgents and kit will be replaced and bankrolled courtesy of Gulf economies.
.............

Next month? They will be replaced long before the end of next work week.

When it comes to speed, rebels are putting early Wehrmacht to shame:


Ivan Sidorenko ‏@IvanSidorenko1

#Syria #Syr#Aleppo Militants announce start of phase 4 and reports claim they are trying to break into #Hamindiyah from Two Axis

https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1

PapaDragon wrote:
When it comes to speed, rebels are putting early Wehrmacht to shame:


Ivan Sidorenko ‏@IvanSidorenko1

#Syria #Syr#Aleppo Militants announce start of phase 4 and reports claim they are trying to break into #Hamindiyah from Two Axis

https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1

Wonder where their tactical expertise and intelligence comes from. Home grown?

I am still baffled by the fact that that place is still holding. Must be something in the water. Probably combination of ISIS halfassing it and SAA having no place to run otherwise they would have been half way to Kabul by now.

I think it's a combination of the Euphrates on one side, and open desert to the west. Hard defenses work if properly prepared.

2,000 casualties is very low given the scale and importance of the ground gained. This is SAA turf under control since 2011, where supposedly defense and fortifications were expected to be awesome, at the very least.

Roughly half of the forces they sent are gone. All to restore the same situation they had a month ago, albeit with a south route instead of the north.


Jets pound rebels after they break Aleppo siege

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-aleppo-idUSKCN10I0M2

...But fierce fighting and continuous Russian and Syrian air strikes in and around the Ramousah area mean no safe passage for besieged east Aleppo residents has been established, activists and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"We have now seized full control of the Ramousah area...We are in our trenches but there are insane air strikes of unprecedented ferociousness. The regime is using cluster and vacuum bombs," said Abu al Hasanien, a senior commander in Fateh Halab, the coalition of moderate rebel groups inside the city.

Zivo wrote:Roughly half of the forces they sent are gone. All to restore the same situation they had a month ago, albeit with a south route instead of the north.

Given the scale and size of the war, such losses for such a result (supply route + SAA bases eliminated), in the largest city of the country are very low.

KiloGolf wrote:

Zivo wrote:Roughly half of the forces they sent are gone. All to restore the same situation they had a month ago, albeit with a south route instead of the north.

Given the scale and size of the war, such losses for such a result (supply route + SAA bases eliminated), in the largest city of the country are very low.

They still have to hold the ground they gained. If by tonight they cannot maintain their momentum, we will be able to better gauge their ability to maintain the narrow corridor they control.

There is rumor Russia refuses to give air support in southern Aleppo because Hezbollah is there because of Israel pressure. WTF? Why would Israel dictate Russians what to do? If Israel tells Putin to kill himself, Putin has to do it? Israel is an enemy of Russia simply because Israel is an ally of the US. When was the last time Israel ever bought a Russian made hardware? Never. Israel only has a few million people. Iran and Iraq have hundreds of millions of people. Iran and Iraq are enemies of Israel. Russians have to pick sides. Either Iran and Iraq or Israel. The choice is clear.

However I doubt this rumor is true. Syria is an enemy of Israel and if Russia does what Israel tells Russians what to do, Russians would not be helping Syria in the first place.

AlfaT8 wrote:Ok, where to start:
1) Whether the siege is broken or not cannot be confirmed so we'll have to wait till the dust settles.
2) For the siege to be broken just because of VBIED is just insane, do you guys have any godly idea how many RPGs are littered across the ME.
3) 2,000+ dead "rebels" is not a low number, and let them bring there reserves from Turkey, more meat for the grinder.
4) The thought of the Russian airforce "abandoning Allepo" while there are so many targets gathered in one area is insane, this is the RuAF not the USAF.
5) Why do people underestimate the 36th stratagem.

+1 on all points.

JohninMK wrote:

PapaDragon wrote:
When it comes to speed, rebels are putting early Wehrmacht to shame:
Ivan Sidorenko ‏@IvanSidorenko1
#Syria #Syr#Aleppo Militants announce start of phase 4 and reports claim they are trying to break into #Hamindiyah from Two Axis
https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1

Wonder where their tactical expertise and intelligence comes from. Home grown?

We all know answer to that but it is just detail at this point.

This is pretty much same situation as in 1999. during Serbia-NATO war.

Our guys were on border with Albania defending against this same bunch of mid east nobodies recruited, financed, equipped and transported into Albania by Saudis with the sole purpose of breaching the border. Nothing more. We are talking about literally same set of beardies as today who came from the same places in middle east. Only difference is that they were transported into Balkans instead of Levant.

And for three months straight they tried to breach the border with far superior numbers, intel and weaponry than today's rebels across the terrain that offered lot more opportunities for concealment.

And they all got obliterated. This was with entire NATO air fleet supporting them from above. I am talking about our troops surviving and defending the border while they had squadrons of A-10 Warthogs hitting their positions from the air.

Seeing SAA failing so miserably against much weaker force than 99' Jihad Road Show, all the while having all possible advantages and not a single disadvantage simply bogles the mind.

PapaDragon wrote:

JohninMK wrote:

PapaDragon wrote:
When it comes to speed, rebels are putting early Wehrmacht to shame:
Ivan Sidorenko ‏@IvanSidorenko1
#Syria #Syr#Aleppo Militants announce start of phase 4 and reports claim they are trying to break into #Hamindiyah from Two Axis
https://twitter.com/IvanSidorenko1

Wonder where their tactical expertise and intelligence comes from. Home grown?

We all know answer to that but it is just detail at this point.

This is pretty much same situation as in 1999. during Serbia-NATO war.

Our guys were on border with Albania defending against this same bunch of mid east nobodies recruited, financed, equipped and transported into Albania by Saudis with the sole purpose of breaching the border. Nothing more. We are talking about literally same set of beardies as today who came from the same places in middle east. Only difference is that they were transported into Balkans instead of Levant.

And for three months straight they tried to breach the border with far superior numbers, intel and weaponry than today's rebels across the terrain that offered lot more opportunities for concealment.

And they all got obliterated. This was with entire NATO air fleet supporting them from above. I am talking about our troops surviving and defending the border while they had squadrons of A-10 Warthogs hitting their positions from the air.

Seeing SAA failing so miserably against much weaker force than 99' Jihad Road Show, all the while having all possible advantages and not a single disadvantage simply bogles the mind.

Without Serbian arms like mortars and mortars rounds in the hands of terrorists, Syria would not in the same shape today. What's with the backstabbing? Russians abandoned Serbs so Serbs backstab Russians?

calm wrote:

That very same map.. IF  Accurate.. Shows , that there is STILL
another siege in the north. As long Terrorist in aleppo blocked from Turkey supply lines ,
their logistics will be a nightmapre , Those supplies moving to Aleppo central city ,if manage
to get inside aleppo ,will weaken the fronts and supplies in all other places.

This means that the supplies of the aleppo terrorist are not unlimited ,but very limited
because their route to turkey is broken. So any supplies to them will have to come from very far routes on cars and trucks. from lebanon or from IRAQ , will be too far and limited supplies. The real supplies routes Syria needs to cut are either Turkey supplying northern Syria and Jordan
supplying southern Syria. Lebanon apparently already was cut by hezbolah the supply lines.

So the logistical problems for the terrorist are far from Over. They had to lose a lot of soldiers and many more wounded. This war is far from over. The only thing that have been seriously damaged is the image of Russia. That its airforce showing weakness in stopping terrorist advances.  There is even claims /allegations , that you cannot dismiss easily , saying that Russia
refused to bomb Alnusra weeks ago ,when the defense minister reported/detected the concentrating 8,000 forces . So if Russia detected so many terrorist ,then why Russia allowed
them to Group and do the assault?  Because Kerry don't wanted it?  There is serious questions
being asked about Russia role in this assault in Aleppo , and as far im aware , you cannot dismiss too easily the claims that Russia abandoned Syrian army , when was being attacked by
Kerry sponsored terrorist he calls moderates.

Whatever it is , Russia is showing too much weakness in Syria. Perhaps is a strategy they have we are not aware. but dont think so. seems more like Russia was treated with supplying lethal weapons to ISIS and other terrorist by Americans if bomb Alnusra and Russia is capitulating to american demands.  Really can't wait to see that incompetent President kicked from power.

The major message Russia is sending to the world ,to any European or nation in the world ,who will like to be closer to Russia is that ,if americans start a proxy war ,against your country.. that your country will be doomed. Because not even Russia will be able to help you. And that Russia will capitulate one way or the other to some American demands , that will ultimately cost many
thousands of civilians lives.  Later Putin the Genius-NOT , do not understand why no one takes seriously Russia interest in the world. when they are the first ones that submit to American demands on many things. The war in Syria ,clearly shows Russia is not a truly independent nation , not yet. and still depends on the west. It cannot even properly defend an ally being attacked by NATO for fear of being isolated from the western business with sanctions. another evidence why Russia needs to become a fully independent nation and totally independent
from Americans , and develop its own technology and  business and with a Nationalized bank.

The only possible solution for Russia to be really strong in the future ,and have to ask permission no one ,to defend its security and development ,is TRUE Independence.
When no longer its economy depends on business with US and Europe.

This could be interesting, first Obama on Thursday now Turkey saying the same. Erdogan talking to TASS ahead of his trip on Tuesday to Russia. Bit more at link

The Turkish President sees the failed coup attempt as an opportunity to start a fresh relationship with Russia despite the tragic past. "This will be a historic visit, a new beginning,” said Erdogan. “At the talks with my friend Vladimir (Putin), I believe, a new page in bilateral relations will be opened. Our countries have a lot to do together."

Ankara has also acted to show their support of re-establishing connections with Russia by backing Moscow’s position on the crisis that ravages on the other side of the Turkish border in Syria.

"Without Russia’s participation it’s impossible to find a solution to the Syrian problem," said Erdogan. "Only in partnership with Russia will we be able to settle the crisis in Syria."

In the past, Turkey has opposed the Russian position of backing President Bashar al-Assad in order to stabilize the country with the primary focus being to root out the specter of Daesh terrorism first and foremost. Instead, Ankara has long prescribed to the Washington consensus opinion that ousting Assad will somehow create a more democratic society that will absolve terror’s stronghold in the country.

http://sputniknews.com/russia/20160808/1044037001/erdogan-putin-russia-turkey-diplomacy.html

Following the debacle

The 'Nimr' Tiger ‏@Souria4Syrians 3h3 hours ago

General Ziad Saleh is now head of #Aleppo's security committee replacing General Adeeb Mohammed after jihadist gains