Syrian War: News #14

Another Syrian 1* dying, setting an example at the front.

Hassan Ridha‏ @sayed_ridha 7h7 hours ago

Hassan Ridha Retweeted Hassan Ridha

Brigadier General Suheil Hamoud of the 18th Division martyred near Sukhnah, east Homs

I thought that this was in SDF hands! Its on the south side of the Euphrates in Raqqa.

Coming from a couple of differenf Syrian reporters.


Ivan Sidorenko‏ @IvanSidorenko1 4h4 hours ago

#Syria #Raqqa #Tribal_Forces Says Once Again Al-Itihad University in Kasret Afnan near the mountain is captured by #SAA & #Tribal_Forces



http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.890580&lon=39.005499&z=14&m=b




EDIT

Maybe this is relevant

Syrian Civil War Map‏ @CivilWarMap 48m48 minutes ago

Information by @CENTCOM regarding the de-confliction line between the SDF and the Syrian Arab Army

Bit late, from yesterday, but excellent video of RuAF hit on what was definitely an ammo truck.

RusSyrianWariors‏ @Ruswariors 14h14 hours ago

Russian air strike: #RuAF annihilated car with ammunition #ISIL south #Raqqa #Syria #Russia #Rakka #ISIS #IS #داعش

https://twitter.com/Ruswariors

Meanwhile not so good today, an attack in the rear.

BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:20 P.M.) – The ISIS terrorist group has launched a massive assault on positions of the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) Republican Guard east of the strategic crossroad town of Resafa.

According to preliminary reports, the attack is multi-pronged and so far the Republican Guard has lost seven men killed in action.

The specific detachment of the Republican Guard currently enduring the ISIS assault is the 124th Special Forces Brigade.

The Republican Guard claims to have so far destroyed one Toyota pickup and a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle (reportedly taken out in a minefield sown by the 124th Brigade) belonging to the terrorist group as well as killing and injuring dozens of its jihadists.

Finally, Republican Guard accounts of the battle claim that the 124th Brigade has so far ceded no points or positions to attacking ISIS militants.

Interesting development, starting from the beginning

Turkey Leaks Secret Locations of U.S. Troops in Syria
Ankara has long been angered by the alliance between Washington and Kurdish factions. But a new report exposing secret American bases is a dangerous way to strike back.
Roy Gutman 07.19.17 1:00 AM ET http://www.thedailybeast.com/turkey-leaks-secret-locations-of-us-troops-in-syria

ISTANBUL—In the latest display of Turkish anger at U.S. policy in Syria, the state news agency has divulged the locations of 10 U.S. military bases and outposts in northern Syria where the U.S. is leading an operation to destroy the so-called Islamic State in its self-styled capital of Raqqa.

The list published by the Anadolu news agency points to a U.S. presence from one end to the other of the Kurdish self-administration region—a distance of more than 200 miles. The Anadolu news agency even listed the number of U.S. troops in several locations and in two instances stipulated the presence of French special forces.

Turkey has openly criticized the Trump administration—and the Obama administration before it—for relying in the battle against ISIS on a militia led by Kurds affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK. A separatist movement now at war with Turkey, the PKK has been listed by the U.S., EU, and Turkey as a terror organization.

To avoid the appearance of allying with such a group, the U.S. military set up the Syrian Democratic Forces, which have a large component of Arab recruits. But they are led by officers from the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian affiliate of the PKK.

Although Turkey’s powerful president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, regularly vents his anger at the U.S., it is still highly unusual for a NATO ally to reveal details of a U.S. military deployment during active operations in a war zone. But the U.S. operation in Syria is in many respects an unusual case. Not only is the United States acting against the express wishes of NATO ally Turkey, which says its national security is directly endangered, it’s also operating without the permission of the Assad regime.

After a meeting Monday evening, Turkey’s National Security Council charged that weapons provided to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia had come into the possession of the PKK. “This shows that both are the same organization,” it said, adding that other countries were using a “double standard” for terror groups, an apparent reference to the U.S. alliance with the YPG militia.

The U.S. has denied repeatedly that arms it is supplying to the Kurdish fighters have seeped into the PKK war against the Turkish state, and the Turkish government did not back up its allegations with evidence.

Two U.S. bases in Syria—in Rmeilan, in northern Hasaka province, and Kharab Ishq, near Kobani in Aleppo province—already were well-known before Anadolu published them. Anadolu said Rmeilan, in Syria’s oil-producing district, was set up in November 2016, and is big enough to handle transport aircraft, while the base south of Kobani, set up in March 2016, is used only by military helicopters.

The eight outposts, often hidden behind signs warning of a “prohibited area,” are being used both for active military operations, such as shelling into the city of Raqqa, and for desk jobs such as training and operational planning, the report said. It claimed bases used for military operations house artillery batteries with high maneuverability, multi-barrel rocket launchers, various mobile equipment for intelligence, and armored vehicles for general patrols and security.

In Hasaka province, the U.S. has three outposts, all used to train Kurdish militia members, according to Turkish security officials. Anadolu even gave the number of U.S. Special Forces troops it believed were stationed at two of the three outposts.

There are three U.S. military outposts in Syria’s Raqqa province, Anadolu said. French special forces troops are stationed at two of them. It said one of the locations serves as a communication center for the International Coalition fighting ISIS and is also used to disrupt ISIS communications.

In Manbij, which the Kurdish YPG militia captured last August, the U.S. now has two outposts. The U.S. sends out patrols, the agency noted acerbically, to protect the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) forces from Syrian rebels operating out of the Turkish controlled part of Syria known as the Jarablus pocket.

Turkish security officials confirmed the accuracy of the Anadolu list to The Daily Beast. The publication is certain to spark ire in the U.S. military, which is leading the operation against ISIS.

Spokesmen for Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS, and for the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, asked The Daily Beast not to publish the detailed information reported by Anadolu. “The discussion of specific troop numbers and locations would provide sensitive tactical information to the enemy which could endanger Coalition and partner forces,” wrote Col. Joe Scrocca, coalition director of public affairs. “Publishing this type of information would be professionally irresponsible and we respectively [sic] request that you refrain from disseminating any information that would put Coalition lives in jeopardy.”

Col. John Thomas, spokesman at the Central Command, also asked The Daily Beast to refrain from publishing details of coalition operations, on the grounds it would be “potentially harmful to the lives of those involved.” In fact, Anadolu had already published the information Monday on its Turkish language service and then issued it on its English language services Tuesday. In addition, some of the locations on the Anadolu list were already known in public. The Iranian Tasnim news agency, for example, last November published the names of two bases and two outposts, and the Jusour Center, a Syrian think tank, published the locations of two additional outposts in April.



Kyle Orton‏Verified account @KyleWOrton 12m12 minutes ago
Replying to @KyleWOrton

The bases are the known ones at Rmaylan and FOB THOMAS in Raqqa, then: 3 more in Hasaka, 2 in Minbij, 3 more in Raqqa, and one in Aleppo.

Best I can tell the Aleppo base in @anadoluagency story was reported on by @BILD; it's south of Kobani, near Sirrin.

Might be on ZH but its quite an interesting, if long, take on those US SF deaths last year. As might be expected, not a lot of love in the comments.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-18/murder-green-berets-jordan-exposed-secretive-cia-syria-program-details

Very effective IED. Three Generals in 3 days!

Hassan Ridha‏ @sayed_ridha 16s16 seconds ago

General Mundhir Mayhoub, Brigadier General Ayman Habib and others from the 5th Corps/Legion martyred in IS IED attack near Ithriya

Oooops

BUDAPEST - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted to the prime ministers of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia that Israel had carried out dozens of attacks against Hezbollah arms convoys in Syria.

"We blocked the border not only in Egypt but in the Golan Heights," he said. "We built the wall because there was a problem with ISIS and Iran trying to build a terror front there. I told Putin, when we see them transferring weapons to Hezbollah, we will hurt them. We did it dozens of times."

Although the meeting had been behind closed doors, Netanyahu's remarks were accidentally transmitted to the earbuds distributed among reporters, though his people discovered the transmission and shut it down within a few minutes.

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.802151

BEIRUT, LEBANON (6:05 P.M.) – The Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) elite Tiger Forces have made yet another huge advance across the southern countryside of Raqqa Governorate.

Thus far today, the Tiger Forces have liberated the town of al-Ramiylan, the al-Ramiylan dam, some fifteen oil and water wells 10 kilometers to the east of Dabiysan as well as the Number 1 and Number 2 Dabiysan pumping stations.

Just as with the distance of the advance, the battle statistics related to today’s operation are equally exceptional. According to military sources exclusive to Al-Masdar News, the Tiger Forces destroyed seven car bombs, one tank and four Toyota pickups belonging to the ISIS terrorist group.

This latest advance comes amid what appears to be a general collapse of ISIS forces throughout the region despite an offensive by the terrorist group against Republican Guard units at the town of Resafa earlier today which reports now say was successfully repelled.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-isis-totally-swept-aside-tiger-forces-race-across-raqqa/

Biggie if true and it is from the Washington Post. Implies that there is no reason to have US operatives in or near Syria other than in the ISIS infested areas. Mmmm al-Tanf.

Also a long article, this is the start

President Trump has decided to end the CIA’s covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move long sought by Russia, according to U.S. officials.

The program was a central plank of a policy begun by the Obama administration in 2013 to put pressure on Assad to step aside, but even its backers have questioned its efficacy since Russia deployed forces in Syria two years later.

Officials said the phasing out of the secret program reflects Trump’s interest in finding ways to work with Russia, which saw the anti-Assad program as an assault on its interests. The shuttering of the program is also an acknowledgment of Washington’s limited leverage and desire to remove Assad from power.

Just three months ago, after the United States accused Assad of using chemical weapons, Trump launched retaliatory airstrikes against a Syrian air base. At the time, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, said that “in no way do we see peace in that area with Assad at the head of the Syrian government.”

Officials said Trump made the decision to scrap the CIA program nearly a month ago, after an Oval Office meeting with CIA Director Mike Pompeo and national security adviser H.R. McMaster ahead of a July 7 meeting in Germany with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
..............................................
Some current and former officials who support the program cast the move as a major concession.

“This is a momentous decision,” said a current official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a covert program. “Putin won in Syria.”

The decision will not affect a separate Pentagon-led effort to work with U.S.-backed Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State. And the CIA-backed rebels were part of the larger moderate opposition.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-ends-covert-cia-program-to-arm-anti-assad-rebels-in-syria-a-move-sought-by-moscow/2017/07/19/b6821a62-6beb-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html?utm_term=.c32cd5d861f7


EDIT: another take on it

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (11:30 P.M.) – Over six years after the Syrian revolt first began, the US administration has finally decided to indefinitely give up on its long-standing support for supposedly moderate rebel groups in the war-torn country.

According to US officials, Donald Trump has decided to end the CIA’s covert program to arm and train insurgents opposed to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). This arming program was put into effect by the Obama administration in 2013 and looked to topple Bashar Al-Assad.

After talks with Russia, the White House will now phase out the secret program, a move which is likely to have grave implications for US-vetted Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions based in southern Syria around the Al-Tanf border crossing.

Although the CIA declined to comment, US officials told the Washington Post that Trump decided to scrap the CIA program nearly a month ago ahead of a meeting on July 7 with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “This is a momentous decision … Putin won in Syria,” said a current official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a covert program.

“It’s probably a nod to reality,” said Ilan Goldenberg, a former Obama administration official and director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

Once this sudden change of policy is fully implemented, Al-Masdar News expects the US Army will evacuate its troops from the Al-Tanf military base and fly them to Kurdish-held territory in Hasakah, thereby leaving rebel forces in southern Syria to fend for themselves against the SAA.

The plan does not involve the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led fighting force in northern Syria which has had its supply of heavy weapons and armored vehicles increased in recent months.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-trump-orders-cia-halt-financial-military-aid-rebels-syria/

US has given up with some of its Arab 'partners'

BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:30 P.M.) – The Quwwat al-Nukhba sub-group of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which fights within the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has been dismissed from any and all front-line duties in the ongoing Raqqa operation.

About one week ago, word came out that the FSA-linked group was to give up its positions within Raqqa city and retreat to the SDF’s rear areas outside the urban center. Not long after this but, contradictory reports then came in suggesting that a compromise was reached whereby the Arab faction could retain its positions within the city – this was supported by some photo evidence.

However, according to the latest reports, Quwwat al-Nukhba has officially withdrawn from all of its front-line positions within Raqqa city and handed them over to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Information on why the Arab militia has been booted out of the operation remains officially unclear. Nonetheless, some sources suggest that the group showed repeated incompetence during Raqqa battle, advancing quickly within the city but then withdrawing from all gains, abandoning them to ISIS, almost as soon as they were taken.

In any case, the United States – who has overall command of the SDF – represents the party that gave the order for the Arab FSA-linked faction to withdraw (perhaps at the behest of Kurdish recommendations).

This now means that the battle to capture Raqqa from ISIS has become an almost exclusively Kurdish operation.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/fsa-faction-within-sdf-kicked-raqqa-operation-us-orders/

PapaDragon wrote:

JohninMK wrote:Biggie if true and it is from the Washington Post...

However you made a grammar error my friend. In spirit of our time you should use phrase "bigly" instead of "biggie". It's the modern parlance.

Thank you for your attempt to encourage my use of English in the modern idiom but sadly your effort is in vain . As I age I am rapidly evolving into an opinionated, cynical and grumpy old man well aware that the world is going to Hell in a handcart. I do use some modern patois but 'bigly' has somehow passed me by

Something seems to have changed, different 'stuff' is in the MSM. This is nearly anti Israel Newsweek. Rebels not terrorists mind you

Israel is secretly supporting Syrian rebels operating near its occupied Golan Heights territory, providing money, food, fuel and medical supplies, according to fighters who claim to receive the aid.

Israel has previously treated wounded Syrian rebels in its hospitals but interviews with rebels conducted by the Wall Street Journal suggest that Israel is directly supporting opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the six-year-long civil war.

Israel is opposed to the rule of Assad and his forces. It also sees militants belonging to Lebanese militia Hezbollah who support Assad’s regime forces as posing a threat to its security on the Golan Heights border.

http://www.newsweek.com/israel-secretly-paying-salaries-syrian-rebels-golan-heights-627155

You really have to wonder about the capability and knowledge of the diplomats in Brussels.

Within Syria‏ @WithinSyriaBlog 1h1 hour ago

EU sanction General Issam Zahr Al-Din on the background of the supposed CW attack
Gen. Issam is defending Dir Zor for 3 years now #EU_Morals

Within Syria‏ @WithinSyriaBlog 57m57 minutes ago
Replying to @WithinSyriaBlog

EU sanctions against Issam Zahr Al-Din is a great example of the kind of evidence EU have when it comes to the CW attack
All fake

Within Syria‏ @WithinSyriaBlog 56m56 minutes ago
Replying to @WithinSyriaBlog

EU have proven that it don't have even the least understanding of the Syrian war ,and know nothing at all about the SAA

Ian Grant‏ @Gjoene 29m29 minutes ago
Replying to @Gjoene

If Zahreddine is part of chem weapon investigation, you know the EU has zero evidence/clue of what happened and just make shit up

Why doesn't the EU officials fly to Deir zoir and interview him??? The man is a hero. Him and his troops have probably killed more ISIS than the EU coalition has and thus effectively combating terrorism maybe EU should take a page out of his book

Not much news right now SAA is trying to take the key hills from ISIS that overlook sukan they have been fighting for about two days with ISis over these hills, so far ISiS has the edge.

If they take these hills they can then try and siege Sukan, granted their flanks are exposed so if they can do it remains to be seen.

ISIS has also retaken ground in Eastern Homs.

Pinch of salt but it could be part of the postulated line of demarcation that got mentioned a couple of days ago at about the time of the claimed University in Raqqa take-over by the same Tribal Forces, the Euphrates Line perhaps.

24 Resistance Axis‏ @Syria_Hezb_Iran 1h1 hour ago
Replying to @Syria_Hezb_Iran

#BREAKING
Tribal Fighter Forces announce the Liberated of Al-Dahlah along #Euphrates River, SE #Raqqa CS


Syrian Civil War Map‏ @CivilWarMap 27m27 minutes ago

There are reports that Government forces reached the Euphrates river and captured Dalhah. Not confirmed yet.