Syrian War: News #23

The Syrian oil stolen by the US exits the country by tanker then enters the pipeline system in Kurdistan on its way to its final destination in Israel.

Steele M
@SteeleSyAA
Syrian Domestic News Report October 29th

Daraa: An Israeli warplane targeted two Syrian - Iranian locations in the western Daraa countryside with 6+ air strikes, after midnight on Monday morning. Israeli strikes targeted the headquarters of the Syrian 112 Mika Brigade located east of Nawi in the western countryside of Daraa with two airstrikes.

DZ: Arab forces shoot down a Kurdish assault drone in the town of Abu Hardoub in eastern DZ province and have occupied a Kurdish command point from this morning in the town after heavy clashes and the capture of Kurdish command elements.

DZ: 11 people were killed and number including children, were injured after Kurdish forces targeting the city of al Mayadeen in eastern DZ with mortars strikes this morning. The shelling likely came from the Kurdish held town of Dhiban that opposes al Mayadeen across the Euphrates river.

Raqqah: An IED targeted a Kurdish military vehicle in the vicinity of al Noor Mosque in the city of Raqqah. The vehicle was heavily damaged without details about Kurdish casualties. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.

DZ: 3 people were injured as a result of a rocket-propelled grenade explosion on the outskirts of the al Alwa neighborhood in the city of DZ in eastern DZ province. It’s not clear what happened or why the RPG detonated.

Idlib - Aleppo - Hama: There were Syrian artillery strikes in areas of Aleppo, Idlib, and Aleppo provinces with multiple strikes reported in all areas.

Quneitra: The Israeli army targeted an Iranian - Syrian military point in the southern the countryside of Qunitra after a missile was launched from the area near the position towards the Syrian Golan Heights. The Iranian rocket landed in an uninhabited area with no damage recorded.

Hasakah - DZ: Iranian rockets attacks against both the U.S. Army bases in southern Hasakah and eastern DZ today with a half dozen rocket strikes in total. No casualties have been reported yet with only material damage.
#Syria #SyAA #Syrianarmy

IRGC clearly didn't want ISIS in Syria to feel left out of tonight's action

US Troops Flee Syria After Attacks on Bases, 01.16.2024.

TEGERAN (Sputnik) - The US is evacuating its Hemo military base near the airport in the northeastern Syrian city of Kamishli (al-Qamishli) after repeated attacks by "Iraqi resistance" forces, Iran's Tasnim news agency reports.
"Tasnim's sources in Syria report the evacuation of the US military base Hemo... in the northern Syrian province of al-Hasakeh due to repeated attacks by Iraqi Islamic resistance groups," the report said. The agency specifies that the Hemo base, located 4 kilometres west of the Kamishla airport, is considered one of the most important US bases in the Arab republic with at least 350 US military personnel. According to the agency, the base is a training center where the US military trains fighters of the “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF).

Last week, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on Shiite "resistance fronts" in various Arab countries to "strike the enemy" wherever it is. Shiite movements within the so-called "Islamic resistance in Iraq" announced the first attack on the US military base Hemo near Kamishla airport.
Earlier, Iraqi armed groups said they attacked another US base near the Conico gas field in Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria. Additionally, several drones were shot down near Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq, where a base of international counter-terrorism forces is located.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240116/us-troops-flee-syria-after-attacks-on-bases-1116208443.html

This is the base, used for training. Looks to be a sitting duck.

Looks like 4 drone strikes today.

Note how the US carefully avoids saying they were hit in Syria. Shame that Jordan then said that it wasn't their side of the border.

That made it Rukban, inside the area generally known as al-Tanf or Area 55 if you are the US wishing to confuse people.

BUT we know from the Jordanians that it is not Tower 22 so maybe al-Tank itself.

Josh Rogin
@joshrogin

"Tower 22", the U.S. base in NE Jordan where three American troops were just killed, overlooks a Syrian refugee camp called Rukban, where 15,000 people have been living for years. It is also near the Al-Tanf Garrison, where a couple hundred U.S. troops are based.

Currently 3 dead and 34 injured, some seriously.

The Washington Post, according to an American military official:

The drone struck living quarters on the base, causing injuries ranging from cuts, bruises, and brain injuries, some of which required medical evacuation.

It is expected that the number of infections among our forces will increase



Boombastic
@MCA93424920

In Syria not Jordan. Get your news right. The base is illegal on borders of Jordan but it is in SYRIA. Funding Hamas. The base  is illegal and has no legislative right to be there under either international community or Syrian government. Hence, the reason they say “Jordan”



S p r i n t e r
@Sprinter99800

Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed the responsibility of attack on 3 three US bases including al-shadadi, Al-tanf in Syria and Al-Rukban on border between Syria and Jordan. They also claimed attack on Israeli regime naval base inside occupied territories in Haifa

Al-Mayadeen:
A drone strike of a US forces center next to Hayyak Dam in the village of Khirbet Adnan in the village of Al-Malikiyah, northeast of Al-Hasakah.

Background. The US use the area as a terrorist, ISIS, training ground.

Cuarto Nacido
@CuartoNacido

US forcefully declared a 55km zone of Syrian territory around a Syrian border crossing with Iraq off limits to Syria! To cut off the trade & travel between Syria & Iraq, & Jordan, KSA, down Kuwait & the Persian Gulf. Don't casually discuss this area as if it is US territory!

Josh Rogin
@joshrogin
This is a crucial node between Iraq and Syria that Iranian militias have long sought to control. There have been several drone attacks on Tanf since Oct. 7. This is a brazen escalation.

The group that will claim responsibility calls themselves the "Islamic Resistance of Iraq," but that's really a post Oct 7 umbrella group of IRGC sponsored militias. The actual attackers were likely Kateeb Hizballah with support of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujab and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq

I spoke w Syrian partner forces about the Islamic Resistance of Iraq. They told me that the IRGC Quds Force has consolidated various militias under the new moniker to focus efforts and resources on one shared mission: targeting Americans.

DD Geopolitics
@DD_Geopolitics
.
1h
Iraqi Islamic Resistance: We take responsibility for the attack on the American base on the border of Syria and Jordan

The Washington Post quoted an Iraqi resistance commander: If the crimes of the Zionist regime do not stop, all American positions throughout the region will be a legitimate target for us and the war will intensify.

Associated Press, citing an American official:

The targeted base includes US engineering, aviation, logistics and security forces

Clearing of the sky in areas of Syria, Iraq and Jordan ahead of retribution US style.

OPCW
@OPCW
OPCW identifies ISIL as perpetrators of 2015 chemical attack in Marea, #Syria.

KEY FINDINGS
1. Sulfur mustard attack by ISIL:
The IIT concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that on 1 September 2015, between 09:00 and 12:00 (UTC+3), during sustained attacks aimed at capturing the town of Marea, units of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) deployed sulfur mustard.
The chemical agent was delivered using one or more artillery guns.

2. Impact locations and remnants:
The IIT identified several impact locations across Marea, with no discernible targeting pattern.
All remnants and munitions observed at these sites were conventional artillery projectiles, specifically of a 122-mm calibre, modified to disperse a liquid payload.
Upon impact, at least six projectiles leaked a black, viscous substance with a distinct “pungent” and “garlic-like” smell.
Eleven named individuals who came into contact with the liquid substance experienced symptoms consistent with exposure to sulfur mustard.

3. ISIL’s exclusive and dedicated capability in this incident:
The IIT established that the chemical payload was deployed by artillery from areas under ISIL control.
No other entity possessed the means, motives, and capabilities to deploy sulfur mustard as part of an attack in Marea on 1 September, 2015.
The IIT was able to reconstruct the organisational structure and chain of command that led to the use of #ChemicalWeapons by the Islamic State in Marea on 1 September 2015.
Strategic military operations such as the attack carried out in Marea, involving the large-scale deployment of chemical weapons, would only have occurred pursuant to direct orders from ISIL’s Executive Branch, i.e., Delegated Committee, operating directly under ISIL’s so-called “Caliph”, according to IIT conclusions.
In the course of its investigation, the IIT was able to link additional organisational structures and individuals to the use and deployment of chemical weapons by the Islamic State, including ISIL’s Diwan Al-Jund (Department of Soldiery) and the Committee for Military Development and Manufacturing, identifying a total of four named individuals as perpetrators. Two further ISIL members were identified as the primary drivers of ISIL’s chemical weapons programme.

4. Degree of certainty:
The IIT reached its conclusions based on the standard of proof known as “reasonable grounds”, consistently adopted by international fact-finding bodies and commissions of inquiry.
The assessment included information from the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM), States Parties, interviews conducted by the IIT, and analyses of samples, computer modelling, satellite imagery, front-line maps, authenticated videos and photos, and other relevant data.

Read the full article: https://opcw.org/media-centre/n

So, why now? Here comes the cynic

Aaron Maté
@aaronjmate
Douma cover-up apologists might point to this and say: "Look, the OPCW blamed ISIS for a chemical attack! This proves they're not biased against the Syrian government!"

First, tell that to the veteran OPCW inspectors who challenged the cover-up of their Douma probe, where the OPCW doctored and erased its own findings to baselessly blame Syria. See my reporting on the topic which a grand total of zero people have refuted.

Second, it's safe for OPCW to blame ISIS. By this point in Sept. 2015, the Obama admin had begun striking ISIS -- after previously "watching" and encouraging its spread in Syria as a tool to overthrow Assad, as John Kerry helpfully admitted. (https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1402415124208623616
)

Third, in this specific incident, ISIS was fighting for control of Marea against the Syrian "opposition", aka sectarian death squads backed by the US and its allies.

So blaming ISIS allows the OPCW to help clear the good name of the "moderate rebels", who were accused of staging the attack in Douma.

Indeed, this OPCW report goes out of its way to exonerate al-Nusra, aka al Qaeda, aka the group that Jake Sullivan said is "on our side in Syria." (https://aaronmate.net/p/al-qaeda-is-on-our-side-how-obama)