Siege of Deir Ezzor broken

[cosmicalstorm]

This is very nice. The Syrian army have been able to retake Deir Ezzor. The city was scheduled for IS takeover and genocide. But they held out.

They have done so in the face of the FSA and Islamic state, armed with tens of thousands of tons of USA and Gulf-state delivered TOWs, machineguns, captagon warrior-drugs etc.
Last year there was even some direct airsupport for IS from the USAF, "accidental" of course.

Syrian army breaks Isis' three-year-long siege of Deir Ezzor


Liberating the city will mean relief for its 70,000 residents as Isis, feeling the pressure, begins to conscript female fighters

The Syrian army has managed to break an Isis siege on the eastern town of Deir Ezzor for the first time since the militants surrounded it three years ago, Syrian state TV has said.

Activists and UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed that government troops and their allies had reached the western outskirts of the city amid fierce fighting on Tuesday.

Isis’s defences collapsed, SOHR said, allowing the army to dismantle the mines around the besieged Brigade 137 airbase, allowing besieged troops and advancing forces to reunite.
Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have made steady gains on the jihadi militants’ desert position for several months with help from Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Russian air support. In the past few days, the pace at which the Syrian army has retaken territory has increased rapidly.

The army command said in a statement that reaching Deir Ezour marks "a strategic turn in the war against terrorism", and that the city will be used as a "launching pad to expand military operations in the region".

The offensive is being led by General Suheil al-Hassan, who is known as the Tiger.
Gen Hassan has been behind several recent government victories - including the capture of east Aleppo in December 2016, the government's biggest victory since Syria's conflict began in March 2011.

President Assad's office released a statement saying he had called to congratulate the commanders who were fighting for Deir Ezzor.

Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed that a Russian warship in the Mediterranean had fired cruise missiles toward Isis targets in Deir Ezzor province on Tuesday, destroying a communications and command centre, ammunition depots and an armoured vehicle repair shop. Opposition activists reported heavy fighting in an area adjacent to where the siege line had been broken.

Liberating the city will mean relief for Deir Ezzor’s estimated 70,000 residents, who have been reliant on erratic UN air drops of food, medicine and other supplies since fighting over the city broke out in late 2014.

Syrian media has said that civilians have already begun celebrating Isis’s defeat. Pictures and video widely shared on social media could not be independently verified.

Ousting Isis from Deir Ezzor will be the latest victory for Mr Assad, who has slowly gained the upper hand against Islamist and other rebel groups since Russia intervened in the conflict in 2015.




Read more



Isis agrees to its first ever evacuation deal

The militants are also under significant pressure in their de facto capital of Raqqa, south of Deir Ezzor, where the US-backed Arab and Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has retaken the Old City in a battle which has seen significant civilian casualties.

Kurdish militia flags now fly over the city's ancient mosque as fighters prepare to take the jihadists on in the most well-defended neighbourhoods of the town.

Isis lost control of its largest city, Mosul in neighbouring Iraq, in July.

The crumbling of Isis’s “caliphate” is leading the militants to adopt increasingly desperate measures to hang on to their remaining territory and impose their rules on people under control.

New research from IHS Markit’s Conflict Monitor suggests that the jihadis are urging women to the front line as the number of available men decreases – a significant detour from their previous stance on appropriate roles for women.

Liberated from Isis, women burn their burqas and men shave off their beards

“Despite Isis’s claims to the contrary, urging women to seek an active role in combat is most likely an attempt to reduce the impact of severe manpower shortages caused by the decimation of male fighters, and a recruitment crisis,” said Ludovico Carlino, a senior analyst.

“While the group has used female suicide bombers in the past, it has not done so in the concentration seen in Mosul,” he added. “It is as yet unclear whether the spike in female suicide bombings is simply a result of the final pockets of Isis resistance with women compelled by the group to execute those attacks, or whether it represents the beginning of a wider trend of female fighters willing to take part in the group’s battles.”

The latest issue of the group’s propaganda magazine Rumiyah has called on women to take up arms during the current ”times of intense trials and extreme hardships”.

Even so, observers believe that Isis’s days as a land-holding force are numbered. The organisation is expected to mount a fierce insurgency across both countries, however, and step up its terror attacks around the world.

News agencies contributed to this report

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 30276.html

[K. A. Pital]

What was there again about Assad n Syrian Army not fighting ISIS? I've read this like ten times over on different news outlets. Turns out it was bullshit. As usual.

[The Romulan Republic]

I'm glad that ISIS got defeated, but can we not have a thread glorifying or apologizing for the Syrian Army? You know, the fuckers who torture and slaughter dissidents? I know this is a concept many people have a hard time wrapping their heads around, but just because you're anti-ISIS doesn't mean you have to be pro-Assad. For that matter, just because you're anti-US/anti-West doesn't mean you have to be pro-Assad.

Sometimes, both sides are shit.

Edit: I'll grant that the Syrian Army is the lesser pile of shit when compared to ISIS, but that is damning with the very faintest of praise.

[cosmicalstorm]

I Think Assad has killed many and it's plausible that he "managed" the rebellion to make sure that IS and others became dominant. But today I would choose SAA any day over life with FSA/IS.

I also think it's disgusting and ironic to see first Obama and now Trump ( ) using the Islamic State the same way pirates were used for "some missions" in the past.

Yesterday a first clash of forces occurred. Syrian government and Russian special forces (red) have crossed the Euphrates at Deir Ezzor to reconnaissance the area for their next large operation. A crossing in force towards the north of Euphrates and east of Deir Ezzor is expected during the next few days. The Russian military had informed the U.S. of its area of operation. Despite that, formerly ISIS aligned tribal forces, now paid by the U.S. under the label SDF, tried to extend their areas north of Deir Ezzor (blue). A "warning shot" was delivered to them in form of a small air attack. Several "SDF" were wounded, the U.S. special forces accompanying and commanding them were not harmed.

The Russia military is asking who, really, those forces are:

“Over the past few days, on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, Russian control and reconnaissance facilities have not identified a single combat of Islamic State terrorists with armed representatives of any ‘third force.’ Therefore, only representatives of the international coalition can answer the question as to how ‘opposition members’ or ‘military advisers of the international coalition’ managed to get to the IS-held areas in the eastern part of Deir ez-Zor without striking a blow.”

Our last summary noted that these new U.S. proxies Brett McGurk had hired, the 'third force' in the Russian statement, allegedly progressed some 30 kilometers into ISIS country without firing a shot. These forces are evidently ISIS fighters now under a new banner and with U.S. special forces directing them.

South of the river the Syrian government forces consolidate their positions around the two-thirds of Deir Ezzor city now under their control. To avoid unnecessary casualties and damage they push the Islamic State fighters out of the up-build areas instead of immediately surrounding and besieging them. They will be easier to eliminate in the more rural areas still left to them. The campaign south of the Euphrates will continue along the river towards ISIS held areas in the west and east.

A second group of Syrian government forces is coming up from the Jordan-Iraq-Syria border triangle and is progressing along the Syrian Iraqi border towards al-Buqamal/Qaim at the Euphrates. An Iraqi force is working in parallel with them on the Iraqi side of the border.

During the next months three Syrian government forces are likely to meet where the Euphrates crosses into Iraq. One group is now moving north along the Syrian-Iraqi border, one coming from Deir Ezzor on the south side of the river and the one that will soon establish itself north of the Euphrates to move towards the oil-fields further east. Iraqi forces are expected to mirror those moves on their side of the border. In the end of the operations no area in Syria and Iraq will be left under control of the ISIS organization. (Isolated ISIS holdouts east of Homs as well as in Iraq are under siege and will soon be cleared.)

There is no more need for any U.S. intervention to achieve the total defeat of the Islamic State. While the U.S. president had declared that his country has no further interest in Syria but the defeat of ISIS, other forces within the U.S. ruling structure have likely different ideas. We can expect some operations, by "independent" U.S. proxy forces or by "accidental" bombing, to hinder the Syrian and Iraqi government plans.

In the north-west of Syria al-Qaeda is still in control of Idleb governate. Syria, Iran, Russia and Turkey agreed last week to pacify the area by force. Each of them will take control of a "deescalation zone" within Idelb. The announcement of the agreement lacked all details. It is yet unknown who's force will take what part of Idleb and how the coordination of the project will proceed. Leaks of various map outlining designated areas of control are of Turkish origin and unlikely to reflect the real agreed upon lines.

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/09/sy ... .html#more

[K. A. Pital]

I'm glad that ISIS got defeated, but can we not have a thread glorifying or apologizing for the Syrian Army? You know, the fuckers who torture and slaughter dissidents? I know this is a concept many people have a hard time wrapping their heads around, but just because you're anti-ISIS doesn't mean you have to be pro-Assad. For that matter, just because you're anti-US/anti-West doesn't mean you have to be pro-Assad.

Sometimes, both sides are shit.

Edit: I'll grant that the Syrian Army is the lesser pile of shit when compared to ISIS, but that is damning with the very faintest of praise.

I know that it is simply the Hussein talk all over again. Was Hussein a horrible autocrat? Yes. Is Iraq now a bloodbath that makes Hussein's rule look like a golden age of stability and prosperity? Yes. Same here.

[cosmicalstorm]

MoonofAlabama is a very good source for Syria news. Here are more details on the US/Saudi dirty work. All taken with a grain of salt of course, but I have to say it looks real bad.
Otoh Russia supports Kadyrov and other crazies too of course.

How will Trump react if a group of US Soldiers assisting the Islamic State in the area are killed by a Russian bomb?

September 21, 2017

Syria - Russia Accusing U.S. Of Attacks, Abduction Attempts, Team-play With Al-Qaeda

The situation in Syria is reaching another critical point. There is an increased possibility of a large scale clash between U.S. and Russian forces. We had warned of such a clash over control of the rich fields east of Deir Ezzor. At least three incidents over the last days point to more significant escalations.
•On the 17th the U.S. accused Russia of a light air attack on its proxy forces north of Deir Ezzor. Russia denied that it had attacked those forces.
•On the 18th and 19th large contingents of Russian and Syrian troops crossed the Euphrates at Deir Ezzor in east-Syria. The U.S. Kurdish/Arab proxy force in the area actively tried to hinder that movement.
•In parallel a large al-Qaeda attack was launched in west-Syria. The Russian forces accuse U.S. intelligence services of having initiated that campaign. (The Syrian-Russian forces defeated the attack.)
•Today the Russian military accused the U.S. Kurdish proxies near Deir Ezzor of firing artillery on its forces. It threatened massive retaliation.

The most dramatic incident was the al-Qaeda attack in Idleb.

Al-Qaeda in Syria, renamed to Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, currently controls Idleb governate and Idleb city in north-west Syria. On September 19 it launched a large scale attack on Syrian government positions in north Hama, south of Idleb provinces. The al-Qaeda forces gained significant grounds before being stopped and forced to retreat. Nearly all the heavy weapons, tanks and artillery, that al-Qaeda had in the area were used and in the attack.

The spokesperson of the Russian military said (vid with English subtitles) that, according to Russian intelligence reports, al-Qaeda's attack was made on behalf of the U.S. to slow down the Syrian-Russian campaign in the eastern province Deir Ezzor. A subtask for the terrorists was to capture a platoon of Russian soldiers. This is, to my knowledge, the first time that Russia made such a direct and extremely grave accusation against the U.S. forces and intelligence services in Syria.

From the Russian military statement:

For 24 hours, insurgents managed to dent the government troops’ defence line for up to 12 kilometers in depth and up to 20 kilometers in front.
According to the received data, this offensive was initiated by the US special agencies in order to stop successful advance of the Syrian Arab Army to the east from Deir ez-Zor.

Seizing of a unit of the Russian Military Police was one of the main aims of insurgents. The Russian MP unit was operating in an observation post deployed as de-escalation observation forces.

As a result, the MP platoon (29 persons) was blocked by insurgents.
...
The encirclement has been breached. Units of the Russian Armed Forces have reached locations of SAA without losses.

After the al-Qaeda attack was launched the Russian air force in Syria initiated a massive counter campaign over Idleb province.

For the last 24 hours, aviation and artillery units have eliminated 187 objects, 850 terrorists, 11 tanks, 4 IFVs, 46 pickups, 5 mortars, 20 trucks, and 38 ammunition storages.
Units of the 5th Airborne Assault Corpse launched a counter-attack and almost took [all] lost positions.

Pictures from the area showed several destroyed tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. This was a very costly campaign for al-Qaeda with no significant gain. It seems that Syrian and Russian intelligence were aware that an attack was coming but not of the details. For a while the situation was extremely critical. Then the large aerial counter campaign caught al-Qaeda by surprise and destroyed the attacking forces.

At the same time as the al-Qaeda attack in Idleb started U.S. proxy forces in east-Syria (yellow) took measures to hinder the fight of Syrian forces (red) against the Islamic State (black).


Map by Weekend Warrior - bigger

The Syrian government forces are cleared nearly all of Deir Ezzor city of ISIS forces. At stake now is the control of the oil fields east of Deir Ezzor and north of the Euphrates river.


bigger

Soon after crossing the Euphrates Syrian troops came under fire from U.S. proxy positions:

"According to the reports that the Syrian commanders have been sending from the frontline, most serious counter-attacks and mass shelling on the Syrian troops come from the north," he said. "It is the area where units of the Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as the US special operations units, are deployed, who, according to CNN, are providing medical aid to these militants instead of participating in the operation to liberate Raqqa," [Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor] Konashenkov said.

The U.S. proxies also use their control of the Tabqa dam to hinder the river crossing:

Water discharges from the Euphrates dams controlled by the US-backed opposition hamper the advance of Syrian government troops near Deir ez-Zor, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Tuesday.
"Thus, the water situation on the Euphrates has deteriorated dramatically in the past 24 hours. As soon as the Syrian government troops began to cross the river, water level in the Euphrates rose within hours and the current velocity nearly doubled to two meters per second," he said.

Today the Russian Defense Ministry accused the U.S. proxy forces of directly shelling its Syrian allies and the Russian forces accompanying them:

Russia warned a representative of the US command in Al Udeid, Qatar, that "any attempts of shelling from the areas where the militants of the Syrian Democratic Forces are based will be immediately curbed."
"Firing points in these areas will be immediately suppressed by all means of destruction," the general said.

Fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces approaching Deir ez-Zor from the north are easily joining IS terrorists, and Russian drones and reconnaissance recorded no clash between the IS with a "third force," namely the SDF over the past week, he explained.

However, massive fire from mortars and rocket artillery was opened twice on the Syrian troops from the areas on the eastern shore of Euphrates where the SDF fighters and servicemen of US special forces are based, Konashenkov said.

The U.S. paid "Syrian Democratic Forces" that pushed into northern Deir Ezzor without meeting any resistance are mostly local tribes who were aligned with the Islamic State until the U.S. diplomat Brett McGurk hired them to fight on the U.S. side. They are led by Kurdish commanders and "advised" by U.S. special forces.

The U.S. wants to keep Syrian government forces away from the oil fields north of the Euphrates. It has plans to build and control a Kurdish proto-state in north-east Syria and control over the eastern Deir Ezzor oil would give such a state the necessary economic base.

But the U.S. has too few proxy forces available to actually take the oil area away from the Islamic State. Only the Syrian army has enough resources in the area. The U.S. is now cheating, attacking Syrian-Russian forces, and rushing to get an advantage. According to the Russians the U.S. Kurdish proxies have even stopped the fight against ISIS in Raqqa and moved forces from that area to take the oil in the east. I doubt that Syria and Russia will allow that to happen without taking measures to counter it.

With the al-Qaeda diversion attack in north-west Syria defeated and more reserves available the Syrian alliance should think about a fast air-assault on the oil fields. As soon as the oil wells are under Syrian government control and the ISIS presence eliminated the U.S. has no more excuse to continue the current deadly game.

Posted by b on September 21, 2017 at 08:42 AM | Permalink

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/09/sy ... qaeda.html

[The Romulan Republic]

I'm glad that ISIS got defeated, but can we not have a thread glorifying or apologizing for the Syrian Army? You know, the fuckers who torture and slaughter dissidents? I know this is a concept many people have a hard time wrapping their heads around, but just because you're anti-ISIS doesn't mean you have to be pro-Assad. For that matter, just because you're anti-US/anti-West doesn't mean you have to be pro-Assad.

Sometimes, both sides are shit.

Edit: I'll grant that the Syrian Army is the lesser pile of shit when compared to ISIS, but that is damning with the very faintest of praise.

I know that it is simply the Hussein talk all over again. Was Hussein a horrible autocrat? Yes. Is Iraq now a bloodbath that makes Hussein's rule look like a golden age of stability and prosperity? Yes. Same here.

Oh no. I'm not going to get drawn into a debate on Iraq, which is not the topic of this thread in any case.

That said, I'm not disagreeing with anything you said. But it also doesn't invalidate anything I said. The best you can say for Assad is that he's not the worst thing in Syria. Which, again, is damning with very faint praise.

So I'll leave it at "A plague on both their houses", to quote the Bard.

[Ziggy Stardust]

MoonofAlabama is a very good source for Syria news.

What the fuck is MoonofAlabama, and why should we take it for a reputable source? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you've been warned in the past about posting unsubstantiated, unreliable nonsense from random nobody's blogs as justification for your personal views.

Just quickly looking at the other articles on that site, I see the author claiming (seemingly unironically) that Donald Trump has been literally brainwashed by the Pentagon, and that the US government is literally being run by a secret military junta. Also, that the Associated Press is a mouthpiece for Zionist propaganda.

[The Romulan Republic]

So, Alt. Right conspiracy bullshit?

[Simon_Jester]

MoonofAlabama is a very good source for Syria news.

What the fuck is MoonofAlabama, and why should we take it for a reputable source? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you've been warned in the past about posting unsubstantiated, unreliable nonsense from random nobody's blogs as justification for your personal views.

Just quickly looking at the other articles on that site, I see the author claiming (seemingly unironically) that Donald Trump has been literally brainwashed by the Pentagon, and that the US government is literally being run by a secret military junta.

At this point I'd be tempted to consider that good news?

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, yes, there is that. Hard to find someone less qualified to have their hand on the big red button than Orange Kim.

[Simon_Jester]

Allegations that Trump is being brainwashed and mindcontrolled by some deep state conspiracy fall under the same category for me as "the Illuminati are running the world."

My reply is "well, I want to speak to the Illuminati's manager, because they are doing an incredibly bad job." I mean seriously, if this is how they want the world to be, they cannot possible be competent enough to keep their own conspiracy a secret.

[Exonerate]

Moon of Alabama is... a heterodox analysis news blog. Not so much alt-right as contrarian with a bit of conspiracy. It tends to attract the unhinged and is prone to lurid exaggeration. That said, most of the stuff is sourced from reputable outlets and isn't so unreliable that everything can be dismissed out of hand. If I'm reading the same post Ziggy is, I would definitely agree saying a junta now rules the U.S. is wild hyperbole (I didn't see anything about brainwashing, just indoctrination), but having three military men in control of his schedule and official flow information does seem like pretty outsized influence to me (even if they can't prevent him going off script at the UN)...

Since we're already on the topic of media reliability (I feel like there should be a sticky for this), this opinion article was put out by the NY Times today. I think it gets a lot right, but one piece missing is that, truthfully, mainstream media sometimes studiously ignores, glosses over, or slants things and when people catch on, they will seek out alternative sources of information.

[Patroklos]

You realize that most of our past presidents were veterans, right?

No, the conspiracy makes no sense whatsoever.

[Simon_Jester]

Moon of Alabama is... a heterodox analysis news blog. Not so much alt-right as contrarian with a bit of conspiracy. It tends to attract the unhinged and is prone to lurid exaggeration. That said, most of the stuff is sourced from reputable outlets and isn't so unreliable that everything can be dismissed out of hand. If I'm reading the same post Ziggy is, I would definitely agree saying a junta now rules the U.S. is wild hyperbole (I didn't see anything about brainwashing, just indoctrination), but having three military men in control of his schedule and official flow information does seem like pretty outsized influence to me (even if they can't prevent him going off script at the UN)...

Looking at the kinds of people who become powerful members of presidential staff, the main tracks to influence in the White House are:

1) Being a trusted and highly capable official with long-term experience in the civilian executive branch
2) Being career military- generals and admirals.
3) Being a widely regarded academic.
4) Being a valued member of the president's campaign team.

Trump has basically closed himself off on (1) and (3) by shitting all over experts and academia and appointing sycophants, nonentities, and corporate shills to run his government for him. That leaves, on the whole, (2) and (4). He's already tried having campaigners run things for him, and many of them turn out to be fuckups or people he clashes with and then fires. It's unsurprising that military officers are among the few people who can accomplish anything working for him, who can tolerate his bullshit without resigning, and so on.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Moon of Alabama is... a heterodox analysis news blog. Not so much alt-right as contrarian with a bit of conspiracy. It tends to attract the unhinged and is prone to lurid exaggeration. That said, most of the stuff is sourced from reputable outlets and isn't so unreliable that everything can be dismissed out of hand. If I'm reading the same post Ziggy is, I would definitely agree saying a junta now rules the U.S. is wild hyperbole (I didn't see anything about brainwashing, just indoctrination), but having three military men in control of his schedule and official flow information does seem like pretty outsized influence to me (even if they can't prevent him going off script at the UN)...

While you are right that Moon of Alabama does a fairly admirable job of sourcing its information from reputable outlets, it does not seem to me (based on my cursory glance) that their REPRESENTATION and INTERPRETATION of that information is at all credible.

For example, re: brainwashing (I'm not entirely sure what you would consider the difference between brainwashing and indoctrination to be, but willing to concede insofar as I don't recall the word brainwashing being LITERALLY used, even if I feel it was the obvious intent), the blog's "source" for this brainwashing/indoctrination happening is the well-covered story of Pentagon officials sitting Trump down for a long presentation about the situation in Afghanistan and the situation therein; however, they take quotes out of context from the stories covering it to heavily imply that they were essentially applying Ludovico's technique in order to force Trump, against hist will, to become part of the militarist/globalist/whatever-catchy-label conspiracy. Which is fairly ridiculous when you actually look at the full context of the situation and see that it was essentially just a long PowerPoint presentation ... they no more indoctrinated Trump than I have indoctrinated every person I've ever given a presentation to at work. Hell, *I've* had meetings that were centered around me trying to convince my boss to change their mind about such-and-such a decision, and I did so by laying out a detailed, cogent argument for why I felt that way ... this is exactly what the Pentagon officials did, but by selectively presenting which elements of the story they choose to focus on, the blog is able to very craftily add a sensationalist and ominous atmosphere.

[cosmicalstorm]

The Syrian Saga goes on. Take Moon for what you want but he provides a nice comprehensive view of the events in Syria.

The US support of IS forces in the area goes on. Bolded the juicy parts.

October 05, 2017
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/10/sy ... rists.html
Syria - Russia Issues Third Warning Against U.S. Cooperation With Terrorists

The Syrian Army was on its way across the Euphrates river to liberate the oil- and gas-fields east of Deir Ezzor city. The U.S. countered the move. It sent a small forces of Arab tribal mercenaries who were earlier allied with the Islamic State (ISIS). These proxy forces came from a northern direction and moved through Islamic State held areas without fighting and casualties up to the walls of Deir Ezzor city.

The Syrian army was about to win the race when it started to cross the Euphrates. But it suddenly was surprised by a large al-Qaeda attack in southern Idleb province. That area had been quiet for months. 29 Russian troops who were supervising a deescalation zone there were nearly encircled by al-Qaeda forces. They only escape after an emergency relief operation had cut through al-Qaeda lines. The Russian Ministry of Defense accused the U.S. of having communicated the position of the Russian platoon to al-Qaeda.

Shortly thereafter a Russian general, visiting Deir Ezzor city to supervise the Euphrates bridge crossing, came under extremely well aimed mortar fire by the Islamic State. The general and two other high ranking officers were killed. During years of fighting around Deir Ezzor ISIS had never shown the capability for such a precise strike. Someone must have communicated with the terrorists and transferred the exact position of the local headquarter, as well as the time of the Russian general's visit.

A week later a concentrated ISIS attack on the main supply road between Palmyra and Deir Ezzor was attacked by a large number of ISIS forces. It is trying to retake al-Suknah in the middle between the two cities. The Russian Defense Ministry claims that the attacking ISIS forces came from southern areas of al-Tanf near the Jordan border which are under control of U.S. forces. Should ISIS take al-Suknah the Syrian-Russian contingent in Deir Ezzor would gain be cutoff.

Due to those three attacks the Syrian-Russian move towards the eastern oil-fields came to a near standstill. U.S. proxy forces are now slowly taking the area.

It seems obvious that the U.S. military is again cooperating with terrorist groups in Syria. There must be at least some information flow between U.S. intelligence and al-Qaeda and ISIS. It seems that deconflicition data the Syrian-Russian alliance is sharing with U.S. forces in Syria is ending up in the hands of the extremists. This explains how al-Qaeda and ISIS can suddenly and very precisely attack critical Syrian and Russian positions which are known to only very few people.

The Russian have protested several times and had warned the U.S. not to continue with their nefarious scheming. The third severe warning came yesterday with statements by the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and direct accusation against the U.S. military by the spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry.

In an interview with the semi-official Saudi paper Asharq al-Awsat Foreign Minister Lavrov was extraordinary frank (the full interview was covered only in the Arabic edition). Interfax recapitulates:

"The US-led forces' activities in Syria cause many questions. In some cases these forces mount allegedly accidental strikes against the Syrian Armed Forces, after which the Islamic State counterattacks, in other cases they inspire other terrorists to attack strategic locations over which official Damascus has restored its legitimate authority, or stage fatal provocations against our military personnel. I would also mention numerous "accidental" strikes against civilian infrastructure that have taken hundreds of civilian lives," Lavrov said in an interview with the Asharq Al-Awsat pan-Arab newspaper ahead of the Russian visit of Saudi King Salman al-Saud.

These accusations, from a very high level of the Russian Federation hierarchy, should not be ignored. But the "western" media were silent over Lavrov's accusations. Only AFP picked up some bits but missed the central point.

The Russian Defense Ministry was even more direct:

A spokesman for Russia's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that a series of attacks launched by Islamic State in Syria on government forces had come from an area near the border with Jordan where a US military mission was located.
The spokesman, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, said in a statement the attackers had the precise coordinates of the Syrian government forces, which could only have been obtained through aerial reconnaissance.

Konashenkov accused the U.S. of "flirtation" with the terrorists and warned that, should similar happen again, Russia will take severe countermeasures.

While these accusations fly, and the relation between U.S and Russian contingents in Syria further deteriorate, Russian diplomacy is winning the day.

Last week the Russian President Putin visited Turkey. (At about the same time the Egyptian chief of intelligence was also in Ankara. He allegedly met his Turkish colleague.) Yesterday the Saudi King arrived in Moscow for an unprecedented visit. Meanwhile the Turkish president Erdogan touched down in Tehran in an unusual amikal atmosphere.

Instead of reporting on diplomacy and the increasing chances of a military conflict between super powers in Syria, U.S. media asks if Secretary of State Tillerson called President Trump a "moron" or a "fucking moron". (For the record - the NBC journalist who overheard Tillerson's outburst says it was "fucking moron".)

There have now been three significant incidents against the Russian-Syrian alliance in which, according to Russia, U.S. malignancy played a role. Each time Russian officials warned of consequences. To some extend the U.S. hostility is incited by Israeli nagging. But the record shows that CentCom, the U.S. military command in the Middle East, is overtly aggressive and not always following Washington's line. It is high time for the White House to get the situation under control.

The bear is a docile animal. But it should not be provoked. There is reason to believe that the Russian forces and their allies in the Middle East have the ability to surprise the U.S. military with unforeseen and deadly moves.

Should these U.S. provocations continue Moscow will have no choice but to order harsh retaliations.

Posted by b on October 5, 2017 at 03:00 AM | Permalink

[The Romulan Republic]

You're going to need a better source than that to convince of the claim that US intelligence secretly supports Al Qaida and ISIS. Because it sounds a lot like conspiracy theorism of the Kremlin/Assad "you're either with Assad or you're with the terrorists" type.

[cosmicalstorm]

It's not like the US is allied with Saudi-Arabia and literally started the Talibans, Al-Qaida, Bin Laden.
Trump was literally crawling infront of the Saudi king and got his soul infected with a magic rock or something

And now, a group fighting Russia, supported by endless "accidental" US airstrikes, constantly brandishing Made in USA TOW's seemingly taking orders from the CIA...

What a Conspiracy!

[Ziggy Stardust]

I am getting incredibly sick of this. Are you intentionally being an asshole or are you just this dense?

Take Moon for what you want but he provides a nice comprehensive view of the events in Syria.

The entire point, that was discussed at length in this thread (and mirrors similar discussions in other threads you have participated in), is that MOON OF ALABAMA (and whatever other random blogs you frequent) are not RELIABLE SOURCES. Thus, it's impossible for us to trust that they "provide a nice comprehensive view of the events in Syria", because all of their other posts are conspiracy theory gibberish. We have no reason to take these posts at face value or trust that they are providing an accurate accounting of events. If you want to discuss the issue, FIND RELIABLE SOURCES OF INFORMATION that can actually engender discussion. You were off to such a good start in the OP, by linking to an article in the Independent, but it seems that was just a Trojan horse for you to start spewing off links to obscure right-wing blog posts.

You might as well just be linking to random people's Facebook posts.

[K. A. Pital]

It seems like he's being super-dense on purpose. It is not as if there isn't a multitude of at least Russian government sources to quote, which are ways more reliable than some random conspiracy nut. While government sources always come with an agenda, they at least try to put a spin on some facts, which are being researched by the propaganda arm. Facebook and blogs are nowadays just venues to spew absolutely unsubstantiated statements, which are then presented as "fact" by the gullible.