ISIS/ISIL conflict in Syria/Iraq (No OpEd, No Politics)

Jura said:

[URL='https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/isis-isil-conflict-in-syria-iraq-no-oped-no-politics.t6913/page-439#post-417735']Sep 30, 2016[/URL]

[URL='https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/isis-isil-conflict-in-syria-iraq-no-oped-no-politics.t6913/page-453#post-420075']
Oct 17, 2016

how are they doing now?[/URL]

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They still bombard ofc

From " Elysee "...
http://www.elysee.fr/communiques-de-presse/article/conseil-restreint-de-defense-21/

The president has met today the Defence Council and National Security.

The Council took note of the state of the threat to the country and the results of ongoing actions.

The Council discussed the situation in Syria and Iraq, and takes stock of advances decided at international meetings held in Paris on 20 and 25 October. The situation in Aleppo was particularly examined. The Council reviewed the military issues, humanitarian, political and security that accompany the conquest of Mosul. The President of the Republic has decided to extend the activity of the battle group, which contributes to this operation until mid-December.

...
http://www.elysee.fr/communiques-de-presse/article/conseil-restreint-de-defense-21/

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Jura said:

... related is the newest "edmap":

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Jura said:

found in Twitter, interesting even if faked a Russian Navy AEW Ka-31 helo reportedly spotted over

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today:

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It’s the young men, some bearded, eyes alert, the men of the old Liwa al-Fatah, the Liberation Brigade militia that fought the Syrian army, queuing up without their weapons to register at the checkpoint. Still proud but now working with the government to keep the government’s enemies out of Mouadamiya, they are a guarantee, of sorts, that their town will stay rebel-free. The regime still holds 800 of their relatives and friends in unknown prisons; another guarantee, of sorts, that they will remain loyal.

What also happened was a change of heart. And a phone call to the opposition from a man identified as a British “officer” called Ford. The government also realised it should never have taken the land from the people of Mouadamiya before the war, nor dismissed their peaceful protests with such arrogance in 2011. And then the men who took up arms realised, two years later, that they had been betrayed.

Such a moment came to 27-year old Mahmoud Khalifa when he took a phone call in November 2013 from the “Military Operations Centre” in Jordan, whence the West’s agents and Arab allies have tried to direct, coerce and arm the tens of thousands of men who want to destroy President Bashar al-Assad.

“There was a Saudi on the phone and he handed me over to a British officer who said his name was Ford, Dr Khalifa recalls. “We asked for help, we called for arms, weapons, money. And the answer from Ford was: ‘We can send ammunition for light weapons. We can’t send heavy or sophisticated weapons.’ I asked why, and the answer came back: ‘You are in an area so close to the capital that we will not allow you to advance.’

“They were playing with us. I insulted the two officers. I told them: ‘We will not allow you to use us like an instrument – and this is the last time you call us.’” Dr Khalifa, who is a medical doctor, narrows his eyes when he says this. His “allies”, it seems, wanted the war to continue – to destroy Syria rather than the regime. And he is a man with another burden. His older brother is one of the 800 prisoners, arrested in Damascus because the army realised his family connection to the doctor.

The Military Operations Centre is real enough. Captured rebels have talked about the “MOC” in Jordan, and Syrian intelligence officers have for months monitored communications between the MOC and elements of Jabhat al-Nusra (aka al-Qaeda) and the febrile Free Syrian Army around the southern city of Deraa. The Syrian army believes it is located close to the Jordanian-Syrian border. It is a worthy subject of investigation.

But when the war ended in Mouadamiya, promises were kept. The government agreed that Syrian militiamen in the town would remain free – and allowed to travel anywhere in Syria under government control, providing they surrendered their weapons. According to 45-year old Khaled Khodr – the head of the Liwa al-Fatah and nicknamed the Mayor by his fighting men – 600 fighters along with their families, a total of 1,500 who did not trust the government, were permitted to leave with their side-arms for rebel-held areas in Idlib province.

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Peace must come in stages. The electricity and water in Mouadamiya was never cut by the government, a smart move by someone in authority who realised that there were limits to a siege – albeit scarcely applied in Aleppo – which might lead to submission at a later date. Syrian troops have not entered Mouadamiya and the men who defended it believe the 800 prisoners will be freed after the new governor arrives to hoist the Syrian flag over the municipal buildings in a few days’ time and to declare the town safe. A Syrian intelligence man, a big beefy figure who refused to give his name or talk publicly, admitted that this was the intention: the prisoners would be freed “step by step”.

Could this be a model for eastern Aleppo if the slaughter ends? The ex-fighters here have their doubts. Too many of the armed groups in Aleppo are foreigners who would prefer to fight on. Too many are Islamists. In Mouadamiya, Khaled Khodr’s Liwa stepped in at once when Nusra Islamists arrived from the suburb of Ghouta and tried to join their fight – he told them to leave. But this did not spare the town. Among the buildings destroyed in the long battle was the largest school – never a rebel base, according to the former fighters – and in all 1,800 of its people were killed in the siege, most of them from the Liwa. Only just over 2,000 civilians lived on amid the wreckage. Mouadamiya’s mukhtar, Mohamed Jallab, reckons that 40,000 of its inhabitants who fled three years ago have now returned.

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Jura said:

Saturday at 6:28 PM
now, depending on the source, fairly different lines are shown around Shahba Reservoir (if you're interested in this, look for the water above or at

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); I'll go with this:

(it's

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)​

meaning: Kurds still on its western side (from what I've read, "Al-Hasia" is important), Turks/Rebels repelled ISIL from the eastern side most recently
let's wait and see

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Jura said:

Oct 1, 2016

... and now all the above "C" places are Government-held, plus Maan (it's Ti'an more to the north), Marus, Iskandariyah (more to the south):

(based on what I read in Twitter now)​

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Jura said:

Oct 17, 2016

today Government reportedly (EDIT I now saw a vid in a pro-Government Twitter account) got into Suran

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...

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(it's

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)​

Erdogan disclosed today that the Turkish military operations in northern Syria will steer clear of Aleppo. He said he has discussed the matter with Putin. At the same time, he gave a punch to Washington by revealing that Turkey next intends to target Manbij in northern Syria with a view to drive out from the city the Syrian Kurdish militia, who happen to be the US’ closest ally on the Syrian chessboard. (

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)

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Turkey’s military operations in Syria targets Manbij not Aleppo: President Erdoğan

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Friday,October 28 2016, Your time is 8:11:19 AM

Turkey’s military operations in Syria targets Manbij not Aleppo: President Erdoğan
ANKARA

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Turkey will sweep the Democratic Party Union (PYD) from Manbij, a key Syrian city close to the Turkish border that has been liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, Turkish President

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has vowed.

“We are determined to clear the PYD from Manbij,” Erdoğan said on Oct. 26, addressing a meeting of muhtars (neighborhood heads) at a meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara.

“We will do whatever necessary if they do not return back across the other side of the Euphrates river,” Erdoğan said.

Turkey, which considers the PYD and its armed wing People’s Protection Units (PYD) as a terrorist organization linked to the

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(PKK), says the group should not pass to the west of the Euphrates river and rejects any option of cooperating with PKK-affiliated groups in fights against ISIL either in Syria or Iraq.

“There is an effort to form a terror corridor along the border but we will not permit this,” Erdoğan said.

“Let’s make a joint fight against terrorist organizations. But Aleppo belongs to the people of Aleppo, we must explain this ... making calculations over Aleppo would not be right,” he added.

His comments came after forces allied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned Turkey against any advance toward their positions to the north and east of Aleppo, saying any such move would be met “decisively and with force.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also vowed that Turkey’s operation in Syria would continue despite attacks from Syria near al-Bab.

“Such attacks will not stop us from combatting Daesh. The Euphrates Shield operation will continue. The operation will continue until al-Bab. We will make this region a safe haven for those who want to return,” Çavuşoğlu said on Oct. 26, also accusing the forces of al-Assad and

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of having no intention to target ISIL militants.

“We know that regime in Syria and its supporters are not attacking Daesh. And they do not touch the YPG. Their only concern is [attacking] the moderate opposition, those who fight against Daesh. And they want al-Nusra to withdraw from Aleppo just because they want to recapture Aleppo,” he said.

Elaborating on recent statement by Hashdi Shaabi forces in Iraq for involving in an upcoming offensive in Tel Afar, Çavuşoğlu said

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would not remain deaf to any attacks on the Turkmen community in the region.

He also said Turkey still expects a delegation from Baghdad in order to talk to Turkish forces in the military camp in Bashiqa region. Turkey has invited Iraqi side and the latter, but there has been no date set for the meeting yet, he added.

As the Turkish-backed FSA fighters push south towards al-Bab, an ISIL-held town 35 kilometers northeast of Aleppo, they face confrontation with both Kurdish and pro-Assad forces, whose frontlines lie close by.

The field commander of the forces allied to the Syrian leader - which include the Lebanese group Hezbollah, Iraqi militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards - warned Turkey any advance towards their positions north and east of Aleppo would be met “decisively and with force.”

The commander, who was not identified by name, nationality or affiliation made the comments during a tour of frontlines to the north of Aleppo in a written statement sent to Reuters. They came a day after what the Turkish military said was a barrel bomb attack on the rebels its backs by a Syrian helicopter.

The Turkish military said a helicopter “assessed to belong to regime forces” bombed the rebels in a village near Akhtarin, a town 5 kilometers southeast of Dabiq, late on Oct. 25. Dabiq is a former ISIL stronghold which the rebels seized from the jihadists this month.

It was the first time a direct clash between Syrian forces and the Turkish-backed rebels has been announced. Two rebels were killed and five wounded, the Turkish army said.
October/26/2016

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