https://southfront.org/syrian-war-report-march-23-2017-gov-forces-face-crisis-in-northern-hama/
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Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), Anjad al-Sham, Jaish al-Nasr, Jaish al-izzah and the Idlib Free Army continued its rapid advance against government forces in northern Hama. The HTS-led forces seized Balhassin, Arzeh, Talat al-Shiha, Khatab, Maardas, Eskandariah and some other points from government troops, mainly local militiamen from the National Defense Forces (NDF). The militants attacked an important government defense site of Qamhanah and deployed close to the Hama Military Airport and the provincial capital.
The Syrian military responded with deploying reinforcements to the area from other fronts. A large number of Tiger Forces members redeployed there from the eastern countryside of Aleppo. These units were mostly fire support groups equipped with Grad BM-21 multiple rocket launcher systems and howitzers. Some units of the 5th Storming Corps were ordered to move to Hama from the Palmyra area. The Lions of the Desert, a special forces unit belonging to the Air Forces Intelligence Service, will also strengthen the government forces in northern Hama.
In eastern Damascus, government forces led by the Republican Guard and backed up by the Syrian Air Force regained the textile factory from HTS-led forces and attacked militants in the area of the electricity station.
In the province of Aleppo, the Tiger Forces, backed up by warplanes, further advanced against ISIS terrorists near the ISIS-held city of Deir Hafer. Government troops captured Um Adsa, Al-Khalilah, Jafr Mansour, Tell Akoulah, al-Qasr and Lalat Muhammad. The Syrian army’s Tiger Forces and its allies cut off the Deir Hafer-Raqqah road and de-facto encircled the ISIS stronghold. Some ISIS units are still able to flee Deir Hafer via the cross-country northeast of the city, but this is a temporary option. ISIS reportedly has about 400 fighters in the area.
As soon as Deir Hafer is liberated, the crossroad town of al-Mahdum and the Jirah Military Airbase will become the high priority targets for government forces in the province. The militant advance aimed at linking up the Qabun pocket with the Eastern Ghouta lost momentum and now they were pushed to go defensive to save at least some of the gained points. According to pro-government sources, 150 militants were killed in clashes.
Major General Mohammad Hassan Sultan, a commander of the second battalion of the recently formed 5th Legion, has been killed in clashes with ISIS near Palmyra in the province of Homs. Government troops have been conducting advances north, south and west of the ancient city, aiming to secure its countryside. The government advance on the ISIS-controlled town of Arak has not resulted in a success yet.
The Free Syrian Army’s Ahmad Abdo Forces, Faylaq al-Rahman and Jaish al-Islam further developed their advance in eastern Qalamoun, capturing Mihassah, Thaniyat al-Yaridah, Thaniyah Wadhath, the nearby crossroad and few hilltops. Thus, the groups deployed close to the important government-held city of al-Qaryatan liberated by government forces from ISIS in 2016. Participation of Jaish al-Islam in this anti-ISIS advance poses a threat that militants could attack government troops in the area. Earlier this week, Jaish al-Islam declared its support to the HTS-led advance in eastern Damascus.
On March 21, the US-led coalition airdropped hundreds of fighters of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to the area west of Tabqa in a shock attack in order to to cut off the Aleppo-Raqqah road and to capture the ISIS-controlled Tabqa Dam, the town of Tabqa and the Tabqa Airbase. According to CENTCOM, the SDF (predominantly the Kurdish People’s Protection Units) plays a key role in the operation. However, the coalition does not deny the presence of US troops in the area. In other words, the US-led coalition’s ground force had spearheaded the operation.
Since the start of the operation, US-led forces have cut off the Aleppo-Raqqah road and seized the villages of Abu Horaira, Hidaj, Krein, al-Jameen and al-Mushayrifah. If the US-led coalition forces are able to capture Tabqa, it will be a major step in isolating the ISIS stronghold of Raqqah. On the other hand, this move will prevent a possibility of government advance on these strategic sites near the Euphrates.
Writes Canthama:
1) Eastern Aleppo
As mentioned yesterday, ISIS terrorists have collapsed in Aleppo, Deir Hafer fully liberated as well as the Umm Tinah and Rasm al Fallah. … The SAA, NDF and allies will most likely continue to MO after a major victory, consolidate the gains, de mine, build defenses, small incremental gains then big push.
2) Northern Hama
The counter attack has started and the SAA, NDF, Militias and the newly arrived reinforcements are trying to cut al Qaeda in two by relinking the Hama-Mhardeh road. Should this happen, then either al Qaeda will have to quickly retreat or will be eliminated in the the Maarzaf, Majdal and al Sheer area.
To soon to tell whether this counter offensive will work, but it is moving nicely and yet without the Tiger Forces that are traveling from Eastern Aleppo at the moment.
3) Overal situation in Syria
In a comment way above, have mentioned why KSA, Qatar and Turkey re engaged their past alliance (US and Israhell blessing) to ignite the terrorists offensive in many areas within Syria, some are purely suicidal as in Jobar (terrorists are to lose much more ground in the coming weeks and may disappear form it earlier than previously thought), or al Qaeda lead offensive in Hama to reduce the speed in Eastern Aleppo against ISIS while building time for US backed SDF to advance toward Tabqa and Raqqa.
The coordination between KSA, Qatar, Turkey, US, Israhell ISIS and al qaeda is evident and may be a game changer for Syria, a game changer since Russia and Iran may step up their hands and go much stronger.
The recent Israhelli jets incident, ISIS attack to the Salamiyah-Aleppo road, Jobar terrorists offensive, Hama al qaeda offensive and US/SDF advance toward Tabqa are all connected.
For the turkish regime supporters, al qaeda has received weapons, ammo and fuel directly from the turkish regime in the past 2 weeks for the Hama offensive, as well as a large turkmen terrorist group was transferred from al Bab area to support and engage in the Hama offensive, enough said.
https://syrianperspective.com/2017/03/syrian-armenian-explodes-the-myth-about-the-western-medias-peaceful-revolt-against-the-syrian-government-see-the-criminal-robert-ford-standing-next-to-mass-murderer.html#lzPp9PYl8tuWooqJ.99
Syrian Army Kills Tahrir al Sham Extremists’ Commander in Western Hama Province
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703241051927793-syrian-army-tahrir-sham-commander/
“Syria’s government army has killed a field commander of the Tahrir al-Sham militant group in the north of Hama, the capital of Syria’s western province of the same name.
According to al-Mayadeen television broadcaster, the commander of the group subordinate to the Jabhat Fatah al Sham (al-Nusra Front) terrorist organization was identified as Abu Ahd Isham.
Earlier in March, two blasts occurred near Bab al-Saghir cemetery in Damascus, claiming the lives of at least 40 people and injuring 120 others. The Tahrir al-Sham militants reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.”
Jim Stone this morning : “An Iranian government official claimed earlier this week that its Russian-made air defenses were compromised by Moscow, leaving Iran and its allies defenseless against Israeli airstrikes. An engineer with Tehran’s Ministry of Defense alleged that codes forcing anti-aircraft missiles to treat hostile Israeli fighters as friendly were sold to Tel Aviv, effectively neutralizing Syria and Iran’s S-300 surface-to-air missile systems
An Iranian official, described by the Jerusalem Post as a senior member of Iran’s Defense Ministry, told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida that Russia had sold “codes” to Israel that identified Israeli aircraft as friendly. The codes were used by Israel to prevent its aircraft from being targeted. Israel has flown dozens of air raids over Syria, and despite advanced air defenses, only the latest raid, flown last Friday, involved an actual missile launch.
The article doesn’t say what the Iranians mean by “codes”, but Tehran apparently means the Identify Friend or Foe codes that aircraft transmit to avoid being shot down by their own air defenses. The S-300 missile, an older surface-to-air missile similar to the American Patriot, was identified as the affected system. The S-300s not only would refuse to engage the Israeli planes, the report says, but also they wouldn’t give notice that the planes had taken off from nearby Israel, giving Syrian troops time to prepare.
According to Al-Jarida , “Iranians and the Syrians suspected that Russia gave the codes for the air defense system to Israel and even refused the requests of Tehran and Damascus to check the codes.” As the story goes, Iran managed to change the codes on its own supplied S-300 missile systems, then sent engineers to Syria to change the codes on unspecified Syrian air defense systems. The fact that the Syrian missiles finally launched after the codes were changed confirmed to the Iranians that Russia had thrown them under the bus.”
RE: Talks-to-Cats on March 24, 2017 · at 3:01 pm UTC
Information War Against Russian Weapons Underway – Putin’s Aide
https://sputniknews.com/military/201703231051899204-information-war-russia-weapoms/
“Some states are making attempts to undermine Russia’s positions on the arms market, using any methods, up to direct pressure on Russia’s partners in military-technical cooperation, he said.
“If we go back to the sanctions… many decisions were aimed precisely at squeezing us out of these or those markets. And here the partners do not shun any actions, up to direct pressure on our partners, creating difficulties for settlements,” Kozhin said.”
The zio-gay media disinfo spammed above by ttc is part of that zionazi information war against Russian armaments. It is also a continuing part of the zionazi strategy to divide the countries that have united against israel-america’s aggression. Not surprised to see ttc doing this again.
In Syria, social media has been the ‘weapon of mass instruction’
http://theduran.com/internet-became-syrias-weapon-mass-instruction-video/
“Unlike in previous catastrophic events, such as the fall of the USSR, the internet is the most powerful medium in the Syria conflict”
The zionazis have completely weaponised information. Every possible aspect is used to sow dissention and confusion in targeted countries and population. Until widespread use of the web, controlling the dialogue was much easier for them. Now, they are hard pressed to keep up, and often failing to make their propaganda stick.
OK.
Claim.
Counter-claim.
Supporting evidence either way ?
I do NOT allege that everything I find interesting and post is truth. I post things because they are interesting and potentially significant. In this case, the allegation seems to match the events sequence well.
If this is a debate, your move.
And without the ad hominem ? (if possible).
Talks-to-Cats on March 24, 2017 · at 5:22 pm UTC
You post obvious zionazi disinfo from a well known israeli disinfo site and insist it’s credible. Then demand a serious debate on it. LOL, that is site trolling 101.
Jim Stone is a ZioNazi ?
I think you are hallucinating. Or else confusing him with someone else.
“Jim Stone is a ZioNazi ?”
You knew what I was talking about, but decided to continue trolling regardless.
“An Iranian official, described by the Jerusalem Post as a senior member of Iran’s Defense Ministry, told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida”
The jp is zionazi disinfo. Since you didn’t link stone’s piece, the context stone put the disinfo in is unknown. He may think it nonsense, or may not. The disinfo is ludicrous enough that any one with 1/4 of the normal human grey matter would see it is nonsense. You obviously are pushing that zionazi disinfo, and may have misrepresented stone’s take to push your Russophobic angle (this sort of misrepresentation is a common practice of justthetalk.com websayanim, the lack of a link is the usual giveaway of this tactic).
I have a couple of questions for you. With your obvious Russophobia, why do you spend time here? Your smearing doesn’t fool any one here and your agenda, being so obvious, ends up discrediting your own cause the same way the zio-gay media and politicians have discredited themselves with their Russophobic nonsense. The other question is why zionist gays hate Russia so much. It seems the most fanatical Russia haters usually turn out to be both pro-israeli and homosexual.
It’s actually fairly simple to discredit this claim.
The Russian provided anti-aircraft systems provided to Syria should shoot down any and all invading Israeli aircraft.
That will quickly settle this argument and also stop these Israeli incursions immediately.
Case closed.
So why haven’t the anti-aircraft been shooting down these Israeli aircraft?
The fact the question can even be asked at all leads to speculation of all sorts.
@vot tak —
Now I am certain that you have confused me with someone else.
I will let it go at that.
I hope you are having a better day today.
Since you wanted a link (as if googling this would be difficult), an update from Jim Stone today :
I will say it is entirely possible Popular Mechanics did a snow job for Israel, (to cover up Israeli operatives on Iranian turf, ) who could have also disabled the missiles by programming them to see Israeli aircraft as friendly.
However, Iran did accuse Russia of selling them compromised systems. Another possibility is that the top levels of the Russian government did not do it, and that it was lower people, acting as Israeli operatives, that did it during the manufacturing process or handling process while they were en route to Iran. And there are probably numerous ways those missiles are screwed, it won’t be just this.</i?
http://82.221.129.208/baaasepageg7.html
US Intends Illegal Safe Zones in Imperial War Theaters
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2017/03/us-intends-illegal-safe-zones-in.html?m=1
“Longstanding US/Israeli plans call for redrawing the Middle East map, including partitioning Iraq and Syria – governments in both countries, Iran and Lebanon replaced by pro-Western puppet regimes.
Turkey wants northern Syria and Iraq annexed. Establishing safe zones in either or both countries would require thousands of troops for enforcement.
Last November, Trump endorsed the idea, deplorably saying “(b)uild a big, beautiful safe zone, and you have whatever it is so people can live, and they’ll be happier.”
Hillary Clinton earlier urged establishing a no-fly zone, the same scheme she used to launch US-led NATO aggression on Libya.
Russia rejects what Assad and his government oppose. CENTCOM commander General Joseph Votel supports safe zones in “areas that have already been secured,” he said.”
The zionazi tuppence regime continues right along being a proxy for israeli expansion. Maybe using some different tactics from what a clinton regime might have used, but the sought after zionazi goals remain the same.
Syrian Army Reinforces Defense of Hama Following Recent Terrorist Surge (VIDEO)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703241051936390-hama-syrian-army-attack-defend/
“Syrian army reinforcements are arriving in Hama ahead of an operation to regain government-held territory which had been attacked by armed militants in the province, a military source told Sputnik.”
The article provides recent details in the fighting in Hama.
Zakharova: Western states’ refusal to condemn terrorist attacks in Damascus indicates their unwillingness to take effective counterterrorism measures
http://sana.sy/en/?p=102826
“Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed that western states’ refusal to condemn the recent terror attacks in Damascus indicates their unwillingness to take effective steps to combat terrorism.
Zakharova, at her weekly press conference held Thursday, noted that the refusal to condemn terrorist attacks which hit Damascus in March and their secrecy over these bloody acts as well as facts related to the ISIS’ use of chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq stresses that they do not have desire to take effective measures to deter terrorist threat.
She pointed out to the continued supply of weapons, ammunitions, funds and recruiters to terrorists, adding that the terrorist attacks in Damascus and the countryside of Hama stresses that the fight against terrorism should remain a priority on the agenda of Syrian talks in Geneva.”
Again, no real change in real american policies against Syria, despite trump PR to the contrary. The zionazi quisling tuppence regime by its actions show they are essentially at war against Syria every bit as much as the zionazi quisling obama regime was. The only real change being the tuppence quislings introduced pindo military assets openly now.
Stop dithering ,head for the river . The partition of your country is happening Now. This fight is far from over!
Trump wading into Mideast quagmire over Turkey and Kurds in Syria
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/382211-trump-draining-dc-swamp-kurds/
Why are the tuppence regime using a kurd proxy in this?
Because these, the ones the zionazi propaganda outfit known as trump, inc. have utilized, will carry out greater israeli interests. That’s why.
US Charges Lebanese Businessman for Financial Support of Hezbollah
https://sputniknews.com/us/201703251051947658-usa-charges-hezbollah/
“The US Department of Justice announced that a Lebanese businessman has been arrested and charged with evading US sanctions by financial supporting the Hezbollah terror organization.”
Same old govno with these futa zionazi freaks. The “donald” is the latest incarnation of the zionazi mind warp psywar to keep the untermenschen dumb and dumber and gullible as ever. The pindos seem to get off on their stupidity and gullibility and worship the worst among their establishment, by habit. One could say this is a serious cultural failing, but that would be generous.
Arrested in Casablanca, Morocco, by Casablanca police traveling from Guinea to Beirut, under an arrest warrant issued by an American judge in 2010.
These arrogant US gangsters snatch up anyone they want to, as if they own the world, and label anyone who they don’t like as terrorists — while Hezbollah actually are fighting terrorists, created by the US, in Syria (which the Israelis and zionists object to). Taking them down is long overdue, and Trump and his gang has to be included with the rest of them.
Lavelle on Crosstalk is beginning to make some grumbling noises, even saying tonight that there are reasons to not like him and he could do a whole show on what is wrong with Trump, but I don’t see much along those lines from Duran yet. There still seems to be a dearth of sane replacements for US despots, or enough awareness among US people, however. We need a significant resistance organization and movement here.