Syrian Civil War - News & Discussions

Can you elaborate on this bit of news ?

YPG/PKK tried to fake Syrian Government in a last desperate attempt.
They offered to show Syrian flags instead of YPG/PKK flags and invited SAA to Afrin.
After Russia withdrew its military observers there, Syria said also NO to this YPG/PKK s offer.
I will post this news later linking serious sources.
 
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Breaking: Syrian government rejects Kurdish PYD's proposal to restore state institutions in Afrin


BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:55 P.M.) – The Syrian government has rejected the Kurdish PYD’s proposal to restore state institutions in the Afrin Canton, a source in Damascus told Al-Masdar News this afternoon.

According to the source, the PYD offered to raise the flag of the Syrian Arab Republic over their buildings and to restore state institutions in exchange for their continued support in the Afrin Canton.

However, the government rejected the proposal after the PYD refused to allow Syrian security forces inside the Afrin Canton.

The government fears that accepting this proposal will leave their institutions at the mercy of the Kurdish security forces, who have harassed their employees in other regions of the country, including in the northeastern cities of Hasakah and Qamishli.
 
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Turkey Will ‘Target’ US Troops If They Keep Supporting Syrian Kurds

US-Turkey tensions mounting surrounding the Turkish invasion of the Syrian Kurdish Afrin District look to be getting much worse, with Turkey’s deputy premier Bekir Bozdag warning that the US is the one risking confrontation by supporting the Kurds.

Bozdag warned the US needs to “review its soldiers and elements giving support to terrorists on the ground,” and that US forces who continue to support the Kurdish YPG, which Turkey considers terrorists will become a target in this battle.

The US isn’t believed to have any serious forces inside Afrin District, which Turkey is presently invading. Turkey’s President Erdogan, however, says they will attack Manbij next, and there are a substantial number of US troops deployed there.

The US had long bet that Turkey wouldn’t invade Manbij and risk fighting a fellow NATO member, but Turkish officials are now giving the indication that they’re trying to call America’s bluff on such a confrontation, and betting the US will back off their alliance with the Kurds rather than risk a fight with Turkey, who hosts a key US airbase.

Turkey Will ‘Target’ US Troops If They Keep Supporting Syrian Kurds
 
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All is proceeding as planned. Up to now 712 YPG/PKK terrorist elements were eliminated, important fortifications destroyed some roads cleaned from mines and IEDs. The reason to slow down the operation was severe weather condition in the first week. Turkish Army suffered 5 martyrs ( 1 civil truck driver), FSA 21 martyrs. The CAS with combat planes and helicopters is very effective. We can expect that end of this week some smaller urban combat operations in Raco and Cinderes will begin. YPG/PKK elements and foreign fighters withdraw to Afrin City and prepare there for a final show down and urban combat. This will happen end of February. Battle hardened and experienced Gendarmerie and Police Special Forces from Turkey , who gathered experience in Southeast Turkey especially in Cizre and Diyarbakir will participate to support Armed Forces Elite Maroons and Marines. The cleaned areas are delivered to FSA and FSA Police and FSA Special Forces from Cerablus and other units trained in Turkey. You can identify them easy , they wear green, red (FSA Special Forces) and blue berets.

There is no kick and rush as it happened in operation ES. Primary aim is to minimize losses and avoid civilian collateral damage.

Thats the strategy


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Agreed. German Parliament refused to accept Herero Genocide in Namibia as Belgium refused to accept Genocide in Kongo. I would appreciate much if the UN could found an independent global genocide comission of indepenent academicians with unlimited access to archives.
Mate, try to concentrate on ME. This region is a key region. Not only cause fossil ressources, but for Israels security. Please remember Turkish Republic was one if the first countries who accepted Israel as state.
You can believe me Turkey could be a perfect intermediate between India-Pakistan and Israel - Palestinians. Why are we fighting and what for ? I want to see peace and wealth for all creatures HUMANs and Animals. Its scandalous that 80 global family clans have control of %60 of global monetary funds.
I am also a creation of Allah , God, Buddha call it as you want and was born innocent to this world. Best regards

An excellent post, but I humbly suggest that no intermediation is needed or desired in the matter of Kashmir. On all other issues, your intervention and brokering peace would be welcome.
 

Now Government forces have entered Afrin. Lets see what loud mouth Erdogan will do now,

Syrian Government Forces Enter Afrin - YPG Representative to Sputnik

YPG representative in Afrin Brusk Haseke told Sputnik that the Syrian government forces have entered Afrin besieged by the Turkish military. The Syrian armed forces, however, yet to confirm this information.

Yes, this is true. Today the Syrian government army entered Afrin in order to defend the city from the Turkish Armed Forces and the Free Syrian Army jointly with the Kurdish forces of the YPG. The government forces have come to help the people of Afrin. We cannot report on the number of soldiers that entered Afrin. This is military information."
At the same time, the Syrian state TV has shown a convoy, what it says are pro-government forces, entering Afrin.
The troops, wearing camouflage fatigues and waving weapons and Syrian flags from their vehicles are seen on the screen, Reuters said.
READ MORE: US Actions Toward Kurds in Syria Look Like Deliberate Provocation — Lavrov
Meanwhile, the Syrian TV reports of the shelling of the Syrian government forces, which had entered Afrin by the Turkish military.
However, no official confirmation to this has followed from both — the Syrian and the Turkish sides.
Turkey's Warning Against Entering Afrin
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in the day that Turkish army would encircle Afrin to speed up its operation, adding that possible deployment of Syrian government forces into the city had been "halted through our communications."
 
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Now Government forces have entered Afrin. Lets see what loud mouth Erdogan will do now,

Syrian Government Forces Enter Afrin - YPG Representative to Sputnik

YPG representative in Afrin Brusk Haseke told Sputnik that the Syrian government forces have entered Afrin besieged by the Turkish military. The Syrian armed forces, however, yet to confirm this information.

Yes, this is true. Today the Syrian government army entered Afrin in order to defend the city from the Turkish Armed Forces and the Free Syrian Army jointly with the Kurdish forces of the YPG. The government forces have come to help the people of Afrin. We cannot report on the number of soldiers that entered Afrin. This is military information."
At the same time, the Syrian state TV has shown a convoy, what it says are pro-government forces, entering Afrin.
The troops, wearing camouflage fatigues and waving weapons and Syrian flags from their vehicles are seen on the screen, Reuters said.
READ MORE: US Actions Toward Kurds in Syria Look Like Deliberate Provocation — Lavrov
Meanwhile, the Syrian TV reports of the shelling of the Syrian government forces, which had entered Afrin by the Turkish military.
However, no official confirmation to this has followed from both — the Syrian and the Turkish sides.
Turkey's Warning Against Entering Afrin
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in the day that Turkish army would encircle Afrin to speed up its operation, adding that possible deployment of Syrian government forces into the city had been "halted through our communications."



Turkey and Russia have been two of the main outside powers supporting opposite sides throughout the war, with Moscow the closest ally of Assad and Ankara one of the principal supporters of rebels fighting to overthrow him.

I am wondering what would Russia Do/act? @militarist
 
Turkey and Russia have been two of the main outside powers supporting opposite sides throughout the war, with Moscow the closest ally of Assad and Ankara one of the principal supporters of rebels fighting to overthrow him.

I am wondering what would Russia Do/act? @militarist
Posturing aside turkey would have to manage with government forces in Afrin. Erdogan will be happy to kick Kurds out of critical areas. I guess Kurds will cede some critical areas to Syrian government.
 
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Turkey and Russia have been two of the main outside powers supporting opposite sides throughout the war, with Moscow the closest ally of Assad and Ankara one of the principal supporters of rebels fighting to overthrow him.

I am wondering what would Russia Do/act? @militarist

I guess there is a sort of agreement between Turkey and Russia regarding speres of influence in Syria. It's highly probable that there was a bargain between two powers - free hand policy regarding kurds in nearby zones to Turkey for limited support of "civil" opposition and Idlib province. The main problem is that there is Iran with its own point of view regarding the future of Syria
 
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‘Proof doesn't matter to West regarding Syria chemical weapons-use allegations… as usual’

It’s no coincidence the US is warning against chemical weapons use by Damascus, while the most likely source of an attack would be rebels, to trigger a response against the Syrian government, says former US diplomat Jim Jatras.
Amid calls for a ceasefire in eastern Ghouta, Syria, figures in Western media are accusing President Bashar Assad of launching a chemical gas attack.
Eastern Ghouta is just outside the capital, Damascus, and has been occupied by various rebel and terrorist groups for years. The violence there recently escalated, with both sides accusing each other of targeting civilians.
A humanitarian corridor set up by Russia opened in eastern Ghouta on Tuesday morning to allow civilians to leave the war-ravaged district. However, despite these efforts, it is feared civilians will be prevented by rebels from leaving the warzone.
RT America’s Ed Schultz spoke to former US diplomat Jim Jatras to discuss escalating tensions in the region.
RT: I don't think there's a story on the face of the Earth where Eastern media and Western media are reporting two completely different things. Last night CBS’s ‘60 Minutes’ ran a story and pinned all of the chemical use on the Syrian Army and Assad. However, Russia’s [Foreign Minister] Sergey Lavrov said that there's fake news in the Western media. Sort this out for us, as you know it tonight.
Jim Jatras: Actually, I think you just did that there is this gulf in what the facts are. And the sad fact is that the Western media do take their cues from Western governments. And even when there's no proof whatsoever. And there hasn't been proof that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons in this conflict, whether we're talking Ghouta in 2013 or whether we're talking about Khan Shaykhun in April of 2017, or now whatever is going on in Ghouta. It doesn't really matter, it seems, to Western governments. They make the accusation and the media just repeat it mechanically without demanding any proof or looking at the evidence.
RT: What is the next move you predict the US will make as far as policy is concerned? Assad is not backing off. The shelling by the militants is not stopping. What's the endgame here and what role does the US play in all of this? I know that the majority of American people don't want to see troops involved here, but unless they are, how's this going to end?
JJ: Unfortunately, there are three distinct flashpoints just within Syria. We have what's going on in Ghouta and it is somewhat encouraging that there was a resolution in the [UN] Security Council and looks like the US did not push a real hard line there. We agree on a ceasefire but it's not going to take place because all the terrorist groups that are in Ghouta are exempted. But we still have the problem with the Turks and the Kurds in Afrin and elsewhere in northern Syria. And we also have the major American concentration or presence in Syria, Kurdish controlled part of Syria where, remember, about a week or so ago we launched airstrikes on pro-government forces and killed an unknown number of Russians there. That's the real dangerous flashpoint, it seems to me.
The information we have from different sources that terrorist groups are planning now to use chemical weapons against Syrian civilians and [the] Syrian Army, and to accuse Syrian government. And again, we will have the same drama in the UNSC…And they will use this drama, this fake information to target [the] Syrian Army, as they were doing before. – Abdullah al-Ahmed, regional affairs researcher and political analyst​
RT: Who is the number one backer of the rebels right now? Where are they getting their mortars? Where are they getting their equipment? Is it multifaceted?
JJ: It is still multifaceted. I don't think the Saudis and the Turks have walked away from their favorite terrorist groups. And I'll be honest with you, I'm afraid that we're still giving some support to some of these terrorist groups. It's no coincidence we are trying to defend them and are even warning against “chemical weapons used by the government,” even anybody who knows watching this that the most likely source of chemical weapons use would be precisely from the rebels in order to trigger a response against the Syrian government.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some reports saying that the Syrian Army used chemical weapons in order to justify any attack, any moves to derail [the] ceasefire in eastern Ghouta and to divert the attention from the humanitarian corridors or the efforts in order to isolate the civilians from radical armed groups which are controlling eastern Ghouta. It is expected. – Abdel Bari Atwan, author​
RT: This ceasefire did not hold. What is your prediction that maybe a ceasefire would hold at some level?
JJ: I don't think it will. As I say the terrorist groups that are in Ghouta are exempt from the ceasefire. There was no date for the beginning of the ceasefire in the resolution. I think the real problem is the incoherence of Washington's policy: you have the president saying, on the one hand, “We're only there to fight [Islamic State or IS, formerly] ISIS,” but then he says in the same clause that the Russians, the Syrians and the Iranians are doing very bad things…We're certainly not there in eastern Syria to oppose ISIS, we’re there to block the Iranians and the Russians and to still demand that Assad must go.


‘Proof doesn't matter to West regarding Syria chemical weapons-use allegations… as usual’
 
Its open Iran Vs Turkey Vs Sauds in Syria.


Saudi Arabia's crown prince said Iran, Turkey and extremist groups represent a "triangle of evil" and predicted the kingdom's confrontation with Gulf Arab neighbor Qatar could last for years.

Mohammed Bin Salman, in an interview with Egyptian newspaper editors in Cairo this week, also accused the Muslim Brotherhood of exploiting democracy in the region and said Turkey, its patron, is trying to revive a caliphate, the Al-Shorouk daily reported. Both Saudi Arabia and Egypt have designated the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

The prince's comments were the latest broadside in a heated rhetorical battle among Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey as the three Middle East powerhouses vie for predominance at a time of deepening confrontation. Since his father became king in 2015, Prince Mohammed has leapfrogged other Saudi royals to become his Sunni kingdom's undisputed leader. Along the way he has overhauled foreign policy, largely in an effort to contain the influence of Shiite Iran.

Lumping Turkey along with radical groups and the kingdom's main regional foe is a sudden escalation by the 32-year-old crown prince against the NATO member.

Turkey has acted to undermine the Saudi-led boycott of Qatar, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also sheltered members of the Muslim Brotherhood in his country.

In Cairo, the crown prince asserted that his policies were working. Iran's "project is collapsing and we are besieging it in every place," the paper cited him as saying.

For more than three years, a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting to defeat Shiite Houthi rebels backed by Iran in neighboring Yemen after they ousted a government friendly to Riyadh. The war has plunged Yemen into a humanitarian catastrophe with no end to the conflict in sight. In Syria, Saudi-backed forces have largely been defeated by President Bashar al-Assad's army, supported by Russia and Iran.

In June last year, the oil-rich kingdom, along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain, cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar accusing it of aiding militant groups and maintaining close ties with the Islamic Republic. Qatar has denied the claims and says the four nations are leery of another nation flexing its muscle in the region.

Prince Mohammed compared the standoff among key members of the Gulf Cooperation Council to the decadeslong isolation of Cuba by the U.S.

It's "wrong to focus on this very trivial problem as it could continue for a long time," he said in the Egyptian capital, according to Al-Shorouk. The Saudi official responsible for handling the dispute holds a position lower than a government minister, he said. Saudi Arabia wouldn't accept outside mediation, he said, "but this doesn't mean that we will prevent Qatar from attending the next Arab summit." Both Kuwait and the U.S. have attempted to bridge differences between the sides.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who spearheaded the military-backed popular uprising that ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi from office in 2013, has been a staunch backer of Saudi Arabia.

COMMENTSEl-Sisi has launched a broad crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, which fielded Mursi for office, leaving hundreds dead and thousands in jail. The Brotherhood, which advocates Islam via the ballot box, is perceived by the absolute Gulf monarchies as a threat to their rule.

Saudi Prince Says Turkey, Iran Anchor A 'Triangle Of Evil'
 
Ankara urges US to stop Kurdish militia’s


Ankara urges US to stop Kurdish militia’s advance in Syria’s Afrin
Published time: 7 Mar, 2018 14:29
Ankara asked the US to stop Kurdish militia forces, which it considers “terrorists,” from moving to Syria’s Afrin region to battle against a Turkish military offensive, AFP reported. The Pentagon said on Monday that Turkey’s Afrin offensive caused an “operational pause”in their mission against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) group. “The US is expected to step in to stop YPG/PYD forces shifting – under US control – from Manbij to Afrin,” Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in televised remarks on Wednesday. “This is our most natural right… We have taken all the necessary measures on the ground,” he said. The YPG forms the bulk of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against IS jihadists.

Ankara urges US to stop Kurdish militia’s advance in Syria’s Afrin
 
Ankara urges US to stop Kurdish militia’s


Ankara urges US to stop Kurdish militia’s advance in Syria’s Afrin
Published time: 7 Mar, 2018 14:29
Ankara asked the US to stop Kurdish militia forces, which it considers “terrorists,” from moving to Syria’s Afrin region to battle against a Turkish military offensive, AFP reported. The Pentagon said on Monday that Turkey’s Afrin offensive caused an “operational pause”in their mission against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) group. “The US is expected to step in to stop YPG/PYD forces shifting – under US control – from Manbij to Afrin,” Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in televised remarks on Wednesday. “This is our most natural right… We have taken all the necessary measures on the ground,” he said. The YPG forms the bulk of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against IS jihadists.

Ankara urges US to stop Kurdish militia’s advance in Syria’s Afrin

Kurds are already unhappy with USA and are blaming them for backstabbing. I read a news yesterday about them pulling out of fight against ISIS. If pushed more they will go with Syrian regime and Russia. Syria can be related to WWE event where there are 10's of fighter in the ring and everyone is fighting each other.
 
Syrian army declares capital Damascus "completely secure"
The Syrian army said Damascus and its surroundings were fully secure after the army cleared the last insurgent-held area around the capital of Islamic State fighters on Monday.

“Damascus and its surroundings and Damascus countryside and its villages are completely secure areas,” the army high command said in a televised statement, adding that the army would continue to fight “terrorism” across Syria.
Earlier, Syrian government forces on Monday resumed their offensive against the Islamic State group in the south of Damascus, after evacuating a group of civilians from the area, Syrian state TV reported.

The TV quoted an unnamed military official as saying a truce had been in place to evacuate women, children and elderly on Sunday night from Damascus’ southern neighborhood of Hajar al-Aswad.

Attack after the end of truce
Shortly before noon Monday, when the truce was supposed to end, government warplanes struck IS held areas as Syrian troops began pounding and advancing slowly in the remaining IS-held neighborhoods in Damascus, according to state TV.

“The Daesh terrorist organization is living its last hours” in the Damascus area, the TV’s reporter said, using an Arabic acronym to refer to IS.

Damascus residents said warplanes were flying over the city again. The fighting resumed in the Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood and the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, said some IS fighters were permitted to leave Yarmouk and the adjacent al-Tadamon neighborhood. Syria’s state media denied a deal was reached to evacuate fighters.

The Observatory said on Monday that a new batch of fighters and their families left late Sunday, heading east toward the Syrian desert. It added that IS fighters have been setting their offices and vehicles on fire so that government forces would not be able to seize equipment or documents belonging to the group.

President Bashar Assad’s forces launched an offensive against IS militants in southern Damascus a month ago. The offensive has brought more than 70 % of the area under government control.

The capture of these southern neighborhoods would bring the entire Syrian capital under government control for the first time since the civil war began in 2011.

In Tehran, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said Iranian forces will not be leaving Syria but would continue fighting “terrorism” there, at the request of the Syrian government.

Bahram Ghasemi told reporters on Monday that no one can force Tehran to do anything it doesn’t desire to do.
“Our presence in Syria has been based on request by Syrian government and Iran will continue its support as long as the Syrian government wants,” he said.

Putin's statement
Vladimir Putin’s envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, said on Friday that the Russian President’s statement about the need for foreign troop pullout from Syria referred to Iran, Mr. Assad’s key regional ally.

Mr. Putin told Mr. Assad during a meeting on Thursday that a political settlement in Syria should encourage foreign countries to pull out their troops from Syria.

Russia and Iran have been Mr. Assad’s strongest backers and joined the war on his side.
Syrian army declares capital Damascus completely secure
 
Syrian Army recaptured City of Dara Completely.

Syrian government forces raise flag in Dara'a, birthplace of the war
By Jamie Tarabay, CNN

Updated 1928 GMT (0328 HKT) July 13, 2018

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Thousands flee toward closed borders 02:15

(CNN)Syrian government forces say they have retaken a town that was the epicenter of the civil war that engulfed the country and the region for more than seven years.

State media said the Syrian troops entered the town of Dara'a on Thursday.

Under an agreement reached last week with militant groups, the Syrian government said "terrorist groups will hand over heavy and medium weapons," and that those who agree to the accord will be permitted to remain in the area.

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Smoke rises above opposition held areas of the city of Dara'a during airstrikes by Syrian regime forces on June 28, 2018.

"Those who refuse reconciliation will be evacuated," the state-run SANA news agency reported Thursday.

Troops raised the Syrian flag once again over the town of Dara'a, where graffiti taunting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad about the demise of Arab dictators in other countries first sparked the uprising that became the Syrian war.




https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/13/asia/syria-daraa-capture-flag-intl/index.html