[ShabelleMedia] Warplanes launched a series of Arclight airstrike Arclight airstrike" valign=top style="float:right;padding:5px;border:0px solid silver;" />...KABOOM!... s in the Hawadley area of Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region late last night, targeting known al-Shabaab ... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa... strongholds. The attacks resulted in the destruction of multiple vehicles used by the turban group, according to local reports.
The airstrikes were a direct response to an earlier assault by al-Shabaab on a Somali government military base in Hawadley, which reportedly led to numerous casualties among the Somali National Army. Sources within the military confirmed that the attack on their base was one of the deadliest in recent months, prompting the swift aerial counteraction.
The tension in Hawadley, which falls within the Balcad district, has not subsided. There are continued reports of skirmishes between government forces and al-Shabaab turbans, with both sides vying for control over strategic points in the area. The turban group’s control over the road connecting Balcad to Jowhar has severely restricted movement, disrupting not only local trade but also the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Residents in the area described a volatile atmosphere, with sporadic gunfire and the constant threat of further attacks. "Life has become very unpredictable here," said Abdi Mohammed, a local shopkeeper in Hawadley. "The road to Jowhar, which is crucial for our daily supplies, is practically a no-go zone now."
The ongoing conflict in Middle Shabelle reflects broader challenges in Somalia’s fight against al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate that has been battling the government and African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... forces for over a decade. Despite efforts by the Somali government, supported by international partners, to reclaim territories from the holy warriors, al-Shabaab continues to demonstrate resilience, launching frequent attacks to undermine government control and sow chaos.
[IsraelTimes] Some 2,000 pro-Israel protesters gathered outside Amsterdam’s city hall on Thursday night after Mayor Femke Halsema nixed the originally planned rally in the capital’s Dam Square, reportedly concerned that the site could not be properly secured.
The central Dam Square is where pro-Paleostinian and anti-Israel demonstrations have taken place with greater frequency over the last few weeks following the violent mostly peaceful attacks on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters on November 7 — though with far fewer attendees than Thursday evening’s pro-Israel crowd.
"This is how ’never again’ becomes ’yet again,’ by taking rights away from Jews bit by bit," said Jewish former politician Rob Oudkerk. "’Yet again’ is Mayor Halsema, who bans us from Dam Square."
Several speakers bitterly complained of what they called Halsema’s unwillingness to protect Jews in the heart of the city.
The city’s "security triangle" — consisting of the mayor, the local chief of police and Amsterdam’s chief public prosecutor — had banned the gathering, saying that the safety of the pro-Israel protesters could not be guaranteed after antisemitic riots earlier this month.
Israeli officials said 10 people were maimed in the November 7 violence, perpetrated by Arab and Moslem gangs against visiting and local fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club after a match against Amsterdam’s Ajax. Hundreds more Israelis huddled in their hotels for hours, fearing they could be attacked. Many said that Dutch security forces were nowhere to be found as the Israeli tourists were ambushed by gangs of masked assailants who shouted pro-Paleostinian and anti-Israel slogans while they hunted, beat and harassed them.
Led by Christians For Israel, some 20 Protestant and Jewish organizations at first rejected the security triangle’s decision to prohibit pro-Israel demonstrators from gathering at Dam Square, but finally agreed on the alternative location.
Solidarity with Israel and Dutch Jews was shown in a celebratory fashion by the protesters next to the "Stopera" (Amsterdam’s city hall doubles as an opera house), a stone’s throw away from a large statue of Baruch Spinoza, Holland’s most influential philosopher.
Small groups of counter-protesters — not more than a few dozen — were kept away from the largely Christian crowd that had come to the Dutch capital mainly from small and mid-sized towns in what is known as Holland’s Bible belt. There they were joined by Jewish citizens from Amsterdam and other sympathizers.
"My savior [Jesus Christ] was a Jew, the apostles were Jews, the Bible is a Jewish book. Antisemitism and anti-Zionism are deeply anti-Christian," said Protestant minister Klaas-Jelle Kaptein, from the island fishing town of Urk.
In a speech, Yanki Jacobs, a local Chabad rabbi, asked if there was a future for Dutch Jews in light of recent events. "My answer is, if there is a future for the Netherlands, there is a future for Jews in the Netherlands," he said. "If Dutch society has enough strength to fight hatred, my answer is a resounding ’yes.’ But we need people who speak out."
Addressing the crowd directly, Jacobs said, "That is what you are doing and I am grateful to you."
The crowd was a sea of Israeli flags and signs saying "Never again." One banner read "Stop Jew hunters," referring to the phrase "Jew hunt" used in social media groups by some perpetrators of the November 7 attacks here.
A group from Urk carried a banner saying, "Benjamin Netanyahu, welcome on Urk," mocking a statement by Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Casper Veldkamp in which he announced that the Netherlands would comply with the recently issued ICC warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and arrest him were he to land on Dutch soil.
Veldkamp, a former ambassador in Tel Aviv, was then harshly criticized when a day later he received and shook hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Last week, a planned trip to Israel by Veldkamp was canceled in "mutual agreement" with the Israeli government, according to the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry in The Hague. But Jerusalem maintains that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar unilaterally canceled the trip after Veldkamp’s endorsement of the ICC warrant.
Geert Wilders, leader of the largest coalition party, the far-right Party for Freedom, said Veldkamp’s meeting with Araghchi while "Netanyahu is taboo" was "hypocritical."
Notably, at Thursday evening’s protest against antisemitism, many Persian flags were flown by opponents of the Islamist regime in Tehran who expressed their solidarity with Israel.
The most emotional speech of the night came from Holocaust survivor Deborah Maarsen-Laufer. Born in February 1942, she was the youngest survivor of the Ravensbruck Nazi concentration camp.
"Borrie," as Maarsen is affectionately known in the Dutch Jewish community, referred to the three minutes of speaking time the organizers had given her.
"A lot can happen in three minutes. Three minutes were enough for the Nazis to take my parents, my sisters and me from our house 80 years ago. On October 7, three minutes were enough to turn a place where young people danced into hell. And three minutes were also enough for youths on scooters to hunt for Jews in our Mokum," she said, using the traditional nickname for Amsterdam that has roots in the Hebrew word "makom," meaning place.
"In these historic antisemitic times in which part of the people assume a passive-aggressive attitude [to Jews] or looks away, it is priceless that another part refuses to do so and shows its unreserved affection," Lenny Kuhr, the Dutch Jewish winner of the 1969 Eurovision contest, told The Times of Israel.
Kuhr has become a more and more vocal defender of Israel after a theater in the city of Leiden banned her from performing in March, claiming that "people like her openly support genocide." The performer, whose two daughters live in Israel with their families, sang part of her recently written song "Light" for the crowd.
A group of some 15 keffiyeh-wearing and mostly masked counter-protesters yelled "Zionism down" from the other side of the River Amstel that gives the Dutch capital its name, trying to reach the protest by claiming to coppers that they were part of it "as vehement opponents of antisemitism."
Police, some on horseback, quickly surrounded and later dispersed the group, as they did with other small anti-Israel groups and individuals at the beginning of the demonstration. Halsema had banned a larger counter-protest after far left and Moslem youths attacked pro-Israeli Christians at a commemoration of the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel.
Groups of Moslem youths were not seen at the site of the protest, however, and confrontations between far-left counter-protesters and police remained mostly nonviolent mostly peaceful. The pro-Israel crowd was largely well-behaved, and hundreds thanked coppers as they left for the busses that waited in Amsterdam’s outskirts to take them back to their towns.
As two men wearing Israeli flags left the square in front of the Stopera, one told The Times of Israel he was a refugee from Aleppo, Syria. David, born Dawud, said he converted to Christianity after arriving in the Netherlands in 2014.
"I am here to support Jewish people, they are the nation of God," David said, adding one message for the citizens of Israel’s neighbor states: "Love, not hate!"
[KhaamaPress] The Pak Army reported the killing of four krazed killers, including one of their commanders, in the Khyber region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The army’s public relations office announced on Thursday, November 28, that these bully boyz were killed during an operation in the "Bagh" area of Khyber.
The Pak Army identified the slain krazed killer commander as "Bator." The army also mentioned that three other bully boyz were maimed during the operation.
Meanwhile,
...back at the abandoned silver mine, there was another explosion... security officials in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... announced that one security officer was killed in a landmine explosion in the Turbat ...The turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) is a relatively large species of flatfish in the family Scophthalmidae. It is highly prized as a food fish. It is a valuable commercial species, acquired through aquaculture and trawling. Turbot are farmed in Bulgaria, Canada, France, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, Chile, Norway, and China. Turbot has a bright white flesh that retains this appearance when cooked. Like all flatfish, turbot yields four fillets with meatier topside portions that may be baked, poached, steamed, or pan-fried. It has been called The King of the Sea because of its exquisite flavor.
Turbat is a city in Pakistain located in southern Balochistan. It has nothing to do with the fish. Its primary industry appears to be murder. Don't go there, not even to visit
To recap, if it tastes good it's turbot. If you're being shot at, stabbed, choked, strangled, flung off a tall building, or piked it's Turbat, so get the hell out of there if you're not already dead. ... region of the province.
The escalation of violence in Pakistain has raised alarm, as attacks on military personnel and officials have been intensifying. In the first 20 days of November alone, 55 Pak officers were killed in various krazed killer attacks, highlighting the growing threat to national security.
These increasing krazed killer attacks, particularly in regions like Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, have exacerbated tensions within Pakistain. The military’s ongoing operations against Death Eaters have faced fierce resistance, and the mounting casualties among Pak officers underscore the severity of the situation.
The spike in krazed killer activity is part of a broader trend of instability in Pakistain, with bully boyz targeting both security forces and civilians. The rise in attacks has put immense pressure on the country’s security apparatus, forcing authorities to reconsider their strategies for countering bully boy groups.
[Rudaw] Iraq’s air force struck six suspected Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) hideouts in the west of the country, the armed forces announced on Friday evening.
The sites in Wadi Hauran in Anbar province were identified as belonging to "ISIS detachments" in a joint operation by the Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency, Ministry of the Interior, and the Counter-Terrorism Service, under the command of the Joint Operations Command.
"Based on accurate intelligence information, the valiant Air Falcons carried out Arclight airstrike Arclight airstrike" valign=top style="float:right;padding:5px;border:0px solid silver;" />...KABOOM!... s using F-16 aircraft, targeting these hideouts, which were completely destroyed," the Security Media Cell stated.
[IsraelTimes] Military strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians overnight and today in the Gaza Strip, many of them in the Nuseirat refugee camp at the center of the enclave, medics say, after tanks pulled back from parts of the camp.
The casualty numbers could not be independently verified, and do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Medics say they had recovered 19 bodies of Palestinians killed in northern areas of Nuseirat, one of the enclave’s eight long-standing refugee camps.
Later, an Israeli air strike killed at least 10 Palestinians in a house in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, medics say.
Others were killed in the northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, medics add.
There is no fresh statement by the IDF, but on Thursday it said its forces were continuing to “strike terror targets as part of the operational activity in the Gaza Strip.”
[IsraelTimes] The military says it intercepted a suspicious aerial target that approached Israel from the east — usually drones launched by pri-Iranian militias in Iraq.
Once again the Iraqi Shiite paramilitaries — Iranian sock puppets, all — fail to even annoy Israel with their attack.
[IsraelTimes] Palestinian gunman, who used M-16 assault rifle, shot dead by troops; Al-Qassam Brigades names him as Samir Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, 46; IDF rules out possibility of second gunman
At least eight people were maimed, three of them seriously, when a Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... terrorist shot up a civilian bus near the West Bank settlement of Ariel on Friday. The assailant was rubbed out by security forces.
According to the Magen David Adom ambulance service, four people were hit by gunfire, including three at death's door and one in moderate condition. Another four people were lightly maimed by broken glass, MDA said.
The military said that four of the maimed were soldiers and all were lightly injured.
Hebrew media outlets reported that one of those seriously maimed in the attack was the bus driver, Hassan Elsachen.
The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, grabbed credit for the shooting, naming the gunman as Samir Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, 46, from the village of Einabus near Nablus. Hussein was a member of the Brigades, Hamas said.
The IDF believes the terrorist did not act alone, and that other accomplices may have provided the M-16 assault rifle and vehicle with which he carried out the attack.
However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... a military source said the army had ruled out the possibility of a second terrorist after scanning the area around the Gitai Avisar Junction, where the attack took place.
According to an initial IDF probe, Hussein had set out from the Nablus area, driving from the Tapuah Junction to Gitai Avisar — a route with no internal checkpoints. Hussein stopped his car on the side of the road, about 150 meters away from a bus stop, and shot up the bus while approaching it on foot, the army said.
IDF troops stationed in the area returned fire, killing him shortly after the attack began, according to the probe.
The West Bank, which is controlled by Israeli security forces, has seen a sharp rise in violence since the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... war began on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led Death Eaters stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
The onslaught was followed by sharp restrictions on Paleostinian movement in the West Bank and wide-scale counterterrorism operations there. On Wednesday, the Shin Bet said it thwarted an arms shipment to the West Bank by Iran, Hamas’s benefactor.
Since the Hamas onslaught, Israeli troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Paleostinian Authority health ministry, more than 716 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were button men killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or Death Eaters carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 41 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in festivities with terror operatives in the West Bank.
[IsraelTimes] Members of the IDF, Border Police, and Shin Bet operated at the home of Samir Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, the Hamas terrorist who carried out a shooting attack earlier today near the West Bank city of Ariel.
In a statement, the military says the troops questioned suspects and searched for “additional findings in the area.”
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says it carried out an airstrike against a mobile medium-range Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon a short while ago.
The drone strike was carried out after the military says it identified activity and movement of the truck-mounted launcher.
“The IDF is deployed in southern Lebanon and operating to remove threats that threaten Israel and are violations of the ceasefire agreement,” the military adds.
See today’s posts, including this one here, here, here, and here.
Russian Aerospace Forces Eliminated at Least 200 Militants in Aleppo and Idlib in 24 Hours
[Regnum] At least 200 militants of the terrorist organization Jabhat al-Nusra and other groups were eliminated within 24 hours by the Russian Aerospace Forces in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. This was announced at a briefing on November 29 by the deputy head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, Captain 1st Rank Oleg Ignasyuk.
“The Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides has recorded a continued escalation of the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic as a result of the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra (an organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation) and other radical opposition armed groups launching a joint offensive against the positions of Syrian government forces in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib,” Ignasyuk said.
The operation to repel the aggression of extremist groups continues. The Russian Aerospace Forces are carrying out missile and bomb strikes on the equipment and manpower of the militants, as well as on the command posts, artillery positions and infrastructure of the terrorists.
Earlier, Regnum News Agency reported that militants entered several areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo, where large-scale clashes with the Syrian government army began. Armed groups are seeking to seize a research center located in one of the remote areas of Aleppo. The fighting in Aleppo has become the largest in Syria since March 2020, when Turkey and Russia mediated a ceasefire agreement in the country.
On November 27, armed groups of Syrian militants launched an offensive against the Syrian army positions in the Aleppo region. They captured 13 settlements and the largest base of the government army.
Later, Syrian militants announced that they had captured the city of Urm al-Kubra, located 20 km from Aleppo. During the fighting, 37 representatives of the Syrian Armed Forces and allied units were killed.
Al-Mayadeen TV reported on November 29 that government forces had launched a counteroffensive against the positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) militants in Aleppo and Idlib. Government forces had liberated the city of Al-Bakoum.
More from regnum.ru Among the militants who attacked Aleppo were many foreign mercenaries
Numerous foreign mercenaries have been identified among the militants who attacked the Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. This was reported on November 29 by the command of the Syrian armed forces.
How many are ISIS remnants or Turkic tribals hired by the Turkish army as paramilitary auxilliaries years ago, as opposed to jihad tourists?
“Our armed forces continue to repel attacks on the Aleppo and Idlib fronts, which were undertaken by terrorist groups <…> their formations are based on a large number of units of foreign mercenaries,” the command said in a statement on its official Facebook page (a product of the Meta company, whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation).
The department also reported that the army had transferred reinforcements to Aleppo and Idlib to repel attacks by militants. Government troops managed to regain control of a number of territories. Representatives of the Syrian Armed Forces emphasize that the operation will continue until the enemy is completely driven out of the territories it has captured.
Aleppo, the second most important city in Syria, was completely liberated from militants in December 2016 with the active assistance of the Russian Armed Forces.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on November 27, armed groups of Syrian militants began an offensive on the positions of the Syrian army in the Aleppo region. They captured 13 settlements and the largest base of the government army.
Later, Syrian militants announced that they had captured the city of Urm al-Kubra, located 20 km from Aleppo. During the fighting, 37 representatives of the Syrian Armed Forces and allied units were killed.
Al-Mayadeen TV reported on November 29 that government forces launched a counteroffensive against the positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) militants in Aleppo and Idlib. Government forces liberated the city of Al-Bakoum.
Even more from regnum.ru Syrian militants break through to several districts of Aleppo - media
Militants entered several areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo, where large-scale clashes with the Syrian government army began. This was reported on November 29 by the Turkish publication Anadolu.
Anti-government groups have entered the city from the west and are trying to take control of it. According to several media outlets, armed groups are trying to seize a research center located in one of the remote areas of Aleppo.
The Syrian army command confirmed the deployment of reinforcements to Aleppo and the neighboring province of Idlib to repel terrorist attacks. The fighting in Aleppo has become the largest in Syria since March 2020, when Turkey and Russia mediated a ceasefire agreement in the country. Representatives of the Syrian Armed Forces emphasized that the operation will continue until the enemy is completely driven out of the territories it has captured.
Aleppo, the second most important city in Syria, was completely liberated from militants in December 2016 with the active assistance of the Russian Armed Forces.
“Armed terrorist groups fired mortars at residential areas of Nubbol and Zahra in the north of Aleppo province,” the media writes.
The settlements of Nubbol and Zahra, where predominantly Shiite Muslims live, were encircled by terrorist gangs in 2012. In 2016, the Syrian army, with the support of allied forces, managed to unblock the city and take it under full control.
Posted by: badanov ||
11/30/2024 00:00 ||
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#1
⚡️🇸🇾The HTS celebrations in Aleppo are premature. Notice the SAA has hardly even fought yet, nor taken much losses, apart from a few small ambushes at the outset with negligible casualties. HTS is said to have taken huge losses via airstrikes thus far. SAA has realized it's… pic.twitter.com/julh8aYqqL
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
See today’s posts, including this one here, here, here, and here.
[ColonelCassad] They held it even during the siege, but now they surrendered it without a fight.
Just note that the city of a million people was surrendered to the SAA practically without a fight. As of 2023, almost 3.9 million people lived there.
Blaming Iran or Russia here is pointless if the Syrian army simply did not defend the second largest city in the country, surrendering it to an enemy group that was not the largest in general, which was many times smaller in numbers than the group that unsuccessfully stormed Aleppo in the summer and fall of 2016.
Of course, Russia could not hold the city without the Syrians, considering that there were only SSO and VKS there. There were no our regulars or Wagner there in any significant numbers.
Just as there were no Lebanese from Hezbollah, who at the most critical moment of the militants' offensive in 2016 through Ramuseh stood to the death at a cement plant and did not let the enemy through. The main forces of Hezbollah are now busy in Lebanon. Iranian proxies are mostly deployed in other regions of Syria. They needed 5 days to deploy in the Aleppo region, which of course no one gave them.
The consequences of what happened for Syria will be serious. The Kurds in Tal Rifat will get it, the situation for the IRGC will become more complicated, and the pressure on our positions in Latakia will most likely increase.
And the question hangs in the air - where will the happy runaway in Aleppo province stop?
And what else can be surrendered in the same miraculous way. The number of those willing to check this out in the near future will clearly increase.
Syria is in the process of losing control of Aleppo.
Not only has the entire countryside west of Aleppo been lost, but also part of the western quarters of the city, which were taken with such difficulty in 2016.
Syrian troops for the most part do not offer resistance and simply flee, abandoning equipment and ammunition. There are cases of bribery of a number of Syrian commanders. The Republican Guard division simply fell apart without any serious pressure.
Individual counterattacks and resistance centers do not cancel the simple fact of the collapse of a large section of the front, in which a huge hole now gapes. Who is to blame for this - the debriefing is yet to come.
There are almost no Russian troops there (only the special forces and aviation are working), as well as not very many Iranians and Lebanese, so holding the front is problematic. The HTS and SNA can afford to lose several hundred militants. The capture of Aleppo will write off everything, especially since they have already collected a lot of trophies, and they will recruit more cheap meat.
There is a high probability that in the near future the enemy will occupy either part or the entire city. If the SAA holds at least part of eastern Aleppo, this will be a hook for subsequent operations to restore control over the city. I really hope that they will succeed in at least this.
In the event of a complete loss of the city, this will be the biggest defeat for the SAA since 2016, as well as a serious image blow to Russia and Iran.
A kind of remake of Palmyra-2016.
If the city is lost, it will be difficult to return it, not to mention the fact that it will be worked over by aviation and artillery once again.
The city's population is now saving itself, the governor has already said what will happen to the Kurds in Aleppo, as well as in the Tal Rifat area, an interesting question.
Overall, the situation is difficult.
Posted by: badanov ||
11/30/2024 00:00 ||
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[RedState] A surprise offensive by a coalition of anti-Assad groups has captured the key city of Aleppo and sent Assad's troops and their Russian auxiliaries into a retreat to find more defensible lines. The offensive is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a faction that until 2017 was considered to be a subsidiary of Al Qaeda. It is allied with several Turkish-backed militias during this offensive. Official reports place the insurgent forces inside Aleppo, but social media reports indicate that Aleppo has fallen except for isolated pockets of resistance.
The rebels have really shaken up things and I think this is only the beginning. Russian forces located at a base in Sarrin 110km from Aleppo are relocating 90km to the SE to Al Raqqa. The Russian are getting their asses kicked in Mali, Ukraine, Russia, and Syria https://t.co/ABQ4vKqcs5pic.twitter.com/OkUhlgrrXV
Rebel forces reached the statue of Bashar's deceased brother Bassel al-Assad at the eastern edge of the New Aleppo district, taking down the regime flag.#Syria. pic.twitter.com/oacvTCwIZM
Russian aircraft flying in support of the Assad regime have responded in the most Russian way possible. They are bombing population centers held by the "Free Syrian Army."
🇷🇺🇸🇾 Idlib is under relentless heavy bombardment from Russian airstrikes.
Rybar reports a “reshuffling of plans by the Russian General Staff for operations in the region” in response to the Aleppo offensive, with rumors suggesting Russian reinforcements are on their way to… pic.twitter.com/R4OLJPPLby
The situation is very unclear, but it appears that Assad's army has evaporated in the area of the offensive. It remains to be seen if those troops can be rallied and a defensive line reestablished or if Assad will soon be heading for exile in some place that doesn't have an extradition treaty with France.
⚡️⚡️ Syrian rebels are claiming that they have taken control of virtually all of Aleppo.
Jihadists and their Ottoman Turkish-backed allies reached Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, on Friday, as they pressed a lightning offensive against forces of the Iranian- and Russian-backed government.
The fighting is some of the deadliest in years, with 255 people killed, according to the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Most of the dead have been combatants but the toll also includes 24 civilians, most killed in Russian air strikes. SOHR, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria and is of unclear funding, has been accused in the past of inflating regime losses.
The offensive began on Wednesday, the same day that a fragile ceasefire took effect in neighboring Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... between Israel and Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah.
By Friday, the jihadists and their allies had wrested control of more than 50 towns and villages in the north, according to the Britannia-based Observatory, in the government’s biggest loss of territory in years.
They then entered western districts of Aleppo, a city of some two million people that was Syria’s pre-war manufacturing hub.
"Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) and allied factions... were able to enter the outskirts of the al-Hamdaniya and New Aleppo neighborhoods... after carrying out twin suicide kabooms with two booby-trapped cars," the war monitor said.
HTS, a jihadist alliance led by al-Qaeda’s former Syria branch, shelled a student residence in the city, killing four civilians, state media reported.
Syrian and Russian warplanes launched intense air strikes on the rebel enclave around Idlib, where the jihadists are based, carrying out 23 raids, according to the Observatory.
Army reinforcements have arrived in Aleppo, a Syrian security official told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. An army statement said troops had repelled the assault on the city and retaken some positions.
The United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said "more than 14,000 people —- nearly half are children — have been displaced" by the violence.
Aleppo resident Sarmad, 51, told AFP he could hear "the sounds of missiles and artillery shelling around the clock."
On Thursday, the jihadists and their allies cut the highway linking Aleppo to the capital Damascus, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) south, the Observatory said.
INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS
Kremlin front man Dmitry Peskov on Friday described the situation in Aleppo as "an infringement on the illusory sovereignty of Syria."
He expressed support for "the government of Syria to quickly restore order in this district."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pledged "continued support for the government, nation and army of Syria," in a phone call with his Syrian counterpart Bassam al-Sabbagh, according to a statement.
The Idlib area has been subject to a Ottoman Turkish- and Russian-brokered truce since 2020. The ceasefire has been repeatedly violated but had largely held.
An AFP correspondent in the rebel enclave saw jihadists advancing in tanks as intense exchanges of fire took place in an area just seven kilometers (a little over four miles) from Aleppo. AFP images showed abandoned army tanks and other military vehicles.
The correspondent said the jihadists and their The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... -backed allies took orders from a joint operations command.
Analyst Nick Heras, of the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, said the fighters were "trying to preempt the possibility of a Syrian military campaign in the region of Aleppo."
According to Heras, the Syrian government and its key backer Russia had been preparing for such a campaign. Russia intervened in Syria in 2015, turning the tide of the civil war that broke out four years earlier in favor of the government, whose forces at the time had lost control of most of the country.
’TOTALLY UNPREPARED’
Other interests are also at stake.
As well as Russia, Syrian President Bashir al-Assad has been propped up by Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and allied groups, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Iran-backed militias have a heavy presence in the Aleppo region after providing crucial ground support to the army in its recapture of rebel-held areas of the city in 2016.
Heras said anti-government forces are "in a better position to take and seize villages than Russian-backed Syrian government forces, while the Iranians are focused on Lebanon."
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said government forces "were totally unprepared" for the attack.
"It is strange to see regime forces being dealt such big blows despite Russian air cover and early signs that HTS was going to launch this operation," Abdel Rahman said.
"Were they depending on Hezbollah, which is now busy in Lebanon?"
Another rumor tied to situation
🚨 Turkiye deployed its S-400 against Russian planes
As far as I can tell, friendly fire works well with Russian made air defense systems
Rebels have broken into and freed all of the Prisoners at the Al-Sabil Temporary Prison in Northwestern Aleppo, most of whom are Women and Political Prisoners of the Assad Regime. pic.twitter.com/b99Xbl5yxN
Clashes between rebels and the army in Syria’s most populous city Aleppo and its countryside have claimed the lives of over 250 people, including civilians, according to a war monitor. Damascus said the escalation serves the objectives of Israel.
"Inshallah, the liberators will enter Aleppo," Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani said in a video published by opposition media outlets on Friday evening.
He issued directives to his fighters before entering the city, including asking them not to enter people’s houses or commit violations.
The jihadist HTS are leading rebel forces in a surprise offensive launched on Wednesday, seizing territory from government troops for the first time in years. They entered the city of Aleppo on Friday afternoon after taking several villages, according to Syrian opposition media.
The Syrian army said in a statement that they continue to "confront the large-scale attack launched by the armed terrorist organizations" and claimed that the rebel groups have used heavy and medium weaponry as well as drones. It also said that a large number of imported muscle are among them.
"Our armed forces have inflicted heavy losses on the attacking organizations, resulting in hundreds of dead and injured terrorists. Dozens of vehicles and armored carriers have been destroyed, and 17 drones have been shot down and destroyed," the army claimed.
As of Friday, the festivities have claimed the lives of 255 people: 144 rebels, 87 Syrian soldiers and pro-government militia, and 24 civilians, according to a tally by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
HTS, a former branch of al-Qaeda, is the prominent force among dozens of rebel factions in the northwest. The group, which has been internationally recognized as a terror organization, controls large swathes of Idlib as well as parts of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia provinces.
The festivities have driven large numbers of people from their homes.
Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria (Rojava) called on their institutions to "facilitate the passage of people" fleeing the conflict.
Farhad Shami, spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), told Ronahi TV that they are following the developments and said their arch-enemy The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... is behind the HTS-led offensive.
"Our mission is to protect our people and territories... The SDF will act as needed," he added.
Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) control one neighbourhood in Aleppo as well as Tal Rifaat north of the city, located within a small region of Afrin. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds who fled Turkey’s 2018 military offensive in Afrin are still living in camps in Tal Rifaat.
Rudaw English asked a senior Rojava official about the possibility of a Ottoman Turkish attack on Tal Rifaat.
"Everything is possible now. Tal Rifaat is under threat," said the official, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Rebel commander in the Jaish al-Izza rebel brigade
…Syrian Sunni Islamist rebel group since 2013. Associated with Turkey’s so-called Free Syrian Army, funded and armed by Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia…
Mustafa Abdul Jaber said the speedy advance was due to insufficient Iran-backed manpower in the broader province. Iran’s allies in the region have suffered a series of blows at the hands of Israel as the Gaza war expanded to the Middle East.
Opposition sources in touch with Turkish intelligence said Turkey had given a green light to the offensive. But Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said Turkey sought to avoid greater instability in the region and had warned that recent attacks undermined de-escalation agreements.
David Carden, UN Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, said:
“Relentless attacks over the past three days have claimed the lives of at least 27 civilians, including children as young as eight years old,” he told Reuters. “Civilians and civilian infrastructure are not targets and must be protected under International Humanitarian Law.”
Syrian state news agency SANA said four civilians including two students were killed on Friday in Aleppo by insurgent shelling of university student dormitories. It was not clear if they were among the 27 dead reported by the UN official.
Russian and Syrian warplanes bombed the area near the border with Turkey on Thursday to try to push back the insurgent offensive.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said “more than 14,000 people –- nearly half are children — have been displaced” by the violence.
#8
I think, because Hillary is such a big authority about there and all, we should send her over there to take care of it. Family and friends, hangers on, all of them. With a big appetizer tray.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
11/30/2024 13:01 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Heavy bombardment by Russia currently. 240 estimated deaths among terrorists. Pulling a Ukraine stunt will end just as poorly. Obvious blitz by western media. Russian air superiority now on display. Biden wants to cause as much trouble for Trump as he can. So withdraw troops to allow maximum damage to terrorists.
#13
Next city south is Homs. If that falls Assad is in (even deeper) doodoo. Cuts off the road to the coast, including the Russian port/base at Tartus, as well as access to the Alawite homeland, which is the Muslim sect that supports the Assad regime.
Russian bombing of civilian areas is just going to further piss off the rebels, and give them a reason to lay rocket or drone fire on the Russian bases when/if they're in range.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Three 'narco-submarines' trafficking $8 billion worth of drugs from South America to Australia have been intercepted by the Colombian navy in what was a a six-week-long global drug bust.
The latest phase of Operation Orion resulted in the seizure of 1,400 tons of drugs, including 225 tons of cocaine and 128 tons of marijuana, navy official Orlando Enrique Grisales told reporters in a press conference on Wednesday.
More than 400 people were arrested in the crackdown in October and November that involved the security agencies of the United States, Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands and several other nations.
Grisales said officials also seized a semisubmersible vessel on its way to Australia with Colombian cocaine, revealing a 'new route' of trafficking with sophisticated boats that can cover the distance of some 10,000 miles without needing to refuel.
'The first was discovered in Colombian watersm and thanks to the maps it carruedm we identified the route', Grisales said.
The last submarine to have been intercepted during the bust was found off the coast of Clipperton Island in the eastern Pacific.
A kilogram of cocaine is sold for up to $240,000 in Australia, said the official - about six times more than the price in the United States.
The operation also uncovered previously-unknown alliances between cartels from Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru with groups from Europe and Oceania.
'It is not just a pyramid structure as the cartels once were. Today they are organized crime networks joined together,' said Grisales.
Colombia is the world's biggest cocaine producer and exporter, mainly to the United States and Europe.
Meanwhile, Australians are the highest per capita users of cociane in the world, according to the OECD.
Last year, the South American country set a new record for cocaine production and cultivation of the coca leaf it is made from.
It comes after Royal Navy commandos intercepted a narco-sub and seized two-tonnes of cocaine worth a staggering £1600 million back in September.
Royal Marines based on patrol ship HMS Trent made the historic bust during a patrol in the Caribbean.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.