Syrian Army Uses New Russian Jets To Strike Islamic State: Monitor
Source: Reuters
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces used newly arrived Russian warplanes to bombard Islamic State insurgents in Aleppo province in northern Syria, a group monitoring the civil war said on Thursday, in an attempt to break a siege on a nearby air base.
Russia is bolstering its ally Damascus against rebels with military aid that U.S. officials say has included fighter jets, helicopter gunships, artillery and ground forces.
The air strikes, which began earlier this week, were accompanied by ground attacks near the Kweiris air base in the east of Aleppo province, where government troops have long been surrounded by Islamist militants, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Russian jets arrived only "recently" in Syria but were being flown by Syrian pilots, said the Observatory, which tracks Syria's conflict via a network of sources on the ground.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-army-uses-russian-jets-strike-islamic-state-105333116.html
France and Britain alarmed by Russian buildup in Syria
Paris (AFP) - France and Britain expressed their concern Thursday about the Russian military buildup in Syria after Moscow said it would conduct naval drills in the eastern Mediterranean.
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French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking on a day of intense European diplomacy on the conflict, called on Moscow to justify the "very significant" Russian buildup.
Le Drian said: "We know what everyone can see, the very significant buildup of Russian forces both in the port of Tartus and above all, with the setting-up of a military airport to the south of Latakia and the presence of several fighter jets, combat helicopters and drone capacity there."
He said if Russia's main intention was "to protect President Bashar al-Assad", it should say so.
British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, speaking alongside Le Drian after they held talks, said he was "equally concerned" by the Russian buildup in Syria "which will only complicate what's already a very complicated and difficult situation".
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http://news.yahoo.com/france-britain-alarmed-russian-buildup-syria-104319509.html
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Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Syria isn't their country.
GreatGazoo
(3,937 posts)Both of those countries have plans for Syria and are helping ISIS.
wordpix
(18,652 posts)talk about a land mine everywhere you go
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)
romanic
(2,841 posts)I don't give a damn who destroys ISIS; if Russia wants to tackle the problem then let them.
pampango
(24,692 posts)Saleh Muslim tells Patrick Cockburn he is no supporter of President Bashar al-Assad, but is fearful of the dangers Islamist groups close to Damascus pose
Mr Muslim said he was fully in favour of Mr Assad and his government being replaced by a more acceptable alternative. But he is concerned that Isis and other extreme Islamist groups are now close to Damascus on several sides, saying that “this is dangerous”. During a recent Isis offensive in the north eastern city of Hasaka, the Kurdish YPG (People’s Protection Units) militia and the Syrian Army both came under attack from Isis, but Mr Muslim denied that there was any collaboration between the two.
The Syrian Kurds, previously marginalised and discriminated against by the Damascus government, have become crucial players in the country’s civil war over the last year. In January, they defeated Isis at Kobani with the aid of US airstrikes after a four-and-a-half month siege and their forces are still advancing. While Mr Muslim said that he wants an end to rule by Mr Assad, he makes clear that he considers Isis to be the main enemy.
“Our main goal is the defeat of Daesh [Isis],” he said. “We would not feel safe in our home so long as there is one Daesh [Isis] left alive.” The threat did not come from them alone, he said, but also from al-Qaeda clones such as Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham. “They all have the same mentality.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-civil-war-kurdish-leader-says-collapse-of-assad-regime-would-be-a-disaster-despite-its-10515922.html
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)Assad is a monster, ISIL are monsters, the people are suffering.
nyabingi
(1,145 posts)everything the US, Europe and the Gulf States have spent so much time and money on (building up and arming a force of Islamic radicals from all over the world to bring about regime change in Syria). Putin has been wanting to talk to the US for years now, not out of desperation as is being claimed by much of the American media, but because the Russians wanted a diplomatic and political solution to what was happening. He was ignored because the "anti-ISIS coalition" was more interested in getting Assad out of Damascus.
Like I've said on many forums since our media first began airing ISIS snuff films, the jihadists have always been working for Western interests and the autocratic monarchies in the Gulf and for us to claim to be fighting the army we've been supporting all along was a big damned lie so obvious that most people ignored because it was so blatantly false. Farsi-based news sources have always been reporting that anti-ISIS soldiers from Iran and Iraq have reported seeing US and UK helicopters dropping supplies directly to ISIS forces, and that sounds like it was true now that we see what is happening on the diplomatic front now.
Obama should have purged his administration of neocons (Kerry, Hillary, Nuland, Gates, Powers, Rice, etc.), but he allowed them to create an even larger mess than what the idiot Bush made.
jamzrockz
(1,333 posts)but my thinking is firmly on the side of ISIS being a western created and supported army or their useful idiots that they use to take out their enemies. You now see the Houtis fighting on the side of US and Saudi in Yemen. I mean, why is ISIS who is supposed to be so anti west always helping the west with their fight? Something stinks and I am confident I know what it is.
Btw, here is the video showing the alleged drop of weapons by US to ISIS
nyabingi
(1,145 posts)I have read accounts of US forces directly aiding ISIS forces but didn't know video existed.
The US (via the CIA) has always relied on crazy Islamic religious fanatics to fight proxy wars the American people would never agree to, and this whole Syria debacle is no exception. The neocons are seeing their regime change plans dashed right now as the Russians actually start doing something about ISIS.
wordpix
(18,652 posts)could be any plane flown by anyone. Could be a commercial jet for all I know. Reminds me of Colin Powell's photos of "indisputable proof" of chem weapons mobile stations that he showed to UN, that were NOT what he said they were.
