Tag Archives: Syria

Russian Air Strikes Kill 45 in Northwest Syria, including Rebel Leader

A rebel commander who previously worked for President Bashar Assad’s army along with dozens of people were killed on Monday after a series of Russian air strikes hit the Northwest region of Syria.

Activists reported to ABC News that the attack was one of the deadliest incidents since Russia began their airstrikes three weeks ago. The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdurrahman, stated that at least 45 people were killed, including civilians and rebels. Overall, the group states that Russia’s aerial assaults have killed 370 people, and one third of those are civilian deaths, according to Reuters.

The group of rebels call themselves the “Free Syrian Army” and has received foreign military aid from the U.S., including very powerful anti-tank missiles. The group also confirmed the death of Basil Zamo, its chief of staff.

Russia continues to claim that their air strikes are aimed at defeating ISIS but multiple news agencies, including ABC News, report that many of the areas hit by the air strikes have not been occupied by ISIS, but rebels.

The International Business Times reports that medical organizations in the area are accusing Russia and the al-Assad regime of targeting hospitals in the northern province of Syria. Three hospitals have been hit and two of the hospitals were closed. One was closed due to no longer being operational, and the other closed after medical staff decided to evacuate, fearing they would be targeted further by Russian forces.

The conflict in Syria has resulted in the deaths of more than 250,000 people since the civil war began in March 2011, according to ABC News.

Iran Broadcasts Rare Images of Underground Missile Base

Iran revealed a secret underground missile base in an unprecedented broadcast on Iranian state television on Wednesday, showing where medium and long-range missiles were being stored.

The pictures were from The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force and gave the world a look into tunnel that is about 10 meters high and houses many missiles that were sitting on their launch pads, ready to be fired. Also featured in the pictures were numerous Iranian soldiers and other pieces of hardware. The tunnel is reportedly buried 500 meters (1,640 feet) underneath a mountain, but the exact location is unknown.

The underground missile bases make it more difficult for spy satellites to pinpoint the location of the missiles and arms caches.

A senior general told state media that there were numerous missile bases scattered across the country and that all of their weapons would be getting an upgrade very soon.

“As of next year, a new and advanced generation of long-range liquid and solid fuel missiles will replace the current products,” said Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

“The missiles in various ranges are mounted on the launchers in all bases and (are) ready to be launched.”

The broadcast comes days after Iran tested a ballistic missile, which French and American officials are calling a violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution. The Security Council resolution 1929, which went into effect in 2010, states that Iran is banned from ballistic missile tests.

It has also been reported that Iran recently sent hundreds of troops into Syria to join their Hezbollah ally in an offensive against the rebels. The Iranian fighters have been deployed near Aleppo to retake the city with the help of Russian air strikes, rocket launchers, and artillery.

Putin Claims that Russia is Still Fighting ISIS and the U.S. is Getting in the Way

As tensions rise between the U.S. and Russia over the situation in Syria, both sides claim that their main priority is to eradicate ISIS.

U.S. officials continue to accuse Russian President Putin’s new bombing campaign in Syria is to boost the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Multiple maps have shown Russia’s targets in Syria, and the majority of targets have been key locations of U.S.-backed Syrian rebels, not ISIS. And again, Putin has brushed off these accusations.

“What we are trying to achieve is to contribute to the fight against terrorism, which is a threat to both the United States to Russia to European countries and the whole world,” Putin said at an investment conference.

Boths sides disagree on how the civil war in Syria can be resolved and how ISIS can be defeated. Russia believes al-Assad needs to remain in power while the U.S. says the Syrian president needs to step down.

Putin claimed that his administration warned the United States out of “respect” before they began using airstrikes in Syria. They also sought cooperation on targets. Washington has been reluctant to work with Russia as they fear Russia would use their coordinates to target the rebels that the U.S. does not want targeted. The Syrian rebels are also already suspicious that the U.S. is already working with Russia on attacks, and U.S. officials do not want to feed those suspicions.

The Russian president also ridiculed the U.S. over their attempt to arm the Syrian rebels with air dropped munitions. He believes that the supplies will end up in the hands of ISIS.

“The United States has recognized that it was a failure and right now they keep distributing ammunition, hardware, equipment,” Putin said. “Who will get a hold of those? And it is not a rhetorical question.”

While U.S. officials state the main priority in Syria is to defeat ISIS rather than counter Russia’s involvement in the Syrian civil war, they will be holding a third meeting with officials from the Russian Ministry of Defense via video conference on Wednesday. They hope to establish safety protocols for aircrews flying over Syria.

Putin Confirms Protecting Assad Regime

It seems now that President Vladimir Putin has confirmed what many have continued to suspect. On state run Russia 24 TV Putin acknowledged that the Russian airstrikes in Syria are meant to bolster President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

“Our task is to stabilize the legitimate government and to create conditions for a political compromise … by military means, of course, The units of international terrorists and their ilk have no desire to negotiate with the Syrian government, who is almost sieged in its own capital.”
Russia has said it’s coordinating with the Syrian regime to target ISIS and other terrorists. Al-Assad has used the term “terrorists” to describe Syrians who seek his ouster.

Until now, Putin and the Russian military have stated numerous times that their main objective in Syria was to fight the Islamic State.

CNN military analyst Lt. Col. Rick Francona said he had no doubt Russia was targeting Syrian rebels rather than ISIS.

“I think it’s very apparent from the target sets that we’re watching. Even the maps that are released from the Russians themselves show where they’re concentrating their airstrikes,” Francona said.

“And if you look at the map where they are hitting, most of them are concentrated in that area between Hama and Aleppo — and that’s where the Syrian rebels have had success over the past two months.”

The bombings are numerous. The Russian Defense Ministry said it has struck 53 alleged Islamic State targets in the past 24 hours, destroying command centers, ammunition and fuel depots as well as training camps.

In the meantime, according to a government official, U.S. forces carried out an airdrop of small arms ammunition on Sunday to Syrian Arabs in northern Syria, a U.S. military official said on Monday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the airdrop of supplies to the opposition fighters was part of a revamped U.S. strategy announced last week to help rebels in Syria battling Islamic State militants.

Major Oil Find in Israel but Quality and Cost of Extraction Unknown

Israel is surrounded by countries loaded with oil bearing land. To find a sufficient amount of oil could mean a huge boost for her young oil production industry.

A company drilling for oil on the Golan Heights, close to the country’s border with Syria , claims they have found a significant amount of oil reserves. What they found looks to be 10 times larger than the average oil field worldwide.  This could  boost support of domestic demand but the quality, quantity and the cost involved for extraction is not known at this time.

Three drilling sites on the Golan have uncovered what is potentially billions of barrels of oil, enough to fulfill the Israeli market’s 270,000-barrel-per-day consumption for a very long time.

Chief geologist of Afek Oil and Gas, Yuval Bartov, said, “It’s a fantastic feeling. We came here thinking maybe yes or maybe no and now things are really happening!”

Since Israel’s founding, companies have drilled 530 exploratory wells in search for oil, but few of them have turned up commercially viable product, the Times of Israel reported. 

This find, however is already shadowed by the concerns regarding the war in Syria and the cost involved to protect the oil fields, domestic concerns as to the legality of Israel’s right to Golan Heights, as well as an ongoing struggle with environmental groups concerned over the effects the drilling will have on the land and the wildlife found there.  

The main site is close to the small town of Katzrin, which lies northeast of the northern shore of the fabled Sea of Galilee and is home to a wide range of special plants and wild animals, including major nature reserves such as Gamla, home to Israel’s largest population of Griffon vultures.

NATO Will Defend Turkey As Russian Military Escalation Continues in Syria

On Thursday, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg stated that NATO is ready to deploy forces in order to defend alliance member Turkey.

The statement comes days after Turkey reported that Russia had violated its airspace twice and approximately a week since Russia began airstrikes in Syria. NATO defense ministers are planning to meet in Brussels today regarding Russia’s military escalation in Syria.

“Nato is ready and able to defend all allies, including Turkey against any threats,” Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general, told reporters before the Brussels meeting.

“In Syria, we have seen a troubling escalation of Russian military activities. We will assess the latest developments and their implications for the security of the alliance. This is particularly relevant in view of the recent violations of Nato’s airspace by Russian aircraft.

“Nato has already responded by increasing our capacity, our ability, our preparedness to deploy forces including to the south, including in Turkey.”

Stoltenberg also announced that NATO has already taken steps in order to defend Turkey if needed. The NATO Response Force has been doubled to 40,000, and NATO is reviewing its naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean, where Russian forces already have a small naval flotilla off the Syrian coast.

Moscow continues to deny Western accusations that their military presence in Syria is to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia insists their presence in Syria is to only fight the Islamic State. However, Russian airstrikes have mostly targeted areas that are controlled by Syrian rebels, not ISIS.

Russia, Syria Coordinate Attacks

Moscow stated on Wednesday that its warships fired 26 missiles into Syria, hitting 11 targets and Syrian ground troops hit at least four insurgent positions.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that ISIS was the primary target.

Coordinated attacks by Russia and Syria were launched on Islamist factions in numerous towns in Hama and Idlib provinces in western Syria. If the reports are correct, this could be proof that Russia’s primary goal is to support President Bashar al-Assad instead of fighting ISIS.

The UK based Syrian Observatory for Human rights reported that there were no ISIS positions in the targeted areas. Instead, the areas are home to fierce clashes between regime forces and the armed Islamist rebel factions.

Turkey’s Prime Minister reported that only 3.5% of Russia’s airstrikes in Syria have targeted ISIS.

Despite the recent strikes, Russia said it was still willing to cooperate with the U.S. in Syria. U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter responded by saying that the U.S. was not ready to cooperate with Russia on operations in Syria. However, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov indicated that cooperation was in the works.

EU Officials Warn that 3 Million More Refugees Could Flee Syria

The European Union Council President Donald Tusk told European lawmakers on Tuesday that up to 3 million more refugees could flee the fighting in Syria.

The new wave of refugees could worsen the humanitarian crisis that has strained relations between European Union (EU) members and put additional pressure on European border facilities. Currently, 2 million Syrian refugees are in Turkey.

“Today millions of potential refugees and migrants are dreaming about Europe,” Tusk said. He then went on to slam countries that have not honored the EU’s asylum rules.

The EU has currently offered new incentives to Turkey in order to better handle the Syrian refugee crisis. This offer includes up to 1 billion euros, additional EU funding to build six reception centers for refugees in Turkey, better intelligence sharing, and easing of visa restrictions.

“I know that this is a very dramatic dilemma,” Tusk said. “We have to try to cooperate with Turkey because in fact we have no other options.”

Last month, the EU agreed on plans to relocate 120,000 refugees over the next two years.

The International Organization for Migration says it has no reports of more people leaving Syria at this time. They add that Tusk’s statements on the situation are “speculative.”

International Partners Ask Russia to Stop Airstrikes, Focus on ISIS

Escalating tension continues between the U.S. and Russian over Russian airstrikes that government officials feel are serving to strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad by targeting “moderate” rebels rather than ISIS fighters that it promised to attack.

The Pentagon is wrestling with the question as to whether the U.S. should use military force to protect U.S. trained and equipped Syrian rebels now that they may be the targets of Russian airstrikes. Pentagon leaders have been consistent in saying that the U.S. must take steps to protect the American-trained rebels.
An international coalition is urging Russia to immediately cease attacks on the Syrian opposition and civilians and focus instead on fighting the ISIS terrorist group.

“We express our deep concern with regard to the Russian military build-up in Syria and especially the attacks by the Russian Air Force on Hama, Homs and Idlib since yesterday which led to civilian casualties and did not target Da’esh,” said the statement, jointly issued late Thursday by the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey, France, Germany, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Russia’s defense ministry said that over the past 24 hours it had damaged or destroyed 12 targets in Syria belonging to the ISIS fighters, including a command center and ammunition depots. A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, Col. Steve Warren, said he had no indication that the Russians had hit Islamic State targets.

Concerns are being raised that this conflict is leading to a new alliance between Russia, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

Russia Continues Bombings in Syria -Defends Targets

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed reporters outside the U.N. on the second day of Russian bombings in Syria. Russia’s airstrikes in Syria “do not go beyond ISIL (ISIS), al Nusra or other terrorist groups recognized by the United Nations Security Council or Russian law,”

Lavrov defended Russia’s air strikes remarking that the U.S. led coalition was going after the same terror groups as the Russian’s were. Rejecting any comments that their actions were to bolster Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, he said that Russia did not consider Assad’s main opposition, the Free Syrian Army to be a terrorist group.

Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to join a major ground offensive to accompany Russian airstrikes. According to defense officials it was always “understood” that the Russians would provide the air force and the Iranians would provide the ground force in Syria.“It has always been understood that the Russians would provide the air force, and the Iranians would provide the ground force in Syria,” one official said.

U.S. officials say that the bombings are not in ISIS held territories. Russian were given only a one hour notice before the bombings and that was more to tell our military to stop our own airstrikes. The U.S. declined that request.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday that the Russian attacks, which the Kremlin said were meant to target terrorists, didn’t appear to hit targets under the control of ISIS, which operates in the north and east of the country.

Sen. John McCain — chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee called the Russian strikes “an incredible flouting of any kind of cooperation or effort to conceal what their first — Putin’s priority is. And that is of course to prop up Bashar al-Assad.”