Beirut – Reuters: Assad Allies, Including Iranians, Prepare Massive Ground Attack In Syria

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     A handout frame grab taken from a video footage made available on the official website of the Russian Defence Ministry on 01 October 2015 showing a strike carried out by Russian warplanes in the Syrian territories. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, Russian warplanes located at the Syrian Hmeymim airbase performed 8 sorties overnight to carry out strikes coordinated with the Command of the Syrian Army against four facilities of the international terrorist organization so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria.  EPA/RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY/Beirut – Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last 10 days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes, two Lebanese sources told Reuters.

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    “The (Russian) air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies,” said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict.

    “It is possible that the coming land operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside,” the source added.

    The two sources said the operation would be aimed at recapturing territory lost by President Bashar al-Assad’s government to rebels.

    It points to an emerging military alliance between Russia and Assad’s other main allies – Iran and Hezbollah – focused on recapturing areas of northwestern Syria that were seized by insurgents in rapid advances earlier this year.

    “The vanguard of Iranian ground forces began arriving in Syria: soldiers and officers specifically to participate in this battle. They are not advisors … we mean hundreds with equipment and weapons. They will be followed by more,” the second source said. Iraqis would also take part in the operation, the source said.

    Thus far, direct Iranian military support for Assad has come mostly in the form of military advisors. Iran has also mobilized Shi’ite militia fighters, including Iraqis and some Afghans, to fight alongside Syrian government forces.

    Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has been fighting alongside the Syrian army since early in the conflict.

    The Russian air force began air strikes in Syria on Wednesday, targeting areas near the cities of Homs and Hama in the west of the country, where Assad’s forces are fighting an array of insurgent groups, though not Islamic State, which is based mostly in the north and east.

    An alliance of insurgent groups including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and powerful Ahrar al-Sham made rapid gains in Idlib province earlier this year, completely expelling the government from the area bordering Turkey.


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    8 years ago

    Thank you Putin you are a smart man.

    albroker
    albroker
    8 years ago

    cant wait, till they all they start running out of body bags may the streets be filled with the blood of Jews enemies.

    PowerUp
    PowerUp
    8 years ago

    This is the official changing of the guards and the end to american dominance in the middle east, and subsequently the dominance of the world, because unlike america which has the liberal media making sure we don’t win any war, the russian and its proxies will be ruthless, and eye for an eye, chopping heads etc.. Which is really the only way to win the war with ISIS, once there done winning in syria and iraq, america will have zero say or influence in the middle east. Obama fell for the bait.