Syria -
Russia Accusing U.S. Of Attacks, Abduction Attempts,
Team-play With Al-Qaeda
By Moon Of
Alabama
September
21, 2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- The
situation in Syria is reaching another critical
point. There is an increased possibility of a large
scale clash between U.S. and Russian forces. We had
warned of such a
clash over control of the rich fields east of Deir
Ezzor. At least three incidents over the last days
point to more significant escalations.
-
On the 17th the U.S. accused Russia of a light
air attack on its proxy forces north of Deir
Ezzor. Russia
denied that it
had attacked those forces.
- On the
18th and 19th large contingents of Russian and
Syrian troops crossed the Euphrates at Deir
Ezzor in east-Syria. The U.S. Kurdish/Arab proxy
force in the area actively tried to hinder that
movement.
- In
parallel a large al-Qaeda attack was launched in
west-Syria. The Russian forces accuse U.S.
intelligence services of having initiated that
campaign. (The Syrian-Russian forces defeated
the attack.)
- Today
the Russian military accused the U.S. Kurdish
proxies near Deir Ezzor of firing artillery on
its forces. It threatened massive retaliation.
The most
dramatic incident was the al-Qaeda attack in Idleb.
Al-Qaeda in
Syria, renamed to Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, currently
controls Idleb governate and Idleb city in
north-west Syria. On September 19 it launched a
large scale attack on Syrian government positions in
north Hama, south of Idleb provinces. The al-Qaeda
forces gained significant grounds before being
stopped and forced to retreat. Nearly all the heavy
weapons, tanks and artillery, that al-Qaeda had in
the area were used and in the attack.
The
spokesperson of the Russian military
said (vid with
English subtitles) that, according to Russian
intelligence reports, al-Qaeda's attack was made on
behalf of the U.S. to slow down the Syrian-Russian
campaign in the eastern province Deir Ezzor. A
subtask for the terrorists was to capture a platoon
of Russian soldiers. This is, to my knowledge, the
first time that Russia made such a direct and
extremely grave accusation against the U.S. forces
and intelligence services in Syria.
From
the Russian military
statement:
For 24
hours, insurgents managed to dent the government
troops’ defence line for up to 12 kilometers in
depth and up to 20 kilometers in front.
According
to the received data, this offensive was
initiated by the US special agencies in order to
stop successful advance of the Syrian Arab Army
to the east from Deir ez-Zor.
Seizing of a unit of the Russian
Military Police was one of the main aims of
insurgents. The
Russian MP unit was operating in an observation
post deployed as de-escalation observation
forces.
As a
result, the MP platoon (29 persons) was blocked
by insurgents.
...
The encirclement has been breached. Units of the
Russian Armed Forces have reached locations of
SAA without losses.
After the
al-Qaeda attack was launched the Russian air force
in Syria initiated a massive counter campaign over
Idleb province.
For the
last 24 hours, aviation and artillery units have
eliminated 187 objects, 850 terrorists, 11
tanks, 4 IFVs, 46 pickups, 5 mortars, 20 trucks,
and 38 ammunition storages.
Units
of the 5th Airborne Assault Corpse launched a
counter-attack and almost took [all] lost
positions.
Pictures
from the area showed several destroyed tanks and
infantry fighting vehicles. This was a very costly
campaign for al-Qaeda with no significant gain. It
seems that Syrian and Russian intelligence were
aware that an attack was coming but not of the
details. For a while the situation was extremely
critical. Then the large aerial counter campaign
caught al-Qaeda by surprise and destroyed the
attacking forces.
At
the same time as the al-Qaeda attack in Idleb
started U.S. proxy forces in east-Syria (yellow)
took
measures to hinder
the fight of Syrian forces (red) against the Islamic
State (black).
Map by
Weekend
Warrior -
bigger
The Syrian
government forces are cleared nearly all of Deir
Ezzor city of ISIS forces. At stake now is the
control of the oil fields east of Deir Ezzor and
north of the Euphrates river.
bigger
Soon after
crossing the Euphrates Syrian troops came under fire
from U.S. proxy positions:
"According
to the reports that the Syrian commanders have
been sending from the frontline, most serious
counter-attacks and mass shelling on the Syrian
troops come from the north," he said.
"It is the area where units of the
Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as the US
special operations units, are deployed,
who, according to CNN, are providing medical aid
to these militants instead of participating in
the operation to liberate Raqqa," [Russian
Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor]
Konashenkov said.
The U.S.
proxies also use their control of the Tabqa dam to
hinder the river crossing:
Water
discharges from the Euphrates dams controlled by
the US-backed opposition hamper the advance of
Syrian government troops near Deir ez-Zor,
Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor
Konashenkov said on Tuesday.
"Thus,
the water situation on the Euphrates has
deteriorated dramatically in the past 24 hours.
As soon as the Syrian government troops began to
cross the river, water level in the Euphrates
rose within hours and the current velocity
nearly doubled to two meters per second," he
said.
Today
the Russian Defense Ministry
accused
the U.S. proxy forces of directly shelling its
Syrian allies and the Russian forces accompanying
them:
Russia
warned a representative of the US command in Al
Udeid, Qatar, that "any attempts of shelling
from the areas where the militants of the Syrian
Democratic Forces are based will be immediately
curbed."
"Firing
points in these areas will be immediately
suppressed by all means of destruction," the
general said.
Fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces
approaching Deir ez-Zor from the north are
easily joining IS terrorists,
and Russian drones and reconnaissance recorded
no clash between the IS with a "third
force," namely the SDF over the past week,
he explained.
However, massive fire from mortars and
rocket artillery was opened twice on the Syrian
troops from the areas on the eastern shore of
Euphrates where the SDF fighters and servicemen
of US special forces are based,
Konashenkov said.
The
U.S. paid "Syrian Democratic Forces" that pushed
into northern Deir Ezzor without meeting any
resistance are mostly local tribes who
were aligned with
the Islamic State until the U.S. diplomat Brett
McGurk
hired them to fight
on the U.S. side. They are led by Kurdish commanders
and "advised" by U.S. special forces.
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The
U.S. wants to keep Syrian government forces away
from the oil fields north of the Euphrates. It
has plans to build and control a Kurdish
proto-state in north-east Syria and control over
the eastern Deir Ezzor oil would give such a
state the necessary economic base.
But the
U.S. has too few proxy forces available to actually
take the oil area away from the Islamic State. Only
the Syrian army has enough resources in the area.
The U.S. is now cheating, attacking Syrian-Russian
forces, and rushing to get an advantage. According
to the Russians the U.S. Kurdish proxies have even
stopped the fight against ISIS in Raqqa and moved
forces from that area to take the oil in the east. I
doubt that Syria and Russia will allow that to
happen without taking measures to counter it.
With the
al-Qaeda diversion attack in north-west Syria
defeated and more reserves available the Syrian
alliance should think about a fast air-assault on
the oil fields. As soon as the oil wells are under
Syrian government control and the ISIS presence
eliminated the U.S. has no more excuse to continue
the current deadly game.
This
article was first published by
Moon Of Alabama
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