Crisis in Syri� # 87:De crisis gaat door.

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Iraqi group says fired shells at Saudi Arabia
Shia armed group, backed by Iran, says six mortars that landed in Saudi desert were a warning against meddling.

Mortar bombs have landed near a border post in northern Saudi Arabia in an attack claimed by an Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia armed group, which said it was warning the kingdom to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs.

The mortar rounds hit desert on the far northwestern fringes of the kingdom's oil-producing region on Wednesday, several hundred kilometres from the major fields operated by the world's largest oil exporter and biggest Arab economy.

"The goal was to send a warning message to Saudis to tell them that their border stations and patrol are within our range of fire," Wathiq al-Batat, commander of Iraq's al-Mukhtar Army group, told the Reuters news agency on Thursday.

http://www.aljazeera.com/(...)112117138729169.html

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Op donderdag 21 november 2013 22:18 schreef Aloulou het volgende:
Mooi in elkaar gezette reminder wat de gevolgen betreft van dit conflict voor Syrie, Syriers en de buurlanden. Je weet het maar als je het zo op een rijtje naleest toch weer schokkend:

http://www.slate.com/arti(...)_war_population.html

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Op donderdag 21 november 2013 22:32 schreef Frikandelbroodje het volgende:

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Jup, mag wat mij betreft in de OP.

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Op donderdag 21 november 2013 22:30 schreef Aloulou het volgende:

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Goed bezig daar, afbranden dat Saudische koningshuis

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Op donderdag 21 november 2013 22:30 schreef Aloulou het volgende:

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Goed bezig daar, afbranden dat Saudische koningshuis

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Op donderdag 21 november 2013 22:46 schreef Baklava95 het volgende:

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Trek je maar niets van hem aan hoor.

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Al-Akhbar in Qalamoun: Cave Commandos Vow to Move War to Lebanon

In this third installment of Al-Akhbar’s journey to the Qalamoun Mountains, we reach the mountain range where thousands of guerillas are based. Natural fortification and the difficult terrain protect the area from shelling where these guerrillas from various brigades are stationed shoulder to shoulder.

The tour of Qalamoun and its caves begins in the company of the "emir" of this armed group. The sheikh interrupts his lesson to welcome his guests. "Today's lesson," he explains, is on "rulings concerning jihad."Al-Akhbar’s days in the towns of Qalamoun are divided between guerilla headquarters and their positions in the endless mountain range. The routine begins early in the morning when groups of young armed men exercise, indifferent to the warplanes that boom overhead. Hundreds of fighters then gather at the internal road linking the villages of Qalamoun, across from the stretch of international highway between Homs and Damascus.

On the outskirts of town, homes have been turned into command posts for armed opposition groups. They spit out 4x4 vehicles carrying dozens of armed men. The cars bump along the rocky roads, accompanied by mountain motorbikes. Here, nothing but "divine sympathy" protects them from the bombing.

We are barely 10 minutes away from the first base in the mountains. Snipers are stationed along the high peaks while others patrol the heart of the intertwined rocks. We are greeted by one of the front's commanders, followed by a young man who emerges from a cave carrying a teapot. The Islamist commander, AKA Abu Raed, escorts us to meet the sheikh, a man in his forties wearing a red turban. His thick beard, which is going white, covers his round face.

He teaches "the mujahideen the facts of their religion" inside one of those caves. Around 10 young men in their early 20s sit side by side, listening carefully to the teaching of their sheikh, AKA Abu Abdullah.

"The mujahid cannot make mistakes in religious matters," he elaborates. "There are things allowed during battle and other things that are prohibited. My role is to tell them about it."

We ask the sheikh's permission to sit down while the lesson continues. He recites some hadiths by the Prophet Mohammad on the virtues of jihad and martyrdom. The lesson does not last much longer, and he finishes by raising his voice in prayer, "O Lord, grant them and grant me martyrdom."

The sheikh guides us on a tour. In one cave, the pitch darkness brings about an air of tranquility for those holed therein. We climb to the top of the mountain. "The international highway [Damascus-Homs] is under our fire, and we can stop any movement on it anytime we want," Abu Raed says, pointing to a faraway location. He turns to the opposite direction and says, "Lebanon is behind those mountains."

We ask about preparations for a possible confrontation and the impact of snowfall in any coming battle. Before the question is finished, Abu Raed raises his voice threatening, "Here, Hezbollah will only find death."

The field commander speaks of "unexpected surprises in the event of a battle.” But he adds, "I do not think they will enter into such an adventure."

"You said that in Qusayr, but you lost and withdrew. What is different today?" Al-Akhbar asks provokingly.

"Qalamoun is not like the others. The battle of Qusayr was bought by the Shia with their money after some of our leaders betrayed us," the two men answer. But what will stop them from buying Qalamoun or its commanders as they did before?

"In Qusayr, there were no real Islamists. Today, there is al-Nusra Front, al-Ahrar, the Green Brigade, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS], and hundreds of resilient mujahideen willing to die defending the religion of Prophet Mohammad."

The snow is a homefield advantage. "This time will not be like the ones before," he adds after a short silence. "If we have to, we will go into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah."

The tour moves along past fighters of all ages. A boy, who is barely 17, says he came here from Aleppo to "fight on the path of God." What about fighting Israel and the United States? "Israel and the US are also out enemies. But what's the difference? All fronts are lands of jihad," he replies.

A man in his thirties, with a bald head, long beard, and trimmed moustache, says his enemies are "the Shia, Hezbollah, and the Alawis." So what would he do if he caught a Shia? "I will certainly chop off his head. I will slaughter him."

The sheikh interjects to correct him. "It is not your religious duty to slaughter him. It is to take him to the Sharia committee to put him on trial and decide his fate," he explains.

As for the weapons they use, the fighter lists: PK machine guns, RPG-29Ns, M16 rifles, M20 sniper rifles, and Grad and Cornet rockets. He continues listing the types, "We have Grad rockets and even Concourse ones, which we grabbed in the raid on the warehouses in Mahin."

Depending on the estimate of each group, there are between 8,000 and 15,000 fighters holed up in the Qalamoun Mountains. The group with the most experience, skill, and organization is al-Nusra Front. There are no estimates of its numbers, and its fighters refuse to discuss the issue.

Al-Nusra Front, which represents al-Qaeda in Syria, tends to lead most of the joint operations between brigades. The group, whose Qalamoun front is led by Sheikh Abu Malik al-Souri, even imposes its own conditions, such as confiscating mobile phones from all participants during military operations. Carrying a mobile phone can lead to one being accused of "collaboration with the regime." They are also banned from smoking cigarettes in operations under its command.

In terms of size, next comes the Islam Army Brigade led by Sheikh Zahran Alloush, estimated to have thousands of fighters. It is followed by Ahrar al-Sham, a strong Salafi jihadi group, which follows Emir Sheikh Hassan Abboud, AKA Abu Abdullah al-Hamawi. It is very close to al-Nusra Front and participates in most military operations in Damascus and its countryside.

It is also known as the "Photography Brigade." The fighters say, "In the Abel battle, Abu Moaied refused to fire a B9 shell at Bashar al-Assad's soldiers since a camera was not present."The First Commando Regiment, whose chief is Idris, AKA Abu Ghazi, is composed of hundreds of fighters and specializes in raids. Finally, there is ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Sham) under Emir Abu Abdullah al-Iraqi, the "comrade-in-arms of Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi." ISIS members are few here since it is new to the area. Its fighters are known to be bold and fanatical. However, it only has one command in Qalamoun in the town of Rima.

Funding sources are diverse; each group has its own source. However, there is one common reply: booty from military operations. Arms and moneysent from Turkey and Aleppo are mentioned in passing. Field Commander of Bilal the Abyssinian Brigade, Raad Hammadi, names Liwaa al-Haia, belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, as a funding source.

Another fighter reveals that the head of Liwaa al-Haia is called Abu Tariq Harba and they are based in the Hama province. In this context, one of the mujahideen fighting with al-Nusra explains, "The Army of Islam, led by Sheikh Zahran Alloush, receives millions of US dollars in funding from the Saudi Kingdom." As if revealing a secret, he says, "Army of Islam fighters are the most heavily armed in quality and quantity." But he expresses his fear that "Saudi might exploit this jihadi brigade in the future to fight the other mujahideen."

The most famous name here is Abu Oqab, a Saudi explosives expert known for his extreme humility and his "hostility toward the non-committed." The fighters say he is the “most skilled in preparing car bombs.” When Al-Akhbar asks to meet him, they laugh. "This is impossible," they say. "But you could meet with the Chechen and Abu Muaid."

The Chechen is the name given by the fighters to Omar Sharkas, the man with the longest beard in Qalamoun. He participated, but withdrew, from the Qusayr battle. He is known for "stealing a Zakharov gun from one of the young men martyred in Qusayr."

The Chechen fights with al-Baraa Brigade under Moemen al-Eter, AKA Abu Moaied. It is also known as the "Photography Brigade." The fighters say, "In the Abel battle, Abu Moaied refused to fire a B9 shell at Bashar al-Assad's soldiers since a camera was not present."

Residents of Qalamoun "Lean to al-Assad"

The revolutionary spirit in Qalamoun is felt by the fighters alone. The residents are pro-Assad, which is something the armed men confirm. Mohamad Salloum, AKA Abu Salloum, from the town of Abu Houri (in Rif al-Qusayr), an opposition fighter who was injured in the battle of Qusayr, tells Al-Akhbar that "most of the residents of the region support the Syrian regime, but they cannot do anything due to the area being controlled by the rebels."

This conviction is well established among most of the opposition brigade commanders in Qalamoun who indicate "incidents we saw up close." Some even go further. "Citizens who are loyal to the regime," says Sheikh Abu Abdullah, "are an army of informants carrying out clandestine operations for their leader Bashar [al-Assad]."

The Sheikh explains his remark by saying that sometimes "when the rebels are gathering, rounds fall on our positions based on coordinated that can only be determined by the use of informants."

As for the Christians, who make up one third of Yabrod's residents, "they brought woe upon themselves," one fighter says. "We fought some of them because they chose to be informants and thugs." Another one continues, "Al-Nusra Front closed down their alcohol bars around a month ago after they had warned them to leave."

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Op donderdag 21 november 2013 22:53 schreef Baklava95 het volgende:

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Hij is vaker anti-salafi.

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Syria army makes gains as peace talks await

AFP - Syrian government forces, bolstered by Lebanese and Iraqi Shiite Muslim militia, have made advances in recent days in fighting with rebels around the big cities of Damascus and Aleppo.

Some of the key clashes have been close to the Lebanese border, where deadly twin suicide bombings this week hit the embassy of Shiite-ruled Iran, Syria's main regional ally, in what was widely seen as a revenge attack.

Syrian troops, backed by fighters from Shiite militant group Hezbollah -- the dominant force in the current Lebanese government -- have expelled the rebels from most areas on the Lebanese border, across which they have received support from Gulf Arab-backed Sunnis.

A new offensive saw President Bashar al-Assad's troops retake key positions in the Qalamoun mountains northwest of Damascus this week, one of the last conduits from Lebanon for the arms his regime says they are receiving from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Those gains followed the recapture of southern suburbs of Damascus that impeded the rebels' ability to carry out military action in the heart of the capital.

Loyalist forces worked to consolidate a corridor to the international airport, east of Damascus, seizing an arc of territory from Shebaa to Muadamiyat al-Sham, scene of one of the alleged chemical weapons attacks that sparked a deal between the United Nations and Damascus in October.

The army's recapture of the suburbs of Husseiniyeh, Diabiyeh, Buweida, Sbeineh and Hojeira threatened the rebels' ability to maintain operations in south Damascus, a security source told AFP.

It came as rebel hopes of Libyan-style Western support for their provisional adminstration have dwindled in the face of US pressure for a UN-brokered peace conference, also backed by Damascus ally Moscow.

Government forces hold the whole of the capital although rebels have repeatedly bombarded central districts from the outskirts.

The army also holds nearly all of the battleground central third city of Homs, cradle of the uprising against Assad's rule that broke out in March 2011.

Troops have also marched on the northern city of Aleppo, once Syria's bustling commercial capital, in a bid to consolidate supply lines to neighbourhoods under their control and deny those of the rebels.

"It's part of an overall strategy to surround the rebels," a military source in Damascus said.

"It's a patient, step-by-step way of retaking enemy positions."

The military's tactics have seen the recapture this month of a string of towns southeast of Aleppo, including Sfeira, Tal Aran, Tal Hasel, Aziziyeh and Dweirniyeh.

The aim is to reopen Aleppo international airport to civilian flights, suspended in January, the military source said.

Al-Qaeda loyalists among the rebels have also taken a battering at the hands of Kurdish militia, eager to stake a claim to Iraq-style autonomy in any post-Assad constitution,

Assad's forces pulled out of most Kurdish-majority areas last year, counting on their lack of support for the Sunni Arab-dominated rebels and their acquiescence with his Alawite minority-dominated regime.

The sole provincial capital in rebel hands is the eastern, Euphrates valley city of Raqa, where Al-Qaeda fighters, many from abroad, have asserted their control.

The jihadists used to hold sway over a much bigger swathe of territory in the region, but Kurdish forces have fought back, seizing control of much of Syria's northeastern border with Iraq and Turkey.

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Op donderdag 21 november 2013 22:56 schreef Intellectueel het volgende:

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http://www.france24.com/e(...)ns-peace-talks-await

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Turkey should prepare itself for mass exodus of fighters from Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime has been making significant advances on the ground against opposition fighters in a civil war of over two-and-a-half years, raising the possibility of the potential risk of a massive exodus of opposition fighters to neighboring countries including Turkey. Reports coming from both NATO as well as Turkish military sources provide important evidence of the Syrian regime's advances against the opposition, in particular in the past several months.

An Ankara-based Western diplomat told this columnist that surface-to-air Patriot missiles based on Turkish soil have seen Scuds being launched by the Assad regime forces against opposition targets almost every day. Similarly, Patriots are detecting an increased number of long-range artillery rockets being fired at opposition targets as well as seeing helicopters and aircraft belonging to the Syrian Air Forces (SAF) flying very frequently supporting the ground troops in their offensive against the opposition.

According to Turkish military sources who spoke to this columnist, the Syrian Air Forces are able to generate 100 sorties a day with helicopters and aircraft. Fifty percent on average comprise combat sorties and 25 percent general transport aircraft sorties, while the remaining 25 percent constitute training of Syrian army personnel. The usual suspects behind Syria regaining military strength are partly Russia and Iran as they have been giving technical assistance including training for new pilots joining the SAF.

Given that many international observers thought the SAF would soon lose capability to maintain operations, 100 sorties a day on average, which makes 700 sorties a week, is massive, says an Ankara-based Western military official.

“This is a big number. The SAF has become very effective in avoiding the Free Syrian Army [FSA] in opposition air defense, which is composed of mostly small guns, air defense shoulder-launched missiles seized from the Syrian army, as well as medium to low-range missile systems,” says a Turkish military source.

At the start of the conflict in Syria until January of this year, we have been constantly seeing on various TV channels Syrian military helicopters and aircraft being shot down by the opposition. But not anymore. The increased strength of the Syrian Air Forces has also been making it possible for Syrian ground forces to get more support from helicopters and aircraft, hence enabling good coordination between the Syrian artillery and air force.

“This is the biggest morale booster for ground forces when they get help from aircraft to drop bombs on opposition targets when they are struck,” says an Ankara-based Western military attach�.

As the Syrian military has been regaining strength, opposition fighters have been on the losing side.

One of the reasons for the opposition losing strength has been internal divisions, with some of them behaving like warlords getting engaged in looting activities, in addition to the involvement of extreme Islamist groups such as the Al-Nusra Front in the fight against the Assad regime, complicating the opposition's coordinated fighting strategy. The other has been the betrayal of the Syrian opposition by Western powers, which refrained from giving military support to opposition fighters partly out of a concern that the arms supplied by them would go into the hands of extreme Islamist groups such as Al-Nusra.

In short, the opposition was abandoned by the West at the expense of brutal dictator Assad gaining significant strength in the civil war.

Turkey, which has an approximately 900-kilometer border with Syria on its south, is unfortunately among the losers of the Syrian war since it has pursued an ill-conceived policy by purely backing the Syrian opposition, while basing its strategies on the quick fall of the Assad regime. On the contrary, Assad has appeared to have been regaining ground, while the opposition lost its fighting edge. It is not surprising that we have been seeing the beginning of the end of the Syrian opposition.

In the meantime, as Ankara has lately begun to realize that there is no guarantee that military supplies via Turkish territory destined for the Syrian opposition are going into the right hands once they cross the Turkish border, it has appeared to have slowly been taking measures to prevent Turkish soil from being a supply route for the opposition fighters. Turkey's increased security measures against smugglers crossing the Turkish border from Syria are among the evidence that Turkey is tightening its control of supply routes via its territory. Turkey might have been saying enough is enough.

However, as the Syrian regime has been recapturing some opposition strongholds and re-gaining significant military strength as outlined above, we may begin seeing in the near future a mass exodus of fighters to the neighboring countries including Turkey.

Turkey might be preparing itself for a worst-case scenario of mass exodus from Syria, examining the spare area if any is left in the refugee camps where it has already been hosting over 700,000 Syrian war refugees. Alternatively, Ankara may begin facilitating the return of defeated extreme Islamist groups who have escaped to Turkey to where they came from.

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Op donderdag 21 november 2013 22:55 schreef theunderdog het volgende:
Is er eigenlijk een manier om de Saoedi�rs te stoppen met het financieren en helpen van de Rebellen?

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Op donderdag 21 november 2013 23:20 schreef Intellectueel het volgende:

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Nee, of men moet overwegen om de Saudi regime omver te werpen. Wat men wel kan doen is proberen om Saudische steun aan de rebellen zoveel mogelijk te frustreren. De Saoedi�rs mogen dan geld hebben; militaire expertise, een militaire industrie en een grens met Syri� hebben ze niet.

Enkele opties die men dan heeft:

1) Ervoor zorgen dat de Saoedi�rs geen grote aantallen wapens kunnen inkopen en suppleren aan de rebellen. Sinds het conflict hebben de Saoedi�rs enkel grote inkopen gedaan, in Kroati� bijvoorbeeld, waar plots op de grond in Syri� opeens Kroatische wapens hun intrede deden. Rusland, of zelfs de VS, kan druk zetten op Kroati� om geen wapens meer te verkopen aan de Saoedi�rs.

2) Druk zetten op Jordani� en Turkije. In Jordani� krijgen (of kregen) de rebellen training van Amerikaanse en Jordaanse militaire experts. En in Turkije hebben de rebellen een toevluchtsoord als ze gewond zijn of ze willen hergroeperen. Ook dient Turkije als een doorvoerland voor wapens die bestemd zijn voor de rebellen. Als men druk kan zetten op deze landen dan zal de militaire oppositie in Syri� enorm verzwakken.

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Op donderdag 21 november 2013 23:24 schreef theunderdog het volgende:
Kan dat?

Ja, alles kan. Maar zou het realistisch kunnen zijn? Of hebben de Saoedi�rs teveel mach?

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En hoe komt het eigenlijk dat ze helemaal geen fatsoenlijk leger hebben? Als je zoveel geld hebt moet dat toch ook geen probleem zijn lijkt mij...