GIF: How HTS took over western Aleppo in six days. pic.twitter.com/8nElwjIC7U
— SyriaInfo (@syria_map) 6 January 2019
Over the past few days, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has significantly expanded its control witnin the Idlib de-esclation zone in Syria. The map below provides a general look at the situation on January 5. However, by January 7, the terrroist group had also captured the town of Atraib and several other key points in the area.
Click to see the full-size image
Let the jihadist dogs HTS take over the area temporarily… and when they’re licking their wounds SAA can sweep in and silence them for good.
Sorry to disagree, but the Al Qaeda rebrand HTS, are the real threat as they are the CIA’s most favored and supplied ‘moderate rebels’, and they are heading to Aleppo. Stop them now not latter.
I beg to differ. And what would be difference between intervention “now” and “latter” ? If they do it now they will save Jaish al Izza, NFL (FSA) = “moderate” Jihad maniacs and get “reward” from Turkey and Western mass propaganda about “MASS SLAUGHTERING” of helpless local civilians and “CHEMICAL ATTACKS” against women and children
If they wait little bit they can get only HTS-Al Qaeda terrorists as an enemy a perfect excuse to wipe them out from the face of the Earth.
jako you and Baba_Papa both make good valid points, its hard not to enjoy the jihadists killing each other. The western propaganda of White Helmets “chemical attacks”, etc., etc will happen regardless of when Idlib is liberated. However HTS are the CIA’s ‘special forces’ and can be beefed up at will. Remembering Palmyra, instinct tells me Bolton would love to take a shot at Aleppo, just to slap Assad and stir it up. Putin does have the big picture, and the geo-strategic logic is paramount. I do trust him and the Lion of Damascus.
OK just remember It is much, much harder for Western MSM propaganda and Turks to defend in public declared Al Qaeda affiliates like HTS. But when attacking NFL (FSA) = “moderate rebels”=”Syrian opposition” to Assad, the SAA and Russia can have again plenty of problems with fabricated MSM outcry about need to defend “opposition forces” in Syria from aggression of Assad.
They couldn’t take Aleppo when they still owned half of it, the SAA was fighting on almost every front and the Jihadis could field so many troops they could punch through strong SAA defense lines. The last time the Jihadis tried to mass for an attack on SAA lines they got smashed and didn’t take a single inch of ground. There’s no chance Al Nusra can successfully attack and take Aleppo today. Not unless they get close air support by the US itself. They’re a spent force who only survive because Turkey has declared the province off limits to the SAA and Russia is willing to go along with that for now for geo-strategic reasons. Which make sense. It’s a Jihadi reservation and like all reservations it can only survive because it gets tolerated. Once that toleration ends, poof!
This is a good graphic of the zones of control, from a Turkish perspective. What this map doesn’t show of course is the deployment of substantial enemy Turkish Army TSK forces (combined arms battlegroups, company size with tank squadrons and artillery batteries) across the entire area but specifically at the various positions all along the lines of contact per Astana. (see my map) The actual front lines facing the enemy thus cross the extreme NE of Ladhakia, extreme NW and north of Hama, most of Idlib, and SW section of Aleppo/Halab. Within these districts the main enemy forces are primarily the TSK, Turkestan Islamic Party, HTS, and the ridiculously named Nation Liberation Front (Jabhat lilTahreer alWatan) and the equally ridiculous named Syrian National Army !! – both organized, trained, supplied under Turkish command and consisting of jihadi mercenaries from exFSA and groups such as Faylaq ash-Sham from Afrin. Jaish al Izza remains notionally independent but all its attacks on SAA positions come from areas under regular TSK observation in any case. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8581aaa5b0c9ebe96694971a87b2a9ac4c411e2de3b5ef0a4fb3a0723abceff3.jpg
Nice map. I also note how HTS is hapy to allow the Chinese Oghur Turks to stay there.
One also notes how Turkey has always had a nice cushion of Turco alphabets between Turk-army occupied Afrin and liberated Aleppo! In fact , too much of Syria is still occupied by Turcos.
so the 12 Turkish bases inside idlib just sit there watching their useless proxies getting owned by the HTS dogs? so scared and useless they are as their proxies..am i right?
“12 Turkish bases” are military outposts (to observe) not real “Turkish bases”
HTS dogs are attacking other dogs where the problem is?! Why are you so upset? Unless of course you also are “moderate rebel” or Turk….
no i am meaning those outposts are completly pointless since they are there to prevent situations like these …right? better those turks start packing and go home dead or alive
Outposts are there only for OBSERVATION just like Iranian and Russian outposts. They are capable to defend themselves nothing more. Outposts are product of “Astana Agreement” created by Russia Turkey & Iran to impose non-combating zone (It didn’t work out well)
Not to mention Turkish observation posts also exist as a tripwire line to deter the SAA from moving into Idlib. That they got rubberstamped into approval post fact by the ‘Astana agreement’ says more about the willingness of Russia to keep Turkey happy then about any potential use the Russians and Syrians get out of them. As clearly these posts do jack shit about stopping Jihadi attacks on SAA lines.
Since Turks have done ” jack shit” about their part of promise SAA and allays have free hands to kick the shit out of bloodthirsty “moderate” rebels.
You’d think that, but in reality its still not about what the Turks haven’t done, and still everything about Russia wanting to befriend Turkey in its game of chess with the US. Sometimes you have to suck it up, even when the other guy’s a dick, just to keep your eye on the end goal. I’m pretty sure lots of people would like to strangle their boss, but alas, all those pesky things like needing a job to pay for food and rent…….
How’s creating Jihad Idlib enclave Turk protectorate …with disguised HTS Jihad maniacs dressed into the local police How’s that going to pay Russian “food and rent”?!
Is the Turkey false “friendship” so much worthy to Russia to dump their own security and renounce everything they did in Syria?! I doubt that very much ! I tend to disagree on that one
About Syria the Turks aren’t happy with the Russians, no way.
This map is not quite what I’ve seen in the ground, for a start Jaysh al Izza in Purple are not in the Turkish group, they’re actually listed as opponents of Turkey and will be attacked by the SAA the same way HTS will be. As to the NFL in blue, most of what the map has in blue to the west should be grey for HTS now, or at least spotted for both HTS and NFL but mostly grey for HTS especially in the southern areas from the east to the west. And the areas just above Idlib should all be just about blue, not grey for HTS especially in the north west, the eastern areas around Aleppo city should also have more blue in the northern areas. I’d like to know who made the map, I don’t think that this was very accurate even 3 days ago, I hope we get another one soon.