Syrian government forces have retaken control over Al-Taybah village and Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi Castle near it northeast of al-Sukhna town on the Palmyra-Deir Ezzor highway. The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies have also repelled all ISIS attempts to seize al-Sukhna and started an operation to secure the highway in this area.
An intense fighting is also ongoing in al-Shula and Bir Ghabaghib villages southwest of Deir Ezzor city where ISIS attempts to capture another part of the Palmyra-Deir Ezzor highway.
Separately, the SAA advanced 10km towards the ISIS-held town of Mayadin.
Click to see the full-size map
God speed … such intense fighting for the russian led coalition by the zio satanic terrorists/hypocritical yankee led coalition …
In other words what we have been told of the destriction of all the 1,500 ISIS force is a lie. Facts are ISIS are the US/Zionist/SDF/FSA/ISIS terror coalition front line shock troops or Storm Troopers.
Never believed the report of 1.500 IS killed. See my comments.
They were destroyed in the advance of the SAA into the west bank of the Euphrates. Just that SF is basing it on reports from pro jihadist sites and this was on Saturday and Sunday when these areas were and objectives achieved.
So big ISIS operation was moved through east desert, many ballte tanks, vehicles, trucks with infantry units. How it could be so ignored by SAA/Rusia reconnaissance…it should be destroyed by airforce before it reached SAA checkpoints…I would say, bad work of SAA/Rusia inteligence…
Totally in agreement. It is not possible that Russia did not see this big motion.
I know this has been discussed several times but it stuns me how advances of this scale can happen all the times under the supervision of Russian/Syrian/Iranian/Hezbollah drones, for example Hama, Palmyra and counts goes on. This is incredible especially considering the amount of heavy weapons that have been moved (tanks, technicals eccetera). It’s also shocking how easy SAA troops can give up territory with the amount of weapons they have, I can see a massive lack of motivation here surely? if only ISIS/Nusra put these fighters/resources on the border with Israel they fall in week I believe.
I hope this is a drop in the ocean in the economy of the war and SAA is making the right calculations.
Deserts are big and you cannot monitor everything. Surveillance is not 100% proof, quite the contrary it would seem. And in order to notice something you have to focus your attention. In other words you have to know where to look. Like human and electronic intelligence draws your attention to a certain spot, upon which you use satellite imagery and drone intelligence to examine that spot. And so on. But if the enemy maintains complete radio silence, or drowns your intelligence services with fake intelligence, then yes, you can move a large force through a terrain like this unnoticed. It’s not like it never happened before. The Germans moved an entire tank army through the Ardennes in 1940 without the Allies noticing it, and they in turn fail to notice that the Allies were planning to invade in Sicily and in Normandy.
It’s called the fog of war for a reason.
As for SAA troops easily surrendering territory, that’s on par for this war. There’s a few crack units, like the Tiger Forces and Republican Guard, there’s a 2nd tier of reasonably trained and organized forces, 4th Armored Division and the Russian trained and organized 5th Assault Corps. And there’s the rest, still the vast majority. Unmotivated peons, which do reasonably well, as long as they’re well led, but when not fold quicker then a wet paper towel. And that includes most of the NDF as well.
Thanks for missing the whole point of this exercise this is very carefully planned way to get the other fronts going and having ISIS expend it’s best resources. This is what we have been seeing time and again and to be honest these peons are better trained than the Dutch and most European forces surprised that someone like you would overlook this point as European forces are never up to par with other NATO forces anymore.
The crack unit the SAA has would surprise you as you like many others overlook the fact that all these units are interspersed between each other forces. The NDF fight alongside the Tiger forces in all their big advances along with 5th, 4th,SRG, even SSNP militias fight in these groupings. Like one commentor already said and I have oft repeated before sit back and watch the art of battle unfold as it seems a chaotic dance at times.
You actually think the SAA planned for this disaster? Wouldn’t it be in the SAA’s interest to catch the best and brightest of ISIS in the open and slaughter them quickly? After all, they’re in a race with the SDF for the Omar oil fields, and have to keep an eye on Al Qaida in Idlib. Which necessitated relocating the Tigers back to Hama. Instead this attack happened, which forced the SAA to scramble forces from other fronts, like bringing the Tigers back. Yeah, some good can come out of this disaster. Disaster also spells opportunity. And this is an opportunity to destroy a lot of crack ISIS units now, rather then later. This is an opportunity to advance quicker to Mayadin and Bukamal. But it will also cost the SAA their chance to take that other prize, the Omar oil fields.
As for these peons being better trained then most European forces, believe whatever you will. It’s funny though that you say that European forces are never up to par with other NATO forces. European forces ARE NATO forces. The only other forces outside of Europe are Canada and the US. Canada’s army is just like any other European army, too small, too underfunded. The Americans by contrast exist in their own reality. But they’re not really part of NATO. NATO exists to provide the Europeans and Canada a means to hitch a ride on the bloated US military. To provide military bases for overseas adventures to the US, and the occasional token forces to operate alongside the US, so it can pretend there is some international coalition and legitimacy for its hair brained military adventures.
There is no Disaster as the Tiger Forces were recuperating and not in any action, and as there forces are position at points for best deployment , much of what you have been critiquing has been accomplished the day before as for the responses.
European forces may ride on the coat tails others actually do train their military and have better equipment than their European counterparts. Canada has about 125,000 in its military and additional reserves but they maintain this as a peace time army yet they dedicate more to training and force deployment capabilities. Since the Canadian army doesn’t maintain bases world wide there is no point in Aircraft carriers. there is alos no reason to have a bloated budget for these US bases which runs at 623 billion dollars which eats up a huge sum of the US budget as the current one released was 700 billion by Congress.
How much does that leave for the military I wonder, what’s left for operations most of their money is eaten up by salaries.
The Canadian Army doesn’t require to buy US arms to supply it’s army as it already manufactures it’s own arms and Vehicles. You can thank Canada for flying the Dutch troops to their deployments outside of Europe. The Canadian forces were used for deploying against ISIS in Iraq and took part in the initial assaults on Taqba against ISIS. They maintain their own base at Operation Impact, Canada’s deployment to Afghanistan covered the worst provinces in Afghanistan , they played a major role in Taskforce KBAR.
Canada is not along for a ride nor ever been one to ride on the coattails of anyone just have fewer enemies than most.
You are mostly right imo.
It still does not completely explain Qaryatayn. How can a few sleeper cells, almost unarmed acc to SAA, not only take over the city, with surprise very very maybe possible, but hold out against armoured counterattack and even take surrounding hills?
Locals siding with IS after a year of “reconciliation”, hardly armed, how desperate must they be to rise in a most certainly losing position?
What does this foretell for Syria, what will the implications be for SAA command?
They were Inghimassi and that region is mostly christian ask yourself how to deal with 60 people armed with suicide vests , these guys are the one who will blow themselves up no hesitation.
They smuggled themselves in quietly and threatened to kill whole entire families , now ask the question to yourself how would you respond. Thankfully they didn’t have many follow up troops else the villagers would have been all killed.
Maybe ISIS planned for this when it could no longer hold the line conventionally against the SAA and Russian airpower? In which case those sleeper cells may have been a lot better armed then with just the odd AK’s. And since the SAA’s first and second tier forces had moved on, that left just the unmotivated peons to hold the line. And they’re not going to lay down their lives for Uncle Assad. To quote some US action movie, they don’t pay me enough for this kind of shit.
As for the locals siding with ISIS, these guys had no problems living under ISIS. Sure, ISIS was batshit crazy in some ways, but as long as they prayed right, no problem as they were Sunni already, kept their women locked up and paid their taxes, ISIS probably left them alone. The SDF can probably expect the same kind of turncoat behavior from the Sunni Arabs in the territory they’re conquering. The moment the tide of battle turns don’t expect much love for the Kurds and their socialist feminist ideology either.
From the map it looks like there is or was a movement towards T3 , which makes for the question of whether T3 is being used as a midpoint fuel supply for aircraft between western Syria ( Damascus ) and eastern Syria ( D/E ) . Given its central position it would seem like a natural recon center .
The Syrian government coalition has gained so much ground recently. That the road supply lines to DE are secure. Which makes these attacks more of a nuisance than a game changer. It should have little or no effect on the eastern front. Other than having to divert some resources to clearing the desert south of the highway of Isis and pushing the front lines south to create a buffer zone so that there isn’t a repeat of this attack on the highway
I see fellow posters here and other places asking why the big advances? Why didn´t anybody know? How incompetant can SAA/Russian intelligence and planning be …?
Okay, warfare 201…… herding….
All these IS forces that are running around grabbing sand, could have been kept in places that matter. They could have postioned in areas of real importance like Mayadan, Diban, Al Siyal and Al-Bukamal. But no, they gotta go SAA hunting out in the open, from positions that are completely exposed. I tip my hat to the IS version of general Heinz Guderian; just kidding. :P
Military slang for this is ( and there are may offical and nonofficial ways to say it ) is they are being herded. The battlefield is a multidimensional place. It is not merely advance and retreat. It involves things like adjustment, baiting, switching, outright lying, invitations, acepting invitations, ect …… Warfare, unfortunately, is the most complex and intense activity that mankind pursues.
So, my advice on this for many is too relax and enjoy the fireworks. IS is depleting themselves. It is the end for them in Syria and some people on their end are probably going crazy, along with the US and Israeli planners. They are doing some whacky stuff. I wish well to all.
If SAA just walks into Mayadin, hardly any resistance, and then can just walk over the bridge there, I’ll grant that your insight in this was more finetuned than mine.
I’ll comment, then, John was right in this.
I hope you will be man enough, if they do not, to comment : John was wrong in this. Dutchnational and other were right.
OK ?
Hey dutch. If I am wrong, I am wrong. I like being wrong more than you know.
You went most of the way I am talking about. Nobody walks anywhere with ease on the battlefield. Some fights are tougher than others but, somebody usually dies. Try standing in front of the family and telling them it was a cakewalk, while you are walking the casket to the grave. I was on burial detail while I served and buried a number of fellow Marines, who died for various reasons. Even with some of the absolute bastards in groups like IS and Nusra, there are those in the families who will suffer, that had nothing to do with it. I often think of them.
IS is blowing resources for nothing, in the wrong places. Everyone of them that gets dragged into the desert and away from a defensible position, is no more than cattle. That is happening as we type our thoughts to each other. Why? I am thinking today it is a distraction. IS is pulling out of the region and they are going other places. Making a mess sends up a nice smokescreen to take the eye off what is really going on.
I think some of the big leaguers know this and it does not matter too much at the moment. In the mean time, Why not sucker a few more of them into doing nothing out in the sand/kill box, to reduce the stress in other places, other future battlefields.
Am I right on this? If I get it half right, I did good for a casual observer. Take care dutch. I wish well to you. :)
Alexis and Lilian are right. There is a stupidity in Russia-Syria tactic command, or there is an agreement to let ISIS to attack SAA. I do not believe that Russia-Syria were cached by an attack surprise of ISIS, this is impossible since Russia can see every movement of any soldier in Syria. Russia could send very easily kalibr missiles to stop totally these terrorists.
You don’t know what difficulties that the Syrians are labouring under; spare a thought for the 200,000 or so Syrians murdered by the US head-chopping, heart-eating rapers. They aren’t alive to fight. The Syrians have to rob Peter to pay Paul with their manpower so as the net tightens around the US head-chopping, heart-eating rapers, they can use interior lines to concentrate suddenly and inflict a tactical defeat. Once they do it they are countered and driven back.
Acc to several pro-assad commenters you may not say SAA lacks manpower and has a majority of second rate units.
It make you “pro-IS” .
All parties in this conflict suffer from lack of manpower, all could use more crack units.
The only party rapidly expanding with volonteers is SDF, and even they could use many more.
This is great news as it is far easier to destroy ISIS when they leave their cover and dug in positions for these stupid offensives going out in the open, where the SAA can use its superior artillery and Russian air power to wipe them out. So let them launch these attacks and make sure as many as possible are wiped out when they so such stupid things.