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A brief overview of the recent developments in Syria:
- On January 1, the SDF said that 14 ISIS members were arrested in the Sour area, while 3 ISIS members from Iraq were eliminated;
- On January 1, the U.S and SDF conducted a military exercise at the al-Omar base;
- On January 1, an IED planted in a car exploded in the city of Al-Bab, No casualties were reported;
- On January 1, artillery of the Turkish-backed forces shelled SDF positions in the Ain Issa area;
- On January 1, the al-Qaeda affiliated-group Hurras al-Din attacked Russian positions near the village of Tal al-Samen with a car bomb and two suicide bombers.
Jan 1, “South Syria: the commander of 641st Battalion (4th Division) Lt. Colonel Mahfud was killed this morning by insurgents in NW. Daraa CS. He was from Latakia province. Car riddled with bullets, leaving no chance for his escort of 5 soldiers (reconcilied Rebels), all killed.”
It seems the soldiers from the 4th division and agents from Air Force Intelligence are being targeted by some unknown group that never takes credit for the killings, that’s unusual isn’t it, most terrorist groups would be happy to acknowledge that they were responsible for the assassinations, especially when they’ve been so successful, but this group that’s killed possibly nearly a hundred 4th division soldiers and Intelligence agents over the last 3 months just stays silent, mmmm. The prior 6 months we had Russian backed 5th Corp soldiers targeted and killed just as often as the Iranian backed 4th division and Air Force personnel were, but this last 3 months that’s changed dramatically, now at a guess I’d say it’s about 5 Iranian backed personnel killed for every Russian backed SAA soldier killed. Somethings afoot Dr Watson, I think we should investigate.
All that soldiers killed are ex FSA…and they are fighting themselves FSA vs ex FSA..like Turkish backed groups fight themselves in Idlib…nothing special Dr Watson…
That is a truly ignorant comment and shows you have absolutely no idea what the real situation is. The situation in Darra/Quneitra/As Suwayda is definitely nothing like the situation in Idlib/Aleppo, for a start the situation in Idlib/Aleppo isn’t as simple as you suggest it is, it’s not just one madman killing another madman because a goat was stolen or an ugly daughter insulted, in most cases it’s a political fight between HTS and Al Qaeda/Muslim Brotherhood, and up until now HTS has been winning that fight. In Darra/Quneitra/As Suwayda it’s totally different, it’s a battle of influence between Russia and Iran. There were 2 articles republished on SF last week that described the Israelis taking advantage of the fact the Russians and Iranians were vying for political dominance in southern Syria, the article came with no disclaimers or qualifications from SF, which should’ve then prompted the pro Russian supporters to do some research and find out what the hell SF was talking about, and also find out why SF republishing those articles with absolutely no qualifications, disclaimers, or denials, NO DENIALS, you obviously didn’t do any research. The Russians have been recruiting reconciled opposition fighters into the SAA 4th and 5th army Corps since mid 2018, they recruit ex Southern Front Alliance fighters, ex FSA fighters, and any young men who’ve been avoiding their compulsory military service, that’s who the Russian’s have been recruiting, and so do the Iranians, but the Iranians recruit them for the 1st army Corps 4th division. The Russians have always had a reconciliation center in Darra and they’ve been very successful at turning anti Government opposition into SAA soldiers, but now the Iranians have arrived the flow of recruits is drying up, not because the recruits no longer want to reconcile with the government according to the Russian agreements, it’ because they can no longer get to the Russian recruitment center, Iranian backed 4th division soldiers arrest them before they can get there. You need to read some opposition news buddy, all they do is complain about what Iran’s been doing to stop them joining the Russian reconciliation process, they say the Iranians are making it nearly impossible to get to the Russian recruitment center or even apply to join the Russian process, all while the Iranian recruitment center in Darra is open for business as usual. Iranian supported 4th division soldiers man most of the checkpoints in Darra/Quneitra/As Suwayda now, and anyone not heading to the Iranian recruitment center is arrested on the spot. You’re definitely no Sherlock Holmes are you, if you were you’d read every scrap of news available to you, no matter where it came from, clues are everywhere if you care to look for them, and I suggest you start with opposition news sources. MOST 5th Corp SAA are pro Russian and anti Iran, and MOST 4th division SAA are pro Iran or pro Syrian Government and to some extent or other anti Russian, maybe not all of them but in general terms that’s the way it’s panned out.