The Turkish military has been deploying more special forces servicemembers, heavy military equipment and artillery units to Syria amid the ongoing clashes between Turkey-led forces and ISIS for the key town of al-Bab in the province of Aleppo, according local sources at the Syrian-Turkish border.
Pro-Turkey sources argued earlier today that the “moderate opposition” smashed ISIS defenses and seized the Al-Bab hospital and the Aqil Mountain. However, video evidence shows that Turkish forces failed to do this and are still clashing with ISIS units in the area near the hospital.
#EuphratesShield forces haven’t broken the 1th Defence line till now acc. pro-FSA source Orient TV’s video
Hospital is visible #AlBab pic.twitter.com/wsY8XQs97R
— NDF (@NatDefFor) December 25, 2016
Another fact that mainstream media and “pro-opposition” sources ingore is participation of the Turkish Special Forces in the operation. A majority of photos of Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels is made in a notable distance from the battlefront against ISIS.
In turn, there are lots of photos of a high number of Turkish military servicemen deploying and operating in the area of the fighting. With the recent reports that FSA militants just run away when they see ISIS members, questions arise: Where are all members of the so-called “moderate opposition”? Are there more Turkish soldiers than pro-Turkey militants involved in the operation?
Turkish military servicemen during the storm of al-Bab:
The so called rebels in the Turkish operation in Syria are useless.Without the Turkish SF they will lose every inch of territory they hold.
This is why SAA and Russia aren’t worried unlike some hysterical people about ES. Let the Turks,FSA,IS kill each other.In the end when time comes the area will be swiftly cleansed.
Right on brother!
Swiftly cleansed? You think SAA can “swiftly” cleanse an area held by only Turkish troops? What universe are you from?
I hope that Turkey just starts getting along with Syria and we don’t see any “swift” cleansing but just hand-over.
While I take your point about the ‘swift’ part, given that the SAA is far from amazing, Erdogan seems to have done a remarkable job of thoroughly demoralising the Turkish Armed Forces, and I think it is an open question how motivated any of them are going to feel fighting anyone in Syria as Euphrates Shield goes on. He is really undermining all the traditions that set the Turks apart from their neighbours as a military. Compared to the Turkish Army of several years ago, the kind of elementary tactical mistakes we are seeing is a bit astonishing. As the IDF Chief of Staff pointed out, they should be able to walk over IS without any effort. Something is clearly wrong here.
If FSA hordes are going to be unreliable participants on the battlefield, causing Turkish armor to be exposed and attacked, they might as well use their regular troops to have a more credible presence on the battlefield. FSA, NDF play the role of skirmishers in a battle, they are not reliant units that can adopt strict military discipline and fight effectively, in conjunction with other armed units.
FSA are so useless they would do a better job at being used as human shield.
The turkish invasion.