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The Syrian Army and its allies have liberated 350km2 from militant groups in southern Idlib since the start of their operation in the area on December 19.
Syrian Army Liberated 350km2 Since Start Of Operation In Southern Idlib (Map Update)
My extra update. For more than 2 days now the poor old SAA and SAAF have been doing it all by themselves, and despite the fact the SAA+SAAF didn’t get any Russian assistance, they still managed to take back another 4 villages all by themselves. So this SF update is old news now, we have 4 more villages to add to the list, but sadly I have to also confirm the Russians have gone walkabout, there’s no more Russian air support for this SAA assault, so bye bye Ruskies. But I do have some good news to cheer you up though, here’s a statement from the the General Command of the SAA, this statement coupled with the fact the SAA is still actively attacking the terrorists, as well as taking new ground without Russian assistance, suggests to me the SAA and SAAF aren’t about to stop hostilities as the Russians have.
“Since the beginning of the war of aggression against Syria, the hostile position of the Erdogan regime against the people of Syria, its army and its leadership has been clear, and its dirty role which it played in harboring, training, arming and financing armed terrorist groups and opening the borders to facilitate the crossing of thousands of mercenary terrorists into the Syrian territories is no longer hidden. It has become clear that the successes achieved by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies in the war on terrorism, especially in Aleppo, have erased Erdogan’s illusions and his plans for development in Syria and the region, and led him to escalate his aggression against Syria by targeting villages and towns north of Aleppo with warplanes, introducing units of the Turkish army into the Syrian border and providing Direct support with artillery and tank shooters for armed terrorist groups to carry out their criminal acts against innocent civilians in the northern countryside of Aleppo. The General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces considers this new hostile position to be a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the territories of the Syrian Arab Republic, and that the presence of units of the Turkish army within the Syrian borders is an unacceptable and condemned act under any name and we will deal with it as an occupying force and confront it by all means. We also hold the Turkish leadership fully responsible for the serious repercussions that may result on the security and stability of the region.”
SANA did have the transcript on their site the other day but now only have the video to view.
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmod.gov.sy%2Findex.php%3Fnode%3D5642%26nid%3D18142%26First%3D0%26Last%3D7397%26CurrentPage%3D0%26FD%26TD%26%26ctr%3D655&h=AT245i-LcL11sNCHTbJXC9xFfAPajxY-P26xaN_wCKIbLOVqt1GdC4YdSttkW0t0xRLcMZ7exm9HSVdDiiZeadIVYmzPo5gabvRD-f8l4kAxQW67gc1-t1UAzBJzg2EqoU1FbGgFTEomk7ZH57CYmbhddVVwnJD5_S5ma_vHAcLBEJln4ZdtBecCMiEu4M-mDVFohkBXVgKtdQVfgu6wWL57AHlLybD15lyPF3ufeO8qL6NvaBhmEyX-efmT_p3bD5apbuWcQNyIT1GDlB4ROFtFN3iUAQ5ttaUoBXrmrOy3lsK3GGyIL4H5tLY8GBbu0Gl061tFJJRty3nxh5Pv_eWdbuOVQtZOft-s9xcjlhKyEMrjuXQtZP1TI1eXTsBMn41DF88ez2x9o2M3muQiH2m4dx9IhcXiWRSDrFS7bw94Tv3S7Vjc9n7VZ3wODcwXtKJVio8vNid3syT-dpB7cW5QiQfXC4OSc6qviQI-fgONJkPcHg1R27yxAjibEsNhVSYJQCIrHgugOWmC-VKEuicDB10PD_p4w18uUCFBNfUxZoPyfHtpKEqU3romMcb0NuCbhwN7QaiF9ZszPcmqMlYmKEuuYEyzL9psY49RQ4bQD2WYgFP8wSyNSzebyYhwZ7iBdqGMww-OAYXvghh-19Fe0D7xxfKQ2K0N5g
you can’t seem to think straight – always complaining and going blatherblather where there is no reason. why don’t you just shut up, thus shut the feck up!
Being a paid for Turkish troll on Erdogan’s payroll helps explains why you assert my complaining about yet another ceasefire is just more useless complaining and blatherblather, but it’s not, it’s actually constructive criticism. Do you think I’m the only one who’s wondering why the Russians aren’t helping the SAA and SAAF anymore, and do you think I’m the only one who suspects Putin’s done another shameful deal with Erdogan, No, I’m not, but I’m the only one who doesn’t give a shit if paid for trolls like you dislikes my honest comment/question and troll me for my honesty. Where are the Russians now? And where have they been for the last two and a half days? And why is Erdogan moving forces out of Syria into Libya? And why has Putin agreed to let Erdogan place Turkish troops in Libya, that puts them in direct conflict with the Russian’s mercs operating there? But most importantly why does Putin still trust Erdogan, every deal they ever made Erdogan’s trashed, name the one time Erdogan abided by any one of the 14 mutually agreed upon Astana agreements, you won’t be able to because he hasn’t, and as I reminded you the other day, even SF published several articles asserting the Russians were accusing the Turks of just using the Kurds as an excuse to annex more Syrian territory, which is what Assad keeps saying they’re really doing. So no I won’t shut up you paid for Turkish troll [that cleverly pretends to be pro Russian], I’m going to shut you up and get you the sack instead, you and all the other Turkish trolls that’ve been using Jewish names and rhetoric to hide their true identities and motives.
Will, you call Verner a troll when I’ve seen no evidence of that in any of his comments. Are you by any chance on the payroll of the CIA or Mossad?
I specifically call Verner a Turkish paid for troll, not just a common mindless troll, A TURKISH PAID FOR TROLL, there’s a difference. And no I don’t work for the CIA or Mossad, but I would work for Assad, and I’d do it for free, and I’d possibly consider working for Trump too, I think I’d be pretty good at draining swamps.
I’m sure Syria, Russia and other allies of Syria coordinate their actions. If Russia is holding back it’s because Syria and Russia together agreed to do this. You wouldn’t be trying to cast doubt on the help for Syria by Russia, would you, Will?
I’ve been casting doubt on Russia’s willingness to help Assad and Syria from the time I first found out about UN resolution 2254, that gobsmacked me, and since then I’ve been bewildered by Putin’s constant pandering to Erdogan. I asked Verner for an answer to these questions, Where are the Russians now? And where have they been for the last two and a half days? – three and a half now. And why is Erdogan moving forces out of Syria into Libya? And why has Putin agreed to let Erdogan place Turkish troops in Libya, that puts them in direct conflict with the Russian’s mercs operating there? Do you have a better answer than Verner, his was laughable. Haven’t you noticed the terrorists have launched a huge counter offensive, and haven’t you noticed the Russian still aren’t aiding the SAA, so what do you think the reason is if my explanation of ceasefire isn’t the right answer? Do you read Turkish news, I do, what do you think these official statements mean, I actually suspect they might have something to do with what’s happening right now, you and Verner obviously don’t though.
“Turkey is talking to Russia with the aim of reaching a new ceasefire after increased bombardment in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said Tuesday. We are closely following the process for an end to the attacks, and these attacks should come to an end immediately and implemented under a new ceasefire,” Kalın told a televised news conference. “This is our main expectation from the Russian side. Assad’s regime has repeatedly vowed to take back the area, and bombardment has continued despite a ceasefire. Turkey on Monday sent a delegation to Moscow led by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal for talks on the Idlib issue, after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Ankara cannot handle a new refugee flow on its own. Kalın said Russian authorities told the Turkish delegation that Moscow would try to bring its influence to bear on Assad for a cessation of violence. We are now waiting for (Russia) to begin efforts in the coming 24 hours for an end to the regime attacks in Idlib.” https://disq.us/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailysabah.com%2Fpolitics%2F2019%2F12%2F24%2Fturkey-expects-russia-to-halt-assad-regimes-idlib-assault%3AOWSsPPjehg-B4WgbpGOQQDFq0jo&cuid=3606370
One more question, if what you say is correct,
“If Russia is holding back it’s because Syria and Russia together agreed to do this”,
Then why has the SAA been continuing the assault by itself for the last three and a half days, and why did the head of Syrian military command say this just the other day, the last paragraph in particular.
“Damascus, SANA-General Command of the army and armed forces announced on Tuesday clearing up more than 320 km2 area and expelling Jabhat al-Nusra organization and the rest of armed terrorist organizations from it and entering more than 40 towns and villages in south and southern-east countryside of Idleb. “Units of the army continue their attack unto the south and south-eastern directions of Idleb amid a state of successive collapse among the armed terrorist organizations, inflicting them heavy losses in personnel and equipment,” A statement by the army General command said. The statement added that men of the army have been able during the latest days to clear more than 320 km2 area and expell Jabhat al-Nusra organization and the rest of armed terrorist organizations from it and enter more than 40 towns and villages in south and southern-east countryside of Idleb. Among the villages and towns that were cleared off terrorists are Um Tina, Abu Sharqi, Sha’ara, Farwan, Hraki, Abu Dafnah, Tal Haran, Jirjanaz, Tal Assayed and many other villages and towns in Idleb. The statement stressed that combating terrorism is going to continue until army completes clearing all terror- occupied regions and see the Syrian flag hoisting on all Syrian territories.”
So forgive me for pointing out the fact that I think the Russians are actually pandering to Erdogan again, and that they’ve halted very successful ongoing operations to appease him, and that they’re also trying to force Assad into complying to the new ‘as of yet unannounced’ ceasefire. Gee I wonder why I’d think that, I always say you should never trust Turkish news and yet I’m using it to help make my assumption, and by itself it would’ve meant nothing, but I read Syrian news too [my link to SANA], and it contradicts what I’m seeing now, and I review daily activity using syrialiveuamaps, that showed no Russian activity for three and a half days which doesn’t contradict what Erdogan just said, it actually confirms it. So I can see 3 different reasons to assert the ceasefire must have been agreed to, but you don’t think any of those reasons add up to ceasefire, and the fact the SAA are still active but the Russians aren’t anymore, is confirming to me that Assad is actually refusing to adhere to this new unannounced ceasefire. It’s like colour definition in the human eye, some people can only see the number 3 and some people see the number 8, which of us is seeing the 3 instead of the 8 is yet to be determined, but I’m pretty sure I’m seeing an 8 on the page and you’re only seeing a 3.
You ain’t seen nothing yet…
That’s right.
Why have the Russians pulled back? I thought the object was the M5 highway.
If you’re cynical then you could say that the objective was achieved. A short stretch of M5 doesn’t give you much. People flooding out of Ma`arat al-Nu`man and putting extra pressure on the rest of Idlib is a far bigger price. When they aren’t trapped they won’t fight so hard and after the worst flood is over they can take the city with far fewer casualties. They don’t want to create cauldrons with many civilians dying.