The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) uncovered a number of weapons caches during recent search operations in the western Daraa countryside, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on May 23. A source in the army told the state-run news agency that the weapons were uncovered in cooperation with the locals.
The weapons caches contained light arms and loads of ammunition, as well as:
- A Soviet-made 9K310 Igla-1 man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADs);
- A Soviet-made 9K32 Strela-2 MANPADs;
- Two Soviet-made RPG-26 anti-tank rocket-propelled grenades;
- At least six rounds for the Yugoslav-made M79 Osa anti-tank weapon.
Click to see full-size image.
Click to see full-size image.
Click to see full-size image.
Click to see full-size image.
Click to see full-size image.
Click to see full-size image.
Click to see full-size image.
Click to see full-size image.
Click to see full-size image.
Some of these weapons, like the Soviet MANPADs, were likely captured from the SAA ammo depots in the early years of the conflict. Other weapons, however, were supplied by the U.S. and its regional allies.
The SAA stepped up its search operations in the southern region recently. Earlier this week, the army seized more than 30 anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), including U.S.-made TOWs.
Thats a lot. Nice catch.
When the SAA beat the FSA, HTS, and Isis down here in Daraa, Quneitra, and as Suwayda way back in august 2018, the defeated fighters hid whatever weapons they could, and what we’re seeing here looks like a cache of those hidden weapons. But this is NOTHING, this is just a small cache of hidden weapons, there’s a million times more that aren’t hidden at all, and they’re still in the hands of the people that have always had them, AND THAT’S THE REAL THREAT TO ASSAD’S AUTHORITY RIGHT NOW. King Abdullah of Jordan brokered a reconciliation agreement with Assad back in mid 2017 that allowed 60,000 rebel fighters to reconcile with the government WITHOUT LAYING DOWN THEIR ARMS, they were even allowed to hold onto their heavy weapons, vehicles, artillery, ect, so this small cache is laughable when compared to the hoard of weapons and equipment that still remains available for opposition forces. The ex FSA, HTS, and Isis fighters/supporters who are now demonstrating against Assad don’t have the weapons or the local support they need to stage another uprising, but the rebels who reconciled with the government back in 2017 do still have the weapons and local support they’d need, that’s if they wanted to start another uprising, but they don’t yet, atm they’re just demonstrating against the heavy Iranian presence in their neighbourhoods. Assad has to avoid giving these 2 different parties any common ground, one groups opposed to his rule and the others group is opposing Iranian authority, and at the moment Assad’s lumping them all in together and that’s a big mistake, he has to learn to treat them differently, if he doesn’t he’ll just drive them all together and we all know what will happen then. The Arab League countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Egypt ect are the ones who control the Southern Front Alliance rebel militias down here in Darra/Quneitra/as Suwayda, and they’re all pro Assad and DESPERATELY want Assad to remain in power, but they’re also totally anti Muslim Brotherhood and have no love for Iran either, so Assad has to play a fine line and keep both his Iranian allies happy and at the same time give the locals something they want as well. Sadly Iran refuses to move a single soldier out of the disputed areas and is instead stupidly sending in heaps more. If the 50,000 strong SFA and other 2 big militias 10,000 strong, 60,000 in total, start another uprising they’ll not only have the Arab League’s support in the fight, they’ll also get US and Israeli assistance as well, and that’s the last thing Assad needs to happen right now, he could lose all 3 governorates if he’s not careful. I have noticed that things have calmed down in Darra so maybe that’s a good sign negotiations are working, the Russians got here a week before the Iranians arrived and started talking straight away, and talkings always a good tactic, at least while they’re talking they’re not fighting. So maybe the Russians will still be able to save the day, but it doesn’t look like they’re going to get any help from Iran, it’s more likely just the opposite if the latest events are anything to judge by.
i miss august 2018 i wish i could go back then, this girl i was so in love with came back to me, then left again, and havent heard from her since last august :( but i thought SAA took care of daraa region a while ago? why shit started again there recently?
Before 2018 Iran wasn’t building dangerous facilities in Daraa and Quneitra that Israel keeps bombing, just imagine some of those Israeli missile missing their Iranian targets and accidentally hitting your girlfriends house instead, or even pieces of those missiles falling on her head, no wonder she moved away. Many of the people in Daraa and Quneitra don’t like Israel and would be quite happy to see Iran and Israel go to war, but they’re not so willing to be stuck in the middle of the war and become collateral damage, most of them have families they have to protect. People like using the chemicals a toxic chemical factory makes but no one want the chemical factory built next door to their place, they’re too scared it will blow up, and that’s how most of the resident’s of Darraa feel about Iran now, they’re not opposed to the factory, they just don’t want it built in their backyards. Russia’s trying to calm the protesters down but it won’t work, unless Iran moves some of that dangerous infrastructure that Israel keeps bombing the local won’t feel safe, and I don’t blame them.
what dangerous facilities?
I’m not sure exactly what the infrastructure is but I suspect it’s most likely to be missile warehouses, missile launch vehicles/platforms, command centres, intelligence facilities, ect. People don’t demonstrate for nothing, when they’re calling for the removal of Iranian forces from their neighbourhoods it’s for a good reason.
So where else should the Iranians put them? They want to help Assad and SAA
Iran should put them in their own backyard, not in Syria’s, would you like Iranian missiles in your backyard? I wouldn’t like US, Russian, Chinese, or Iranian missiles in my backyard, NO MATTER WHICH SIDE I SUPPORTED. And how is it helping Syria, Israel doesn’t want to invade Syria at all, they in fact keep saying they want Assad to remain in power, they actually want to help Assad fight against the Muslim Brotherhood/Erdogan/Turkey, and the only problem Israel has with Assad is he’s letting the Iranians place missiles on Syrian territory, and those missiles can or will be used against Israel. So if Assad stopped Iran from placing missiles all along the border the Israelis wouldn’t have any problem with Syria or Assad, they’d in fact be helping him, possibly even with military assistance against the rebels [possibly]. Read what the Russians say about Israeli involvement in Syria, they actually want Israel to start investing in Syria’s reconstruction efforts. And last year that traiter Rami Maalouf signed a deal with the IRGC that would have put all of Syria’s telecommunication network directly under the control of the Iranian military, luckily Assad’s wife Asma thwarted that plan and did something to stop that happening, if she hadn’t the Iranians would’ve been listening in on all of Assad communication links, and Russia didn’t like that idea one little bit. So Iran’s not as much of a help as you think they are, they already lease/control most of southern Deir ez Zor and parts of western Aleppo, and now they’re trying to move into Darra as well, I wonder just how much more Iran thinks it deserves to get from Syria, there won’t be anything left by the time they finish. Iran was a big help to Syria before june 2018, but since then Iran’s become nothing but a burden, the Israeli bombing Iranian assets on Syrian territory, Isis growing in Deir ez Zor, protests in Deir ez Zor, western Aleppo, and now in Daraa and Quneitra too, are all because of the heavy Iranian presence in Syria, that’s the plain and simple truth. If Iran was only helping to defend Syria all their forces would be on the front lines, but most of their forces are scattered all over Syria, and usually in places they have no need to be.
syria invited iran to help, russia too, now you still havent answered the question, where else should they put their missile bases?
I did say where I want them to go, “Iran should put them in their own backyard”, Which means leave them in Iran where they belong. I continually criticise the US for having threatening missile bases in other countries territories and putting them at risk [south Korea], so I’d be a real hypocrite if I didn’t say the Iranians shouldn’t do the same thing, keep their missiles in their own countries.
well if assad had a real problem with it, he would have asked them to leave by now, right? obviously hes ok with it, now if what you are saying is true, he should ask iran if there is anywhere else they can put their factories to not upset those people in daraa and quneitra or whatever
Assad isn’t in a position to complain about anything to anyone, if he does he stands a chance his allies will abandon him, and I mean politically not militarily, they can still save Syria without saving Assad you know. Assad hates the Turkish troops occupying Syrian territory but his allies the Russians have signed 3 or 4 Memorandums Of Understanding [MOU] with the Turks which allows the Turkish forces to occupy Syrian territory, Assad complains loudly about the Turks but doesn’t say a bad word about the Russians, even though his ally Russia is the one letting the Turks in. What can Assad really do, not much at all except for grin and bear it. Iran set up their factories and warehouses in Deir ez Zor first and look what happened there [and is still happening], and then they did the same thing in western Aleppo and more local resentment and inter militia fighting started there [which upst Russia], and now Iran’s in Daraa too doing exactly the same thing too, so Iran’s already set up shop just about everywhere else already, Daraa, Quneitra, and As Suwayda are the last places left. Iran’s already upset most of the Sunni population in Syria already so it’s not just Daraa and Quneitra that’s protesting the Iranian presence, but there are 60,000 well armed and internationally supported fighters in Daraa and Quneitra, and Assad doesn’t want to turn them against the government, but sadly Iran’s forcing him him to do exactly that, turn the majority Sunni population against the Syrian government. Back in 2018 a lot of the people protesting against Iran right now actually used to come out and support Assad in counter rallying protests against the FSA and HTS, and some of them even helped the SAA fight against HTS, the FSA and Isis, but that was before the Iranians arrived in their neirbourhoods, now they’re just starting to think Assad’s just an Iranian stooge, not the president of a multi ethnic/religious/cultural Syrian nation.
so you are saying those people protesting iranian presence are doing it mainly because they dont want to get injured from the explosions caused by israel’s airstrikes on iran’s facilities? if that is the case, then it is not iran’s fault, it is the lack of response or air defense to stop these attacks
“so you are saying those people protesting iranian presence are doing it mainly because they dont want to get injured from the explosions caused by israel’s airstrikes on iran’s facilities?”
That’s exactly what I’m saying, well at least most of them are, there a few protesters that are actually protesting against Assad’s government but they’re only in the minority, and to be honest I don’t mind if Assad runs that group over with his tanks, but the other group have legitimate concerns Assad should be listening to.
“if that is the case, then it is not iran’s fault, it is the lack of response or air defense to stop these attacks”
I do think it’s Iran’s fault, why do they need to build facilities that threaten Israel on Syrian soil, Israel’s no threat to Syria, they’ve been saying they want Assad to remain in power since mid 2018, and since the Turks invaded Syria they’ve been totally opposed to the Turkish interventions and even demanding that Turkey remove their forces from Syria. So Israel’s not Assad’s enemy anymore, they might have been 3 years ago but they’re not anymore, now they could even be Assad’s friend if Assad wanted them to. Assad wouldn’t need to use air defense systems at all if Iran didn’t have it’s missiles in Syria.
yes they are still a threat to israel almost every week they bomb damascus or somewhere there, what the hell are you talking about? if assad was so concerned about it he would have asked iran to leave, is iran launching missiles at israel every week as well? is iran the one putting sanctions on them? have you not heard of the greater israel project? they were hoping syria would fall and then israel would move in. you australians are in line with zionist bullshit anyway so its not surprising to hear this
They don’t bomb Syrian facilities at all anymore, only Syria’s AA systems when they’re stiking at Iranian targets in Syria, but there’s a difference between degrading Syrian infrastructure and degrading Iranian infrastructure, and Israel’s only doing one of those things and purposely avoiding doing the other. Yes most Australians are in with the Zionist agenda but I’m not, I’m more in line with what Putin wants from Israel, Russia’s plans for rebuilding of Syria and the use of Israeli money to do it seems like the best way to do things, and I don’t think Putin has a Zionist agenda. Now Israel’s hoping Assad won’t fall, they’re scared Erdogan and the Muslim Brotherhood will take over Syria and take his place, and they like that idea a lot less than they dislike Assad.
israeli money? how is putin getting israeli money?
He’s not and he won’t be, he just wants the Israelis to invest heavily in the rebuilding of Syria, he actually wants Syria to get the Israeli money. You need to read some Russian government statements every now and again.
i have never heard of this where are you getting this info? and why and how would syria get israeli money and why would israel be interested in rebuilding syria?
You need to read way more news from a wider variety of sources, I suggest you read way more Russian news and also pay attention to what official Russian government institutions say. This is one of the best sources of info and I’m also linking an interesting article from their site for you to read. The Russian International Affairs Council is the premiere Russian Think Tank and is one of Russia’s most important institutions. It’s members are drawn from the finest Russian military, economic, scientific, political and media personnel Russia has to offer. They’re tasked by the Russian government to help come up with ideas and then make suggestions to the Russian government that will help Russia get along with all it’s international partners, neighbours and rivals, so they’re the very best source of all if you want to know what the Russian are really thinking, here’s the article you’ll find interesting and the link to the site.
https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/evolution-of-the-syrian-military-main-trends-and-challenges/
https://russiancouncil.ru/en/
OK thanks
those people should be protesting against israel then, not iran
They probably were protesting against Israel before the Iranians arrived in their neighbourhoods, but now the Iranian’s are making their families potential targets for Israel they’re protesting against the Iranians instead. Would you like Iranian missiles deployed close to where you live, not many people would, not even the die hard anti Zionists, because willingly making your own family a potential target isn’t something any sane person does, especially people who’ve just finished fighting a 9 year old war and know exactly what it means.
so where is iran supposed to set up shop in syria, in the middle of nowhere, far from electricity, running water, supplies, etc?
Iran can stay in Syria without it’s missiles, Israel wasn’t attacking them much before Iran started bringing missiles into Syria, but after they did the Israelis started escalating their attacks. Iran is where all the Iranian missiles should be, not in Syria, and Iran has a lot more running water, electricity, supplies, and a lot more of everything else than Syria has.
oh yea? i guess russia is where all russian soldiers and tanks and missiles and aircraft should be, but US and israel can have all of its toys anywhere it wants?
No the US nor anyone else should be able to do that, but Russia isn’t building missile facilities in Syria that would threaten NATO countries, and I’ll bet they could if they wanted to, but they don’t want to turn Syria into a hotbed for the start of WW3, unlike Iran, they actually seem to want to start WW3 here in Syria, and maybe they will.
no, they shouldnt, but they are, so what is stopping iran and russia from doing the same? US doesnt follow any laws anymore so why should iran only stay within their borders? no iran does not want WW3 in syria, get your head outta your ass
If what you think is true then it’s strange the Russians don’t protect the Iranian infrastructure with their S-400 systems, in fact they usually keep Russian assets well away from Iranian targets to avoid getting involved in the conflict. So why do you think the Russians let the Israelis bomb the hell out of Iranian assets in Syria, and don’t say it’s because the Russians are scared of Israel, we all seen Netanyahu fly to Moscow to kiss Putin’s butt for forgiveness when the 20 Russian airmen were killed, so Russia isn’t scared of Israel, there’s another reason they’re allowed to attack Iran and get away with it. Russia doesn’t want Iran to build missile bases in Syria, they want them to build hospitals and schools. If Iran and Israel came to blows it could start off WW3,China and the US are already on the brink of war right now, so just one misstep in Syria by Iran and it could be the start of WW3.
good i hope WW3 does start and the syria-aligned countries win
I hope you don’t really mean that. And can anyone really win WW3, or will everyone just lose the war?
As long as the good guys win I don’t care, nothing is going for me right now, nothing good happening for me, I keep getting rejected or ignored, I’m so sick of it all
There are no real good guys when it comes to world politics, if there was you wouldn’t be feeling so down and miserable, so maybe we need new leaders to make things better, or then again maybe we don’t need any at all. Cheer up dude, there’s always tomorrow and you never know what that brings, maybe some good news for a change.
i guess so, thanks mister willing conscience, that made me a bit more hopeful and happier :)
you may be right about the last part, they should be on the frontlines, but let me ask you what is your ethnicity and nationality?
I’m Australian born but My father’s Croatian/Italian from Croatia and my mother’s Italian from Italy, but I’m an Australian if I’m anything at all, but I prefer to say I’m just one conscience being in a world full of other conscience beings. I support Syria’s struggle mainly but I also support any side that I thinks trying to do the right thing, and that’s just about all sides apart from Erdogan [not Turkey], but I also criticise any party that I think is doing the wrong thing, and that’s all of them sometimes, even Syria and Assad, sadly no ones perfect. For example I totally support Russia’s attitude and dealings with Iran but on the other hand absolutely hate Russia’s dealings with Turkey, so I both agree and disagree with Russia on 2 different matters, sadly we can’t ever get everything our own way either.
yes but i think russia needs to support iran more, protect them more, needs to stop israel attacking syria all the time, and yes i do not like russia’s dealings with turkey, for a while they can get along and everythings fine then one day turkey decides to turn on russia for nato, and then a while later turns back to russia, i mean how can someone have a friend like this? also do you have australian accent? lol
If you pay real attention to what’s going on you’ll realize Russia and Iran are doing the exact opposite of each other in Syria, there is no cooperation, no protection, and no support other than diplomatic support [I call it lip service]. Russia created both the Syrian 4th and 5th army corps and sacked just about all the Shia officers that led the divisions/militias replacing them with ex Baathist party members, so now the Russians have 2 of the 5 Syrian Army Corps that are loyal to Syria and not Iran, but the 1st, 2nd and 3rd army corps are just as loyal to Iran as they are Syria now. Russia chooses ex Baathist party members for the army corps because they don’t have religious/cultural/ethnic affinities to any group, they’re socialists that are totally and only loyal to Syrian National integrity, and some of them come from every religious/cultural/ethnic group in Syria, even the loyal Syrian Shias are Baathists too sometimes. And why do you think Russia needed to create 2 new military corps that are not influenced by Iran in any way, and why do the Russians give those 2 army corps the best weapons and equipment, there’s a good reason for it.
what do you mean exact opposite?
Russia wants to invite everyone in to help rebuild Syria, that encourages confidence in the Syrian economy and helps facilitate trade and business opportunities, Iran on the other hand want to rebuild Syria itself, and in the process Iran’s trying to recoup the many hundreds of billions of dollars/Lira it’s spent in Syria, that does nothing to help Syria economically or diplomatically. Russia wants to get along with everyone and Iran only wants to get along with its allies, so I think the Russian way of doing things will be the best option for Syria in the long run.
The SAA should give those weapons to the Syrian people in Hassakah to defend themselves, probably shoot down some Yankee choppers. ‘What’s good for the goose is good for the gander’ as the proverb goes.