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ISIS has made a desperate attempt to regain the initiative in the battle for central Syria.
On August 24, ISIS launched a large counter-attack and recaptured the villages of al-Muqlah, al-Atshanah, Salem al-Hamad, al-Bu Hamad, Zor Shumr, al-Huwijah and Ghanem al-Ali in the southern Raqqa countryside.
According to the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq, ISIS killed 42 Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers during the attack. 58 more SAA members were allegedly killed in a car bomb attack on a gathering of SAA soldiers near Ghanim al-Ali village.
On August 25, clashes continued with the SAA and it sallies were attempting to regain momentum in the area.
Earlier this month, the SAA re-deployed many units of the Tiger Forces and Tribal Forces from the southern Raqqa countryside central Syria in order to conduct a large encirclement operation that ended earlier this week. This was one of the key reasons behind the ISIS success near Ghanem al-Alli.
The advance in southern Raqqah followed the offensive in the eastern Hama countryside where ISIS, supported by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) and the Free Syrian Army, made a fierce attempt to cut off the the Salamiyah-Ithriyah-Khanassir-Aleppo road, the only government supply line to Aleppo city.
On August 23 and August 24, an intense fighting was ongoing at Wadi al-Adib and Shayk Hilal and as-Saan. However, by August 25, the SAA, the Qalamoun Shield Forces and the National Defense Forces (NDF) had stabilized the situation repelling all attempts to cut off the strategic supply line.
Meanwhile, the SAA Tiger Forces, the NDF and their allies further advanced against ISIS north of Palmyra and took control of Bi’r Qudaym and Jabal ‘Asab. The ISIS pocket north of Palmyra is rapidly shrinking because of ISIS’s lack of manpower there. According to local sources, ISIS has much more defense positions, manpower and weapons in the Uqayrabat area.
On the Syrian-Lebanese border, the SAA and Hezbollah liberated the Ras al-Shahut crossing, Wadi al-Magharah al-Kabir and Wadi al-Magharah al-Saqir heights from ISIS. There are reports about negotiations between Hezbollah and ISIS about a possibility of the ISIS withdrawal from the area. However, it’s unclear either there is a real possibility of the ISIS withdrawal or not.
A very disturbing development indeed, the problem is that the Brotherhood is not being strangled as promised by Erdogan, the ideolgy which Allah used to initiate the The Caliphate was to bring the Brotherhood undone with their rubbish, the Caliphate was only ever meant to be temporarily to give Syrian Allies the political legitimacy to intervene to save Assad, that was only part of Allah’s agenda which is now completed, the other part was for the exposure of the rubbish preached by the Brotherhood, you can sum it up as being their view that Paradise awaits anybody who wants to or is forced to convert, of course only by the Will of Allah can you believe, and Erdogan is the matrix master of unity under me, Allah is hardly not even considered, this is what Erdogan is up to coalescing all the IS fighters and the Saudi backed rebels joining his band, a very dangerous situation, Erdogan has always played a double game, although while the jew existential reality prevails a lot of bad thing will happen, so it’s not all Erdogan’s faul.
What is disturbing is that Amaq word seems to have become respected. If ISIS said they took Damascus tomorrow we’d probably see it confirmed here.
Do not talk to that Rodney Loder terrorist. He is always here cheering for terrorist groups like Al-Nusra and ISIS. He should be reported and banned from this website with this terrorist rhetoric.
You misunderstand Rodney. He is not a Jihadist, he is just a crazy guy from Australia. :)
I wanted to go to the Outback but Allah didn’t allow it, I spend my life leading the Jews and Christian traitors up a gum tree, I’m an expert tree climber and was a tree lopper with my own business till I got what I wanted, all Jews and Christians up the tree, now I’m on the ground with my chain saw.
I didn’t know australian beer was so strong. Drink some juice instead until you get over your crazy bout. Pity your chain-saw is broken, better ask allah to get you a new one………………
Only one of my chain saws is broken or just worn out I still got my Husqvarna 375 XP and my Husqvarna 395 XP going great, the 395 is 75 cc not the most powerful which is 90cc but I always run it with the 3foot chain bar, I’ve taken it up the highest Coco Palms to throw down the blocks landing in a hole that I dug in the ground, I’ve had many offers to sell it but I am not interested in upgrading al-Qada into the 21st. Century.
I had dinner in the Outback a few weeks ago. Very nice steak restaurant chain in the US.
Something were is happening to me to, I was a vegetarian till I gave up on the future and then I enjoyed rump steak but now I can’t stand the stuff and can only eat chooks and legs of lamb, maybe I’m headed for the dog house like you.
yeah yeah.
I read that and only hope you have got the brains to repent, some IS are quitting many bare not, the ones that don’t will go through massive bouts of depression, inevitably leading to many innocent casualties only what I have to offer can save them because only I can communicate with my Brother Salifis in a meaningful way, because I can prove that I am Isa Son of Maryium and can give them great victories against hypocrites.
Rodney…just look in the mirror. That snakehead that you see there is you.
All my stories are true, and so is this one that I’m going to tell you, I have been a hermit for 12 years now and meet many red belly black snakes, they have been in my house and often greet me in my paddocks, once I had relatives come for a visit with my son, there was 9 people what happened was the snake turned up to see what was going on but wouldn’t go away he sat in a clump of grass with his head sticking up about 15 centimetres, I had to order everyone always because the kids were getting the idea that the snake was a play mate, I’m a horse whisperer and don’t know much about snakes but I don’t think its a derogatory term to use on anybody, I think that the red belly snakes love me, when I move them on with the broom they flatten out like the do when their sunbathing.
I think respect comes from only two places, what the individuals want and what they have to put up with, Erdogan is going after IS Fighters because for the next 10 years they will be very committed because of their experiences, SAA is good IS is much better, the only chance is ideological differences being aired, Erdogan won’t do that of course, but he’s not alone, only I can because Allah gave me that capacity.
I was just trying to point at the unreliability of the ISIS media agency. That ISIS has tried a counter attack could very well be.
But when they start claiming tens, if not hundreds of enemy killed, it becomes grotesque. Add to that that pretty much everything they publish in pics and vids is staged, or proven false almost at once by the most cursory analysis.
This people has been treating everybody, but especially muslims, like they are less than ignorants, like they are blind and dumb.
IDK why you bring out Erdogan in this context, what you say could well be true or not, I dont have an opinion so far. My take is that Erdogan is somehow weighing his options after his initial plan has been ran into the ground.
Blue helmets information has been proven false and staged, the Observatory I think is Qatari and now not much reason to lie, their FB page claimed a likeness to Amaq in recent attack by the new union of rebel forces, only one Faction could be orchistrating a conglomerate leadership, that’s Turkey also that speculation is backed up by the Saudi Official announced departure from regime change to appeasement in Syria, they are stepping down so the battle for leadership is won by the Brotherhood, who acknowledged that with TSK in control of Idlib al-Qa’eda is a red hot target, so they will back down soon and let fly with false reporting of nonexistent battles to put a moderate leader in charge of Idlib. But if I’m overreacting only good can come from it.
if you see the amount of territory surrounded in that second pocket. 800 sounds about right. They have more than halved the controlled territory
yep, but 800 is the number of ISIS members that’s been destroyed in the pocket.
I was contesting the ISIS released numbers from their “counterattack” of two days ago when they stated they killed tens, or a hundred pro-SAA forces.
It seems an established tendency to me that every time ISIS gets busted hard, it produces the utmost amounts of bullshit.
They must have some kind of principle by which the more they get busted, the more they say they busted their enemies.
tbh i ignore a lot of the numbers, and south front maps have told me more than anything
erdogan going after kurds had to stop cos US started backing them, right after the failed CIA coup against erdogan. (cia also put him in power, but he fell out of favour). As far as Syria goes, turkey just choose the winning side at any given point in time. They support Assad now, US influence is getting polished in the ME
Agreed, Turkey will turn quick and can’t be trusted, although Turkey can be relied upon to attack the Kurds in Syria, probably now for the rest of my life, 20 years and I’m 87, which is good because the Kurds are the last US reputable auxiliaries, the war probably won’t end, Libya did end, and now it’s not Turkey or US who want to restart it, it’s Russia Egypt and UAE supporting Khalifa Haftar, Qatar is starting to emerge as the guiding light they will abandon the FSA Turkey won’t, there is talk of my being released from psychiatric incarceration, if Qatar will accept me I’ll go there.
Erdogan isn’t interested in clearing put any ISIS forces doing damage to the Assad regime. That’s enemy number 1 (a). Ditto the Kurds, they’re staying north of the river for now.
I don’t see any news on the succesful offensive operations the SAA has conducted today against the US supported moderates in southern Syria.
Instead we see the usual parroting of Amaq agency nonsense.
In the end, this only delays the inevitable in central Syria, but gives a reason to take Idlib too, due to breaking the agreements.
However, SAA is quite silent in regards to their successes against both assaults, it’s probably not that easy as it looks according to the news.
With this to be expected development, it means that SAA will have to secure Idlib with more forces to keep Al-Qaeda at bay.
The above mentioned scenario was already suggested by me weeks ago, not as something I want but as something that seemed, from the point of view of HTS, logical.
If the road is cut and held for say two weeks, the strategic consequences are huge and SAA will the be much weakened in the Badiya, Aleppo and south Raqqah.
Not anymore, as there are new connections available by now, due to cleaning out the pockets, It’s more an annoyance than anything else. But it seems that the assault is already dealt with anyway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSeAGUPw7P8
Looks like USA gave an order to their dogs in Idlib to attack the government. Disgusting.