Over the past days, southern Idlib, southern Raqqah, northwestern al-Hasakah remained the main points of tensions in Syria.
On November 16, the Syrian Army repelled an attack by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies on the hill of Khaznah in southeastern Idlib. According to pro-government sources, at least 7 militants were killed in the clashes.
The Syrian Army, backed up by the Russian Aerospace Forces, liberated the Khaznah hill and the village of Luwaybidah on November 14 in an attempt to expand a buffer zone between militants’ positions and nearby civilian areas. Despite this, attacks in the area continued. If government forces want to remove the threat of shelling by militants to nearby villages, they will have to push deeper into southern Idlib.
On November 17, the Russian Aerospace Forces delivered a series of strikes on positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham near Maarzita and Misherfah eliminating several strong points.
On November 15, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces retook the villages of Bir Tmah and Sa’dah from Turkey’s Syrian National Army. On November 15 and 16 clashes were also ongoing north of Tell Tamir.
On November 17, a Russian military convoy deployed in the Tell Tamir area. According to reports, the Russians will establish an observation post in the area as a part of the local de-escalation deal. Under the same deal, SDF units will reportedly withdraw from the town and Turkish-backed militants will abandon several villages north of Tell Tamir.
In the period from November 14 to November 15, Israel, the United States, Germany, Italy and Greece participated in the Blue Flag 2019 military drill at the Uvda Air Force base north of Israel’s Eilat. According to the Israeli Defense Forces, the drill involved 70 aircraft, including F-35I, and approximately 1,000 personnel.
The storyline guiding the exercise was based on two fictional neighboring countries, one blue and the other red. The scenarios included large aircraft formations, including fighter jets, remotely piloted aerial vehicles, transport aircraft and helicopters. The blue force’s mission was protecting Israel’s skies and overcoming the red’s air power and air defenses.
Several pro-Israeli media outlets and military experts reported that the Red’s Patriot surface-to-air missile systems simulated Russia’s S-300 and S-400 air defense systems, which were successfully overcome during the exercise.
The success demonstrated by US-made Patriot missiles in Saudi Arabia, where they defended a half of Saudi oil production from Houthi strikes, is widely-known on the international level. So, there are no reasons to doubt the result of the drill.
lol, love the epic success bit ! :)
The Turkish backed NFL are now attacking the SAA in Idlib, and they’re supposed to be Erdogan’s moderate opposition. Here’s another report, LOL, what’s Erdogan saying now, and what’s he really mean,
“He noted that some countries are in the “process of sharing the oil reserves” in Syria and have offered Turkey to be a partner, but Ankara refused because it is not interested in the country’s resources. He did not mention the name of the countries that proposed Turkey to get a share of the oil. Other Turkish officials, including Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, have openly criticized foreign powers for laying claims to the natural resources of Syria, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump, who publicly acknowledged that the main goal of deploying additional troops was to protect the Syrian oil reserves”.
https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2019/11/18/turkey-cares-about-syrian-people-not-the-oil-erdogan-says
This is typical propaganda, 3 different stories all bundled together into one story to purposely conflate different issues together and confuse the reader. He can only be referring to two people, Trump or Putin, so who offered Erdogan the oil? Now of course it would seem obvious that it was Trump who offered the oil, afterall he was the one who initiated the Turkish invasion, controls the oil, and the SDF forces who protect it, so is Erdogan pointing the finger at Trump without naming him. And why has Erdogan refused to name whoever it was, surely he must’ve realized he’d slander both Putin and Trump with the accusation by not naming the guilty party, was that purposeful. Was Erdogan’s outrageous accusation without naming the guilty party an attempt at blackmail, perhaps warning either Trump or Putin to comply to some new Turkish demand or he’d spill the beans and make them look bad, possibly. Or was it possibly Erdogan just sowing division between the Russians and the Syrians, trying to give Assad the false impression that Putin’s selling him out behind his back, causing a fracture in the Syrian/Russian relationship could that also be thought of as a possible motive for Erdogan’s revelation. If Erdogan’s remarks are true, and there’s no reason to take him at his word since he’s the biggest liar in modern history, but if he is being honest for a change, it means someone’s been offering someone something they have no right to offer them, that could have huge ramifications for future developments on the political front. The SDF upset with the US / Assad unhappy with Putin. And if it is a blackmail attempt we may find out who the guilty party is ourselves, if indeed there is a guilty party at all, lets see who makes the next major concession to Turkey without Erdogan bringing this damning revelation up again [after a concession is made], then I might start thinking there is some veracity in Erdogan’s accusation, and also have an idea about who it actually was he was pointing the finger at. 99% of this conflated story is pointing at Trump being the person Erdogan isn’t naming, but the 1% of his accusation that only hints that Putin may also be the person he’s not naming, is enough to do the job it’s intended to do, it’s made me wonder, and I also wonder if Assad’s also now wondering about his latest revelation. As I said I’m going to wait and see if there are any major concessions offered in the next few days, if they are offered to Erdogan, it’ll again make me wonder if Erdogan was indeed telling me the truth this time.
“Several pro-Israeli media outlets and military experts reported that the Red’s Patriot surface-to-air missile systems simulated Russia’s S-300 and S-400 air defense systems, which were successfully overcome during the exercise”.
Whahahahahaha – fucking Zio scum. Try it Israel, just try it.
Think Russia is now involving itself in a fight it need not be the umpire of now…
Certainly would not be getting further embroiled until Latakia governorate is completely sanitized of terrorists.