Russia Begins Operations in Syria: End Game for the US Empire?

[angelburst29]

Kurdish sources reported that a Russian-Iranian military delegation has recently been dispatched to Northern Aleppo to study the situation in the strategic town of Afrin after Turkey's recent threats to launch ground assault against the town.

Iran, Russia Send Military Delegation to Afrin
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960417001446

Al-Darar al-Shamiyeh news website affiliated to the dissidents quoted the sources as saying that the delegation has entered Afrin.

Also, the Saudi al-Hayat newspaper reported that the delegation has been sent to Afrin to become informed of the latest achievements gained by the army and its allies after the recent Syria peace talks in Astana as well as the field situation in the town and Northern Aleppo after Turkey's recent threats.

A well-informed local source in Northern Aleppo reported earlier this month that thousands of militants affiliated to the Turkish Army are to kick off an imminent large-scale operation codenamed Seif al-Forat (the Euphrates Sword) in Afrin region.

The source reported that the Syrian Army Forces (FSA), backed up by the Turkish soldiers, are ready now to carry out a large-scale operation in Afrin region with over 20,000 fighters.

The Turkish-language Sabah daily reported, meantime, that the Ankara-backed militants are expected to start their operation from West of the town of Azaz and from the town of Ein Daqneh and Ming military airport in Northern Aleppo to move towards the towns of Tal Rifat and Afrin in Aleppo province and the town of Tal Abyadh in Northern Raqqa.

Salih Muslim, the co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), threatened that the Kurds will deliver control of the strategic town of Afrin to the Syrian government if Turkey continues aggression against it.

Kurdish Official Warns to Turkey to Stay Away from Afrin
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960417001360

"If the US and Russia don’t help us stop Turkey's aggression against Afrin, the town in Northeastern Aleppo will be delivered to the Syrian army as we did in Manbij," Muslim said on Saturday.

Noting that the Kurdish forces will block Turkey's path to Afrin, he said, "Afrin is a part of the Syrian territories and we will not allow Turkey to occupy even an inch of the Syrian soil."

A well-informed local source in Northern Aleppo reported earlier this month that thousands of militants affiliated to the Turkish Army are to kick off an imminent large-scale operation codenamed Seif al-Forat (the Euphrates Sword) in Afrin region.

The Al-Nusra Front (also known as Fatah al-Sham Front or the Levant Liberation Board) warned that its forces will kill any Turkish soldier who dares to cross the border into Syria's Idlib province.

Al-Nusra Warns to Kill Turkish Soldiers Entering Idlib
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960417001494

Al-Mayadeen news website quoted an Al-Nusra field commander as saying that the group will use artillery fire to fight against any attack on the heights along the Syrian-Turkish borders near Bab al-Hawa passageway in Northern Idlib.

The commander warned that "no Turkish soldiers will leave the region alive if they dare to enter Idlib".

Meantime, Abu Zubair al-Shami, a military commander of al-Nusra, said that the group has strengthened and equipped its forces in the bordering areas to confront any possible attack by the US-backed groups.

A leading Turkish daily revealed few weeks ago Ankara's plan to deploy its military forces in Idlib province.

Yeni Safak newspaper referred to Turkey's plan to enter Idlib from three main points, and claimed that the measure will be adopted to protect the region and prevent the Kurdish forces' advances towards the Mediterranean Sea.

Local sources reported that ISIL has burnt members of three families alive in Raqqa city after they refused to move to the Central part of the ISIL's self-proclaimed capital.

ISIL Terrorists Burn Civilians Alive in Northeastern Syria
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960417000988

The sources reported that ISIL burnt three families near the Grand Atiq Mosque in the Central part of Old Raqqa neighborhood on charges of their resistance against terrorists' order to gather in the city center.

A local source said that after the recent defeats, the ISIL has embarked on gathering civilians in different districts under its rule, and kills or burns those who refuse to do so.

He said ISIL gathered these three families in a house and set fire to them after they defied ISIL's order.

Field sources reported on Thursday that a large number of civilians were leaving Raqqa city after the Predominately Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) managed to prevail over ISIL's defense lines in different parts of the city.

The sources said that civilians were leaving Raqqa city in groups for a refugee camp in the village of al-Karameh East of Raqqa after clashes between the ISIL and the Kurdish fighters intensified in different neighborhoods of the city.

The Syrian Army is using an anti-drone electronic warfare system that may also be mounted on any type military vehicle, Russian media outlets reported on Saturday.

Syrian Army Utilizing Modern Electronic Jamming System against Drones
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960417000947

Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily reported that the Syrian army's anti-aircraft units are equipped with a new model of electronic cannon that can be used for jamming remote-controlled drones. The daily added that the electronic system can be mounted on any military vehicle and jams the control waves of the drones.

The Russian paper also added that the new model of the electronic jamming system is equipped with a number of antennas.

Reports said on Wednesday that the anti-aircraft units of the Syrian Army shot down an Israeli spy drone over the pro-government forces' positions in the Southern province of Quneitra.

The Syrian army shot down an Israeli drone as it was carrying out spying flight over the pro-government forces' positions in Northern Quneitra.

In the meantime, sources affiliated to the terrorists said they heard the sound of an explosion in Northern Quneitra, claiming that an Israeli plane targeted positions of the Syrian Army in Quneitra province.

 

[Laura]

Putin’s Assessment of Trump at the G-20 Will Determine Our Future
http://www.globalresearch.ca/putins-assessment-of-trump-at-the-g-20-will-determine-our-future/5598070

<snip>

To this day, not a single European government has made the connection between Washington’s wars, supported by Europe, and the millions of refugees from Washington’s wars that are overrunning Europe, intent on collecting welfare from European peoples while raping European women. We hear all sorts of complaints about the refugees, but never is a connection made between the refugees and Washington’s European supported wars.

Washington so successfully portrayed itself during the Cold War as peace, justice, and truth astriding the white horse that the world cannot see Satan sitting in the saddle.

Now that Washington’s 16 years of inhumane war against Muslim populations have destroyed the lives of millions of peoples, why aren’t there 9/11s every day? Instead are there only a few alleged terror attacks carried out by individuals, which appear to many to be orchestrated false flag events, such as individuals running over people with trucks in France and England, shooting up a French deli and magazine office. But nothing in the US, “the Great Satan.” Very suspicious.

The orchestrated event of 9/11 was the neoconservative’s “New Pearl Harbor” that provided the excuse for wars that advanced their purpose and Israel’s. It was the neoconservatives themselves who said that they needed a “new Pearl Harbor” in order to begin their wars in the Middle East.

Why don’t Americans and Europeans know this? The answer is because the US and Europe do not have independent medias. They have presstitutes.
<snip>

There is so much fake news and disinformation spread in the Western media that it even affects the Russians, perhaps even the Chinese.

Even Western analysts who reject the official Syria story still buy into the lie that Assad is a dictator.

When Putin meets with Trump, Putin will have to assess whether Trump is a real president or just another front man for the powerful interest groups that run Washington’s empire.

If Putin concludes that Trump is merely a front man, then Putin has no alternative but to prepare for war.

This is something I mention in tweets and on FB as often as I can fit it in: that if the USA/NATO hadn't destroyed their countries, there would be no refugees. The solution: Stop bombing, start helping, and let people go home. It really is that simple. But for some reason saying that never gets "legs".

This is something that we should start hammering on again and again and reminding people that 9-11 - as an inside job - was the pretext that got all this horror started. A whole lot of people need to be arrested and hauled into court for crimes against humanity starting with the Clinton administration and on through the Bush and Obama admins.

 

[Windmill knight]

This is something I mention in tweets and on FB as often as I can fit it in: that if the USA/NATO hadn't destroyed their countries, there would be no refugees. The solution: Stop bombing, start helping, and let people go home. It really is that simple. But for some reason saying that never gets "legs".

This is something that we should start hammering on again and again and reminding people that 9-11 - as an inside job - was the pretext that got all this horror started. A whole lot of people need to be arrested and hauled into court for crimes against humanity starting with the Clinton administration and on through the Bush and Obama admins.

That is confirmed by the UNHCR, who recently reported that thousands of Syrian refugees went back to their homes this year - that is, now that most of the country has been liberated to the government forces. These people were not going to Europe and elsewhere just for fun, they were fleeing from war. Furthermore, none of those returning have a big problem with Assad ruling them, so that brings down the narrative about people running away from the brutal dictator.

But the story doesn't get legs because it interferes with the war agenda. It's similar to what you said somewhere on social media, if the MSM are always looking for something to hit Trump with, why did they totally ignored Seymour Hersh's article on the lies about the chemical weapons?

_http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40460126

Syria war: Almost 500,000 refugees return in 2017 - UN

Almost 500,000 Syrians have returned to their homes this year, the UN says, describing this as a "notable trend".

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says more than 440,000 internally displaced Syrians and about 31,000 of those who fled abroad have now come back.

Most of them have returned to Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus with the aim of checking on their properties and finding out about family members.

But the UNHCR warns the conditions for a safe return "are not yet in place".

Speaking on Friday, UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said his agency was now seeing a "notable trend of spontaneous returns to and within Syria" in 2017.

"Most of these people are returning to check on their properties, to find out about the family members. This is what we know from some of the evidence that we have gathered.

"In some cases they have their own perceptions about the security, whether they are real or perceived improvements in the security situation in the areas where they are going to."

Since 2015, he said, about 260,000 refugees have already returned to Syria, primarily from Turkey.

How Syrian refugees battle against cancer
Syrian Journey: Choose your own escape route
Would you invite a Syrian refugee to live with you?

Based on the latest figures, the UNHCR has started scaling up its operations inside Syria to better address the needs of those returning home, Mr Mahecic said.

But he warned that while there were increased hopes linked to the recent Astana and Geneva peace talks, the UNHCR "believes conditions for refugees to return in safety and dignity are not yet in place in Syria".

Mr Mahecic also said that the number of those who had already come back was a "fraction" of an estimated five million refugees hosted in the region.

Last week, the UNHCR said that about 200,000 people had fled Syria in 2016.

The agency said that since the conflict began in 2011, about 5.5 million people had left the country, and another 6.3 million had been left internally displaced.

More than 300,000 Syrians have lost their lives in the war, which began with anti-government protests.

Why is there a war in Syria?
Syria chemical 'attack': What we know

In other developments on Friday:

The Islamic State militant group (IS) has withdrawn from the last territory it held in Aleppo province as government forces continue their advance, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says, but the claim has not been independently verified

Russia says a report by the OPCW chemical weapons watchdog that the banned nerve agent Sarin was used in Syria in April is based on "doubtful data".

 

[bjorb]

[quote author= Laura]This is something I mention in tweets and on FB as often as I can fit it in: that if the USA/NATO hadn't destroyed their countries, there would be no refugees. The solution: Stop bombing, start helping, and let people go home. It really is that simple. But for some reason saying that never gets "legs". [/quote]

I guess it's easier to hate the refugee than the all-powerful government. Someone needs to be blamed.

As for those who reside on the 'left,' they are way to busy promoting the LGBTQAP-whatever agenda.



[quote author= Laura]This is something that we should start hammering on again and again and reminding people that 9-11 - as an inside job - was the pretext that got all this horror started. [/quote]

If the US wants to stir up another Syria on the European continent. (Referring to the latest session of the C's) If the same happens in Europe as what is currently underway in the Philippines. Where ISIS took a province and a city. I guess it's all over, and history will be bound to repeat itself.

Before that happens, 9/11 truth needs to get out in the open. It may be the only antidote to this whole madness.

No 9/11 Truth means= holocaust 2.0?


- Don't know if anyone ever saw this 9/11 truth fragment below, since it's originally Dutch.

Interview with Controlled Demo Expert, Danny Jowenko, confirming that Building 7 was brought down on purpose. (2:36 min)

https://youtu.be/877gr6xtQIc

 

[Ca.]

Paul Craig Roberts "Putin Is All That Stands In The Way Of Israel Destroying Syria & Iran."
July 7,2017

https://youtu.be/VmtXzq8_WCY

 

[Ca.]

ANNA-News|Фронтовые новости|Сирия|ЛНР|ДНР|
yesterday at 11:00 pm
https://vk.com/anna_news?w=wall-35276355_1295699
Under the hood of the "digital economy"

President Vladimir Putin recently compared the "digital economy" in its significance with the construction of railways (in the XIX century) and with electrification in the first half of the 20th century, and called the task of forming a "digital economy" a matter of national security and state independence. The Russian president proposed appointing those responsible for each direction of development, defining specific targets and terms for solving problems.
Well-known Russian economist Valentin Katasonov is sure that the rush around the "digital economy" in Russia is an ordinary "company", another hobby. Earlier, the theses about the "doubling of the GDP" or the fact that Moscow should be turned into an international financial center also sounded exactly. In 2008, a cry was called for "innovations, investments, institutions and infrastructure." The idea to turn Moscow into an international financial center, then provided a good start to the development of the Russian budget. However, with the "digital economy" is increasingly serious.

"Digital economy" was invented not in Russia, but in the USA. This project was not only supported by "economic futurologists", but also by American special services. Meanwhile, the euphoria on "the digital industry will pull Russia out of the systemic economic crisis" is not well founded. "Digital economy" can really turn out to be a revolution, but only in the sense that it gradually dismantles and liquidates the national state. As the Russian leadership at one time rushed into the arms of the WTO, it is well known. How much stronger is the national economy of Russia? Exactly the same idea consists in joining the global "digital economy".

Meanwhile, within the framework of a single world economy, different countries (more precisely, peoples) are gradually taken under control and transferred to the control of the informal "world government". This, in particular, is the general meaning of globalization. "Digital economy" or a complete replacement of cash by cashless is a phenomenon of the same kind. The commercialization of medicine and education is also taking place in this direction. And where pure commerce begins, the state ends.

In addition, as you know, a person in the "digital economy" will be replaced by a robot. Once in England, "sheep have eaten people", in the long term robots will breed masses of "extra people", although they are still quite enough. What the "digital economy" offers to ordinary people is called about the same as when in ancient Rome they talked to the plebeians. "Bread and circuses," however, what did the Romans finish? They could not survive in another world, when they canceled the spectacles first, and then the distribution of bread.

Similarly, a person at a certain stage of the "digital society" may eventually evolve into a cyborg and then no longer be able to return. Maybe, this is all calculated, because people on the planet, really for someone already too much. And they, what is important, continue to increase in a mathematical progression.

It is no accident that the project of promotion of the "digital economy" is very actively promoted by the convinced liberals. Once it is not possible to change economic laws, it remains to try to change consciousness. Thus, to change the consciousness and quality of "plebeians" is the main task of globalization. A "digital economy" of course will help.

ANNA-News
The main thing for the morning of July 10, 2017
http://anna-news.info/glavnoe-na-utro-10-iyulya-2017-goda/

"The USS Carney destroyer of the Arleigh Burke type entered the Black Sea for maritime security operations and expanded opportunities and interaction with allies and partners in the region," the press service of the Navy's 6th Fleet said.

Syrian government forces regained control over the city of Djibab Hamad. In addition, the Syrian army, with the support of the Russian Air Force, liberated most of the Al-Heil gas field located in the eastern part of Homs province.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated the armed forces of IRAQ on the victory over the "Islamic State" (an organization banned in Russia). He also said that the army of Iraq completely freed Mosul from IGIL.

FRONT
The Syrian army and the Russian Federation Civil Aviation Commission are engaged in landscape design to the east of Homs. (Video)
09/10/07.2017
http://frontinfo.media/sirijskaya-armiya-i-vks-rf-zanimayutsya-landshaftnym-dizajnom-na-vostok-ot-homsa-09-10-07-2017/

Anna Facebook
https://vk.com/anna_news?w=wall-35276355_1295584

On Friday, by decision of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, Major-General Jamil al-Hassan was renewed as the Chief of Intelligence of the Air Force of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Recall, Air Force reconnaissance at the moment is the most powerful of the special services of Damascus.

In addition to its direct task of supplementary reconnaissance of objects and clusters of enemy manpower and equipment, this department performs a wide range of other tasks, such as assisting the regular army and pro-government militias during particularly complex operations, including in the rear of the enemy, the liquidation of influential commanders, N. The "opposition" and the "Islamic State", in which the service especially succeeded in the provinces of Idlib and Deraa, as well as abductions abroad and in the border zone of traitors and deserters from the ranks of the army and air force for the subsequent trial of them.
It is noteworthy that, according to some reports, it was the intelligence agent of the Air Force of the SAR that managed to infiltrate Zahran Allyusha, the leader of the group "Jaysh al-Islam", and give his whereabouts to the directorate of service in Damascus, as a result of which Allyush was killed in an air raid in December 2015 .

The Duran
ISRAEL: The litmus test for the new Russia-US-Jordan ceasefire
9 hours ago
http://theduran.com/israel-litmus-test-new-russia-us-jordan-ceasefire/
Links:

Now that the political dust from the handshake of the century between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump has settled, it is time to turn to the material consequences of the most important tangible item to come out of the meeting: the ceasefire in south western Syria.

Most crucially, this ceasefire covers areas in Quneitra Governorate which covers the Golan Heights. Much of Quneitra has been illegally occupied by Israel since 1967 and in the last weeks it was from the Israeli occupied portion of the territory that numerous illegal airstrikes have been conducted with Israeli weapons aimed at and in most cases hitting Syrian targets.

While grossly under-reported, Vladimir Putin stated that in addition to speaking with Jordanian officials, Russia also was involved in consultations with Israel prior to ‘shopping’ the ceasefire to Donald Trump. This confirms that the ceasefire, much like the Astana Memorandum which covers other parts of Syria, is essentially a Russian authored document.

Russia is in a unique position in the Syrian conflict in that apart from jihadists, it can speak to all parties involved. Unlike Iran, Syria and Iraq (a Syrian ally), Russia can speak to Israel, unlike the United States, Russia can speak with Syria and Iran, unlike Turkey, Russia can speak to the Kurds and unlike Syria and Hezbollah, Russia maintains normal relations with all states in the Persian Gulf and the rest of the increasingly irrelevant Arab League.

This gives Russia a unique advantage in the conflict as a power capable of brokering meaningful deals.

There is every chance that Russia told Israel to cease its acts of aggression against Syria in the Golan Heights and that it would be in Israel’s interest not to undermine a ceasefire which is to be police by the United States, Israel’s most important ally and chief benefactor.

There is also every chance that having heard this from Russia, Israel would continue to act unilaterally in Syria as they have in the past. It’s no secret that Israel not only disregards the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries it does not like as it is true that Israel often acts against the wishes and better judgement of its allies and for lack of a better world, international acquaintances.

However, the fact remains that Israeli strikes on Syria have ceased after unremitting assaults over approximately a two week period. Israeli aggression has ceased at precisely the time during which Russia would have been speaking to Tel Aviv about the ceasefire. This gives one necessarily cautious hope.

Whether this lasts is anyone’s guess but this will be the true sign of whether the ceasefire is effective because this is the ceasefire’s duel purpose.

Whether any of the de-escalation zones in Syria established though May’s Astana Memorandum have been materially effective is up for debate. However, since the signing of the Astana Memorandum the Syrian Arab Army has been making remarkable gains on many fronts against various terrorist groups. Turkey meanwhile in that same period has shifted its political allegiance to Russia in many important respects. Erdogan as much as admitted this when meeting with Putin at the G20. This has happened just as sure as the US has alienated Turkey, perhaps past a point of no return over its support for Kudish insurgents.

Israel, Turkey and the US still are not by any means chasing the same ultimate goals as Russia. Russia’s goals are supportive of Syrian sovereignty and are comparatively limited in terms of wanting anything out of Syria when all is said and done.

Turkey has not ceased its support of jihadists since the Astana Memorandum came into effect although its goals are certainly shifting from backing jihadists to containing Kurds.

The United States likewise is still operating under many of the same policies as in the Obama years, Putin said this directly, but nevertheless Trump’s flexibility vis-a-vis that of Obama gave Putin a cautious measure of hope, he said this directly also.

As for Israel, if Russia is able to force Israel to stand down rather than bomb a region which will soon be patrolled by Russian, American and Jordanian personnel, it meas that however incomplete any deal with countries like the US or Turkey might be, Russia will have secured a real achievement in the interests of peace and sovereignty for the Syrian Arab Republic.

If this comes to fruition, it will be a tremendous material/military achievement for Russia in addition to the geo-political victory it already is.

 

[angelburst29]

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) listed Russian citizen Ruslan Mukhudinov wanted on suspicion of the murder of Boris Nemtsov.

Interpol Lists Russian Politician Nemtsov’s Suspected Killer
http://sputniknews.com/world/20160529/1040434007/interpol-nemtsov-mukhudinov.html

Mukhudinov, 29, is wanted on charges of murder and illegal firearms trafficking, Interpol’s website states.

Nemtsov, who occupied a number of senior positions in the Russian government in the 1990s, and was an active opposition politician in the 2000s, was gunned down in downtown Moscow on February 27, 2015.

Mukhudinov, the alleged mastermind, has been arrested in absentia and is believed to be in the United Arab Emirates. He is among six suspects of playing a role in Nemtsov's murder.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said that Russia had to pay 13,000 euros (roughly $13,843) to Shadid and Anzor Gubashev, two brothers detained on suspicion of involvement in the murder of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov, Gubashev's lawyer said Monday.

ECHR Orders Russia to Recoup Brothers Suspected of Nemtsov's Murder
https://sputniknews.com/russia/201701311050176547-echr-recoup-russia-nemtsov-murder/

According to the lawyers, the ECHR thought that untimely examination of the brothers' appeals was also a violation of their rights.

The court has granted our appeal and ruled to extract 6,500 euros for each Gubashev [brother]. We complained about the detention conditions, the delays of the delivery to the court, poor food, use of handcuffs," Musa Khadisov said.

According to Russian media, in December 2016, another person detained on suspicion of ties to the murder of the politician, Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, signed a 6,000-euro settlement with Russian authorities and agreed to withdraw his complaint on mistreatment in detention from the ECHR.

On February 27, 2015, Nemtsov, who occupied a number of senior positions in the Russian government in the 1990s, and was an active opposition figure in the 2000s, was shot dead in downtown Moscow.

Five persons were detained on suspicion of involvement in the murder, namely Gubashev brothers, Eskerkhanov, Hamzat Bakhayev and Zaur Dadayev. The alleged chief organizer of the murder, Ruslan Mukhudinov, was arrested in absentia.

A court in Moscow has sentenced five Chechen men found guilty of killing prominent Russian politician Boris Nemtsov in early 2015 to 11 to 20 years in prison.

Nemtsov killer sentenced to 20yrs behind bars, accomplices to 11-19yrs
https://www.rt.com/news/396191-nemtsov-killers-sentence-jail/

“Zaur Dadaev was given a 20-year jail sentence and a fine of 100,000 rubles, Anzor Gubashev’s sentence is 19 years in prison and a 100,000-ruble fine, Shadid Gubashev is to serve 16 years behind bars and pay a 100,000-ruble fine, Temirlan Eskerkhanov received a 14-year jail term and a 100,000-ruble fine, and Khamzat Bakhaev was issued an 11-year sentence and a 100,000-ruble fine,” reads the verdict.

The jail sentences will commence from March 2015, when all five were detained.

The convicted will serve their sentences in a maximum security prison. Apart from the jail sentences, all except Dadaev have also been assigned additional punishment of two extra years of restricted freedom after serving their jail terms.

In late June, the jury found that investigators had proved that in late September 2014, the five suspects agreed to kill Nemtsov in exchange for 15 million rubles (currently $US250,000).

All five convicted denied any guilt.

Investigators named the person who ordered the hit and masterminded the murder as Ruslan Mukhudinov. He has been on the international wanted list since November 2015 and is still at large.

No other masterminds have been established yet, according to the Investigative Committee. The collection of evidence against the masterminds of Nemtsov’s murder continues, said Svetlana Petrenko, the spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee.

The jury’s verdict in the case was postponed several times, as a large amount of evidence had to be studied. Two of the jurors were released of their duties.

The passing of the verdict was delayed twice this week because the jury became fatigued while carrying out a final review of the extensive amount of documents in the case.

Boris Nemtsov, a veteran politician and key opposition figure, was shot dead on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, near the Kremlin, in February 2015.

The assassination resulted in a demonstration of thousands in Moscow, demanding the killers be found and brought to justice.

Russian President Vladimir Putin personally promised in a speech that everything would be done to bring those responsible for the killing to justice.

In March 2015, Russian police arrested five suspects, including two suspected hit men. One of them, Zaur Dadaev, had reportedly confessed his involvement in the murder and said it was revenge for Nemtsov’s “negative comments on Muslims and Islam.” However, in subsequent developments, Dadaev insisted on his innocence.

A religious motive, which had been examined during the investigation hasn’t been confirmed, Svetlana Petrenko said, adding the perpetrators were guided by greed.

“The investigation examined the statements by Zaur Dadaev and Anzor Gubashev that they killed Boris Nemtsov out of religious hatred, since the victim had supported the Charlie Hebdo caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, published in January 2015,” she said.

“Gathered evidence fully confirms that the convicted had been driven by greed, i.e. a 15 million-ruble reward,” Petrenko said.

 

[angelburst29]

The World Bank estimated that the devastating war in Syria has cost the country a whopping $226 billion in cumulative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) losses.

World Bank: Syria War Has Cost $226 Billion in GDP Losses
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960420001452

The World Bank’s Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, Hafez Ghanem, said in a statement on Monday that the losses for Syria during the six-year war have been about four times the Syrian GDP in 2010, presstv reported.

Ghanem regretted that the war had inflicted on Syria a dramatic loss of life among civilians. He also said that the fighting had badly destroyed the country’s social and economic system.

"The number of casualties is devastating, but the war is also destroying the institutions and systems that societies need to function, and repairing them will be a greater challenge than rebuilding infrastructure -- a challenge that will only grow as the war continues," Ghanem said, adding, "The war in Syria is tearing apart the social and economic fabric of the country.”

The World Bank said 27 percent of Syria's housing stock and about half the country's medical and educational facilities had been damaged as a result of the war. It said deficiencies in the medical system -- a direct result of damage to the health sector -- had also affected the life of people in Syria, adding that the damage was responsible for more deaths among people than the direct fighting in the war.

The calculations have been based on cross-checked satellite imagery of certain cities and areas while the findings have been extrapolated based on a conflict intensity model.

The World Bank said if the war ended in 2017, Syria’s GDP could rebound by 41 percent of its pre-conflict level within four years. It, however, warned that the figure would shrink for each year if the conflict continued.

"The long-term consequences of this inactivity will be a collective loss of human capital leading to a shortage of skills in Syria," said the financial institution.

"The breakdown of the systems that organize both the economy and society, along with the trust that binds people together, has had a greater economic impact than the destruction of physical infrastructure,” it added.

Syria has been gripped by conflict since March 2011. The government has repeatedly blamed certain foreign countries for the spread of the devastating militancy in the country.

The Syrian Army soldiers stopped and seized four vehicles carrying a large number French missiles en route to the regions in Eastern Ghouta that are under the control of Al-Nusra Front (also known as Fatah al-Sham Front or the Levant Liberation Board).

Damascus: Syrian Army Seizes French-Made Missiles Cargo en Route to Terrorist-Held Regions
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960420000915

The army forces, tipped off by the intelligence agents, stopped four vehicles that were carrying a large volume of arms and ammunition, including French-made missiles.

The vehicles were going through the Southern regions towards the positions of Al-Nusra in Eastern Ghouta that are under the siege of the army troops.

There were a large number of weapons including machineguns, and a large volume of munitions, including thousands of bullets, mortar shells and French missiles in the seized cargo.

In relevant developments but in Homs province in early June, the army troops seized a number of US-made Humvee armored vehicles after capturing an ISIL base in Badiyeh (desert) in Eastern Homs.

The army men were carrying out cleansing operation in the newly-captured regions in Badiyeh when they discovered several High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), commonly known as the Humvee, at the ISIL base.

The Humvee vehicles were equipped with communication devices and a number of bombs.

In the meantime, the army forces seized maquettes of armored vehicles, cannons and missile launchers used by ISIL to fool reconnaissance planes imaging the region.

Hundreds of ISIL militants and their families, mostly foreigners, surrendered to the Iraqi army in Mosul after the organization faced complete defeat in the city.

Hundreds of ISIL Members Including Foreigners Surrender in Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960420001470

Colonel Jassim al-Araji, an official of the Iraqi army’s Rapid Response Forces in Mosul said that a large number of IS militants and their families, who were trapped in a mosque in Mosul’s Old City, surrendered to the Iraqi army, Bas News reported.

He revealed to BasNews that a total of 320 ISIL members, including their families, who were from different foreign and Arab nationalities, were trapped in Shihab mosque in the center of the Old City district.

"All the ISIL militants who have surrendered themselves are from Arab and foreign nationalities, including Russian, French, Syrian, Palestinian, Saudi and others," he said.

The Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced in a statement on Monday evening the completion of the liberation of the city of Mosul.

Due to a series of succesful military campaigns in the capital, recruitment rates have surged for the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) as hundreds of local residents in two newly liberated east Damascus suburbs are signing up for military service.

VIDEO: Residents from former rebel stronghold in Damascus join Syrian Army ranks
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-residents-former-rebel-stronghold-damascus-join-syrian-army-ranks/

On Monday alone, some 50 combat-ready men joined the SAA in the Barzeh district. Some of the conscripts were former militants who had undergone an amnesty deal. In the video, the batch was paraded in front of the camera, holding Syrian flags and appearing for interviews:

This specific unit will now be integrated in the Qalamoun Shield Forces and will participate alongside the SAA in coming battles against the Islamic State. Residents from the Al-Qaboun district are also expected to be drafted into army ranks in the coming weeks.

Although based primarily around the Rif Dimashq governorate, many soldiers serving in the Qalamoun Shield Forces have been deployed to eastern Hama to fight the Islamic State.

Two US Navy reconnaissance planes were spotted flying a few kilometers away from Russia's naval base in Tartus port and the Humeimim airbase in Lattakia province in Eastern Mediterranean Sea, media outlets disclosed on Tuesday.

US Spy Planes Spotted again Flying over Russian Bases in Syrian Waters
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960420001117

The sites that are monitoring flights reported that a RC-135U reconnaissance plane of the US navy took off the airfield at Souda Bay in the Greek Island of Crete and flew for several hours over international waters along Syria's coast in Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The sites also reported that a P-8A Poseidon anti-vessel aircraft took off from the Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily Island and flew for several hours over Syria’s Mediterranean coast, reaching 50km away from Russia’s naval task force in Tartus and their airbase in Humeimim in Lattakia.

Flight monitoring websites reported earlier this month that a US reconnaissance plane was spotted flying over the Russian naval base in Tartus port city, stressing a significant rise in such flights after the White House's recent rhetoric against Damascus.

The monitoring sites reported that a RC-135 U reconnaissance plane of the US army took off from Souda Bay base and flew for a long time over Syria's coasts, reaching 40km away from the Russian naval base in Tartus port city in Lattakia province.

The militants of Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board or the al-Nusra Front) arrested hundreds of ISIL members in Idlib province, while sources in the Al-Qaeda affiliated group said they mean to recruit their ISIL inmates for future operations.

Tahrir Al-Sham Arrests Hundreds of ISIL Members
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960420001441

According to the Syrian Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper, Tahrir al-Sham has detained the ISIL terrorists in Idlib city and the towns of al-Nayrab, Sarmin, al-Dana, Salqayn, Harem, Isqat, Basnia, Qorqania and Hattan.

Tahrir al-Sham forces also detained tens of former Jund al-Aqsa members who had joined the al-Nusra Front after the terrorist group's dissolution, under the pretext of attempts to form secret grouplets.

Several leaders, including ISIL's commander in Northern Idlib Abu Ibrahim al-Araqi, ISIL's ruler in Northern Syria Abu Qa'ta Jonoubi and ISIL Mufti Abu Soda' Mesri, are among those arrested by the Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at.

During the operations, over 123 ISIL security forces, including 5 commanders, were also arrested.

Sources in Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at said the groups plans to recruit the arrested ISIL members after the latter's frequent defeats in Iraq and Syria.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that a Russian military adviser has been killed in an attack staged by militants and targeting the Syrian military in Hama province.

Russian Military Adviser Killed in Militant Attack in Syria
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960421001198

The ministry said Nikolay Afanasov was serving in Syria as a member of the Russian military advisers’ mission and was tasked with training Syrian ground forces, RT reported.

It is not the first time that a Russian officer has been killed in a terrorist attack in the Syrian conflict.

On May 2, another Russian military advisor, identified as Lt. Col. Aleksey Buchelnikov, was fatally shot in a gunbattle with militants in Syria. The unit he was training came under fire from terrorist snipers.

On April 20, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the death of major Sergey Bordov, who was stationed in Syria, advising local army units on how to protect their towns from terrorist attack.

On April 11, it was reported that two Russian military instructors had been killed and one soldier injured as they came under mortar shelling by a group of militants.

Russian strategic bombers conducted strikes on ISIL targets in Syria last Wednesday, using modern X-101 strategic cruise missiles. Several weapon stockpiles and a terrorist command center were destroyed in the strike.

Three military helicopters of the US-led coalition carried out another heliborne operation in Eastern Homs, carrying a number of ISIL terrorists on board, local sources reported on Wednesday.

US-Led Coalition Conducts Heliborne Operation in Eastern Homs, Taking ISIL Members away
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960421000985

The Arabic-language al-Hadath news quoted the sources as saying that a group of ISIL terrorists were transferred by a van from the town of Ayyash in Eastern Deir Ezzur to a ISIL-held desert region in the Eastern direction of the town of al-Sukhnah in Eastern Homs, where three helicopters of the US-led coalition were hovering over the region. One of the helicopters landed but the other two continued to fly over the region.

The sources told al-Hadath that the three helicopters flew towards North and entered Raqqa airspace, adding that there is no information about their exact destination.

The sources further said that the ISIL militants taken away by the American choppers could have been one of the spying groups used by Washington via Jeish Maqavir al-Thowrah militant group to materialize its objectives in the region.

A senior Syrian legislator revealed in early July that the US aircraft were transferring ISIL terrorists from Raqqa province to unknown destinations.

Rare footage has emerged of an air field operated by US warplanes in the Sarrin Plains, located in the far eastern countryside of Aleppo near the provincial border with Raqqa.

Rare photos: Massive US Airbase established in northern Syria (Video)
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/rare-photos-massive-us-airbase-established-northern-syria/

The pictures show a large US plane taking off and plenty of Humvees protecting the site. An American flag is also hoisted above the airport which is located in rearguard territory controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF):

Although not publicly acknowledged by the Pentagon, the US is believed to have constructed upwards of a dozen air fields in northern Syria without the permission of the Syrian Government.

The airstrips are used to conduct airstrikes against the Islamic State but also suggest that American troops intend to stay in the war-torn country for several years to come.

UPDATE: The images were originally released by the BBC in a short newly released documentary which can be found below: (Video)

With huge gains bagged in eastern Sweida on Monday, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) took control of some 20 villages and hills in southern Syria. Upon pushing deep inside rebel interior lines, the SAA discovered what appeared to be a base constructed by American engineers. The outpost bore resemblance to the Al-Tanf military base further east where US special forces are deployed alongside Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters.

VIDEO: Syrian Army captures US military base in southern Syria
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-syrian-army-captures-us-military-base-southern-syria/

With the abandoned US military base, known as the Asfar hill, now under government control, the Syrian flag was hoisted above the facility in a symbolic gesture of victory:

With the FSA virtually expelled from Sweida province, the SAA will look to drive US-backed rebel forces out of the neighboring Rif Dimashq governorate and force them to retreat towards the Al-Tanf military base. Once this goal is achieved, political pressure will be applied to force the US Army to evacuate its final positions in southern Syria.

The Syrian and Russian air forces launched massive strikes on ISIL position and moves in Deir Ezzur, destroying an arms and ammunition depot of the terrorists and killing a number of militants in several sorties.

Syrian, Russian Fighter Jets Blow Up ISIL Ammunition Cache in Deir Ezzur
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960422000209

The airstrikes also targeted ISIL positions in al-Sana'a, al-Arafi and al-Kanamat districts in Deir Ezzur as well as the power company and al-Tharda mountain in the Southern parts of the city.

Also, the ISIL bases near Deir Ezzur airbase, the cemetery and al-Jabileh regions were attacked, resulting in the full destruction of an ammunition cache.

The British government announced that it would not publish in full its report on the sources of "funding" violent groups in Britain, prompting opposition charges it was trying to protect its ally Saudi Arabia.

UK Refuses to Publish Report on Funding Violent Groups
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960422000689

British Home Secretary Amber Rudd said that though some "extremist organizations" were receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars, she had decided against publishing the review in full. "This is because of the volume of personal information it contains and for national security reasons," she said in a written statement to parliament.

The report, commissioned by former Prime Minister David Cameron in November 2015, was handed to the government last year, and ministers have been under pressure to release its findings following three deadly attacks in Britain since March, which have been blamed on violent armed groups.

The review found the most common source of support for these organizations was from small, anonymous donations from people based in Britain, Rudd said. But it also found overseas funding was a significant source of income for a small number of organizations.

"Overseas support has allowed individuals to study at institutions that teach deeply conservative forms of Islam and provide highly socially conservative literature and preachers to the UK's institutions," Rudd's statement said. "Some of these individuals have since become of extremist concern."

Critics were quick to see a cover-up to shield Saudi Arabia, an ally of Britain.

MP Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party who has been pressing the government to release the full report, said the statement from Rudd was unacceptable.

"The statement gives absolutely no clue as to which countries foreign funding for extremism originates from - leaving the government open to further allegations of refusing to expose the role of Saudi Arabian money in terrorism in the UK," she said.

On July 5, a report by the Henry Jackson Society think-tank said Saudis are the leading backers of "extremism" in the UK.

"While entities from across the (Persian) Gulf and Iran have been guilty of advancing extremism, those in Saudi Arabia are undoubtedly at the top of the list," Tom Wilson, a fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said in the report.

According to the report, Saudi Arabia operates several large charities that fund education involved with their ideologies worldwide, including in Britain, spending at least $87bn on the programmes over the past 50 years. Saudi Arabia denounced that report as "categorically false".

After an attack on London Bridge in June, which killed at least seven people, opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also said Britain needed to have "some difficult conversations" with its ally Saudi Arabia and other (Persian) Gulf states.

Media sources reported that Russia has demanded the Kurdish forces to retreat from several regions in Northern Aleppo to prevent Turkey's aggression.

Russia Asks Kurdish Forces to Withdraw from Northern Aleppo to Block Turkey's Attacks
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960422000513

Rudaw news channel reported that a Russian delegation has held a meeting with commanders of the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin city in Northern Aleppo and called on them to withdraw from five towns in the region to remove the threat of Turkey's aggression against Afrin and adjacent rural areas.

The report added that the Russian delegation has demanded the Kurdish forces to withdraw from the towns of Manag, Tal Rifat, Deir Jamal, Sheikh Issa and Harbal and all the villages in al-Shahba region and open the Western Aleppo-Idlib road through al-Ahlam mountain near the town of Basouteh.

Meantime, the Russian delegation has explained to the Kurds that Turkey will set up three military bases in al-Ahlam and Sheikh Barakat mountains overlooking Afrin from the South and Babasqa mountain which overlooks Idlib.

They also asked the Kurds to expel all members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from Afrin and give control of the city to the local council and its security to the local police and popular forces.

A well-informed local source in Northern Aleppo reported early July that thousands of militants affiliated to the Turkish Army are to kick off an imminent large-scale operation codenamed Seif al-Forat (the Euphrates Sword) in Afrin region.

 

[Ca.]

Military Situation In Southeastern Syria On July 14, 2017 (Map Update)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-southeastern-syria-on-july-14-2017-map-update/

Government forces have made notable gains in the southern desert, recapturing Abu Khashbah, al Ghudaht, at Tayyar and Ard Umm ar Rumum and deploying closer to the full encirclement of the area formally controlled by US-backed militants.

Clearing this pocket, the Syrian command is seeking to shorten the frontline in southern Syria in order to free additional forces for operations against ISIS.

This map provides a general look at the military situation in southeastern Syria:

Syrian War Report – July 14, 2017: Race To Deir Ezzor (Video 3:24)
https://southfront.org/syrian-war-report-july-14-2017-race-to-deir-ezzor/

On Thursday, the Syrian Arab Army Tiger Forces and tribal forces, backed up by the Russian Aerospace Forces, have launched a military operation against in the southwestern part of Raqqah province. Initially, pro-government troops advanced south of Resafa and liberated Bir al Zenati, Bir Itaw and Bir Hiwaran villages. On Friday, they captured Ridgem-Abe el-Kalat Hills and deployed in a striking distance from the Dubaysan oil field and the Bir al-Zamlah crossroad.

According to pro-government sources, the ongoing anti-ISIS operation involves about 6,500 fighters from Raqqah tribes loyal to the Syrian government. However, this number cannot be confirmed independently.

When the Tiger Forces and their allies secure the Bir al-Zamlah crossroad, they will have 3 options:

1. To develop momentum southwest of Resafa, capturing oil fields in the area, steadily recapturing the ISIS-held area south of the Ithriyah-Resafa road. The goal of this advance is to secure the western flank of the military grouping that will push to the ISIS-held town of Sukhna from the Resafa direction.

2. To launch a rapid push towards the ISIS-held town of Taybah north of Sukhna. The goal of this move is to increase pressure on ISIS units in the eastern Palmyra countryside and to attempt to isolate Sukhna from the northern and southwestern direction.

3. To push towards Deir Ezzor. This version was widely promoted by some pro-government media. However, if government forces attempt to reach the ISIS-besieged city, their advance may end as the attempt to reach Tabqah from the Ithriyah direction in 2016. In other words, government forces will retreat after a series of flank attacks from ISIS terrorists.

In any case, the government advance in southern Raqqah will also lead to intensification of clashes between the army and terrorists east of Salamiyah. If government forces capture the whole Resafa-Palmyra road, ISIS units remaining west of the road will be cut off from supplies and reinforcements from Deir Ezzor province and the Iraqi border area.
Meanwhile, government forces made notable gains in the southern desert, recapturing Abu Khashbah, al Ghudaht, at Tayyar and Ard Umm ar Rumum and deploying closer to the full encirclement of the area formally controlled by US-backed militants. Clearing this pocket, the Syrian command is seeking to shorten the frontline in southern Syria in order to free additional forces for operations against ISIS.

Next 7-10 days will be very important for the army and show if the Iranian-Syrian-Russian alliance is able to achieve their key goals, including the lifting siege from Deir Ezzor, on the Syrian battleground before US-backed forces capture the city of Raqqah.

Over 100 Iraqi journalists killed, injured while covering Mosul battle: FAJ
Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:42PM
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/07/14/528449/Iraqi-journalists-killed-injured-Mosul-operations-Daesh-Takfiri-militants-children-separated-families-UNICEF
Snip:

The Federation of Arab Journalists (FAJ) has announced that more than 100 Iraqi journalists have lost their lives and sustained injuries while covering fierce battles between Iraqi government forces and Takfiri Daesh terrorists in the run-up to the liberation of the country’s second largest city from the extremists.

The Cairo-based FAJ, in a statement released on Thursday, announced that forty-seven journalists were killed, while fifty-five others were wounded while accompanying security troops during battles in Mosul and reporting on the skirmishes.

Russian, Tajik forces drilling combat readiness
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/07/14/528430/Russia-Tajikistan-drills-Syria
Fri Jul 14, 2017 9:42AM

Russian and Tajikistani militaries have started massive military drills aimed at ensuring their joint combat readiness, as Moscow is reportedly discussing with its allies their potential participation in the fight against terrorism in Syria.

Russia’s TASS news agency reported that more than 3,000 servicemen from the two militaries started the drills in Tajikistan on Friday.

The troops were alerted and deployed to assault courses, where they began exercising firepower and fire control while also practicing cooperation. Eight Russian warplanes — Su-24 bombers and Su-25 fighter jets — have been flown to Tajikistan to participate in the exercises.

“The military of Russia and Tajikistan are participating jointly for the first time in a snap readiness check,” said Colonel Yaroslav Roshchupkin, the assistant commander of Russia’s Central Military District

“The servicemen of the two armies backed by Russian operational-tactical and Army aviation are performing training and combat tasks in line with a single plan in a common operation situation on the mountainous firing grounds of Lyaur and Kharbmaydon,” he added.

In late June, the chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Defense Committee, Col. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, reportedly said that Moscow was in talks with Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan about the potential deployment of forces by those countries to Syria to help with the anti-terrorism campaign in the Arab country.

Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, all Central Asian former Soviet republics, are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russian-led military alliance that also includes Armenia and Belarus.

Russia has been carrying out a bombardment campaign in Syria on a request from Damascus since September 2015.

The United States, too, has been leading dozens of its allies in a bombing campaign in Syria against what it says are Daesh targets in the Arab country since a year earlier. The coalition forces have not obtained permission either from the Syrian government or the United Nations.

Direct talks between Syrian govt., opposition possible (Video/2:07)
Published on Jul 13, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsVNRQ8ahT0

The UN Special Envoy for Syria says he doesn't expect direct talks between the Syrian government and the foreign-backed opposition during the current round of peace negotiations in Geneva. Staffan de Mistura, however, did not rule out the possibility of face-to-face talks before the next round of meetings scheduled for late August

Syria War Update: Thanks to Russian Support Syrian Army is Advancing in Hama Province against ISIS
Jul 12, 2017 (English Subs)

https://youtu.be/zFYoj6yHFmQ

 

[angelburst29]

Despite the spits and spurts of World War Three, it seems the United States (at least part of the establishment) and Russia are beginning to move toward a cooling of their approaches to the Syrian crisis. While we have seen this many times in the past – the apparent mutual understanding of Russia and the U.S. – we have been consistently been rattled by an abrupt push by the United States toward a greater involvement in Syria and a push that could very well be the catalyst for a third world war.

U.S. Bases Strategically Placed to Prevent Syrian Military From Advancing; Outlining Borders of Kurdistan
http://www.globalresearch.ca/u-s-bases-strategically-placed-to-prevent-syrian-military-from-advancing-outlining-borders-of-kurdistan/5599230

While there obviously remains the possibility that the United States will once again lash out like a dying lunatic empire, risking the lives of everyone on earth, we might also ask whether or not the U.S. has had a change in strategy or even perhaps whether or not the American “Plan B” is coming to fruition.

U.S. Bases In Syria Set The Borders For A Federalized Country - The United States is currently, by stealth, setting up a situation in which it is firmly entrenched in its illegal occupation of Syrian territory. The American bases in Syria which have now reached a count of eight, possibly even nine according to some sources, follow along a distinct line of what will be the formation of the borders of a fractured Syria and the creation of a Kurdistan. Combined with Israel’s illegal occupation of the Golan Heights, the United States has set up a number of bases that traverse Kurdish held territory both in the North near Ayn al-Arab (Kobane) and all along the Turkish border as well as throughout the southeast of the country in territory taken by the Syria Democratic Forces, a brigade of fighters made up of Kurdish extremists and Islamic terrorists.

The reason for the U.S. bases is not so much to back up the SDF forces in their military campaigns. After all, the SDF is merely just a hodgepodge of Kurds and Arab terrorists, both of whom are being used and supported by the West to destroy and destabilize Syria. Instead, the United States forces are being strategically placed so as to prevent the SAA from retaking territory in its north and southeastern regions. The U.S. knows that the Syrian military cannot withstand a direct confrontation with the U.S. military and it is becoming abundantly clear that Russia is not willing to risk a direct confrontation with the U.S. over the questions of Syrian border integrity, particularly in the southeastern desert regions. It seem as long as Syria retains a government friendly to Russia and Russian interests, Moscow will be content to see a smaller Syria where a larger one previously existed.

With this in mind, it is easy to see the borders of a Kurdistan slowly coming into view. (Article continues.)

The head of the US ground operation against Daesh terror group is now able to speak with his Russian counterpart through the two nations’ deconfliction line established for Syria, according to US Central Command commander Gen. Joseph Votel.

US, Russian Ground Commanders Now Able to Speak Through Deconfliction Line
https://sputniknews.com/military/201707151055562712-usa-russia-commanders-deconfliction-line/

"The deconfliction line that we have had in place and has become more robust over time, meaning that not only do our air components talk to each other but (Army Lt. Gen. Stephen) Townsend (in charge of the ground war against Daesh) now has the ability to talk to his counterpart," Votel told the Tampa Bay Times.

The largest coalition of militant groups in Southern Syria announced that they have refused to participate in a US-Russia brokered cessation of hostilities stretching across Quneitra, Dara'a and Western Sweida.

Militants in Southern Syria Reject US-Russia Brokered Ceasefire Deal
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960423000616

Releasing a long statement on the matter, the ‘Death over Humiliation’ operations room that was formed in February to unite Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board or the al-Nusra Front) and Free Syrian Army (FSA) terrorist groups under one fighting force, stated it would not adhere to the ceasefire, rendering it useless: (Copy of statement.)

Thus, clashes between militants and the Syrian army resumed across all the three provinces in Southern Syria on Friday with both sides exchanging artillery fire.

Effectively, the ceasefire held for less than one week.

The Russian army dispatched a large number of its forces and military equipment to Syria to participate in the anti-ISIL operations in Eastern Hama.

Russia Sends Military Vehicles, Soldiers for Anti-ISIL Mission in Hama Province
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960422000537

According to reports, armored personnel carriers and Russian troops have been sent to Hama battlefield as the Syrian army troops are trying to oust ISIL militants from Eastern Salamiyah.

According to AMN, the Russian special forces operate alongside the Syrian soldiers in the fight against the ISIL, as Moscow forces serve as battlefield advisors and in combat support roles ranging from tactical reconnaissance, sniper cover, forward air control and anti-tank over-watch.

Armed Toyota picks, trucks and buses full of infantry, lorries carrying supplies and trucks towing light field howitzers have been sent to Eastern Hama. The entire convoy offers a detailed cross-section of the forces which have now been deployed against the ISIL.

Meantime, the Syrian army forces launched fierce attacks on ISIL positions inside the Qaleb al-Thawr city in Eastern Hama and regained control of a big part of the city after hours of heavy clashes.

 

[angelburst29]

I wonder, if the April 4th bombing of a ‘rebel’ warehouse, in which Assad was blamed for unleashing Sarin gas ... might have been "a large cache of misplaced and mislabeled inventories of Sarin gas egregious missing from Dugway? And the April 7th missile-bombing of one of Assad’s military airports in ‘retaliation’, as supposed ‘punishment’ was because "the bombs that struck the warehouse - wiped out the Pentagon's main supply"? So now, the U.S. has resorted to using White Phosphorous?

A new internal US Army investigation found that the most deadly chemical and biological agents known to man were improperly handled and tracked at the Army’s Dugway Proving Ground.

Sarin Unaccounted For At U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-10/sarin-unaccounted-us-armys-dugway-proving-ground

July 11, 2017 - Dugway was the focus of international headlines in a 2015 investigation which found that “egregious safety failures” over the period of a decade resulted in the shipping of live anthrax spores to 194 laboratories located in 50 states and nine foreign countries via commercial shipping companies like FedEx. At the time of the 2015 scandal, over two dozen personnel at Dugway were treated for potential anthrax exposure, and an Army review board disciplined ten civilian and military overseers, which included “career-killing” reprimands of the base commander, Brig. Gen. William King.

As reported by the Army Times, the latest investigation conducted by the DoD Inspector General (IG), specifically identified failed protocols and oversight while tracking inventories of sarin nerve agent. Sarin is deadly in extremely small amounts and even at low concentrations. Dugway also handles and tests other well-known nerve agents like VX. The Pentagon has described facilities like Dugway as ground zero for the “high-risk, zero-defects world of biological select agents program.”

The Salt Lake City facility has been rife with accidents and failures in protocol over recent years. A 2011 incident involving a misplaced vial of less than 1 milliliter of VX (or less than a quarter-teaspoon) sent the 800,000 acre base into complete lockdown. The crisis was resolved when the VX vial was found to have been mislabeled.

The new 2017 report entitled, The Army Needs to Improve Controls Over Chemical Surety Materials, included specifics on the alarming recent case which involved missing sarin. According to the Army Times:

Additionally, Dugway officials did not “immediately notify the chemical materials accountability officer” of a 1.5 milliliter shortage of sarin discovered during an April 19, 2016, inventory. That amount is enough to cause death within minutes, according to the CDC.

The report further identified routine use of insufficient containers for deadly agents, primarily by contractors, which contradicts Army protocol for storage and handling. Tracking chain of custody is essential in accounting for theft, leaks, or natural evaporation, but one authorized contractor was found to be using plastic containers with resealable tape instead of the standard stainless steel cylinders with tamper-resistant seals. According to the IG report, this “provides no assurance that only authorized personnel had access to chemical surety materials.” The report concludes of chain of custody protocols that,

By not fully implementing the Army’s accountability controls and not having adequate oversight and guidance, the Army is at increased risk that chemical surety materials are not properly stored and accounted for at Dugway and the contractor.

Looming in the background is the 2001 anthrax bio-terror attack, which began a mere seven days after 9/11. In the ensuing months a total of five people died after exposure to anthrax spores which had been mailed to US media and Senate offices. The FBI systematically focused its field investigation on US military labs because of the likelihood that such an advanced bio-weapon could only be procured in a government lab.

The eight-year final FBI investigation implicated Army scientist Bruce E. Ivins who worked at the Fort Detrick bio-defense lab in Maryland (he committed suicide in 2008). But subsequent studies, including a 2011 study produced by the National Academy of Sciences and a 2014 investigation by the Government Accountability Office cast severe doubts on the FBI’s findings, and culpability has remained the subject of debate and scrutiny.

Disturbingly, the string of mishaps and carelessness which saw live anthrax mailed by FedEx all across the country and other parts of the world (even reaching South Korea and Australia) which marked Dugway’s prior scandal occurred significantly after the 2001 attacks. The fact that the DoD’s new report still finds continuing significant problems at Dugway involving nearly indetectable lethal chemical and biological agents going unaccounted for
should be cause for growing alarm, but the latest findings have still gone largely unreported in national media.


U.S. Bombs With White Phosphorous While Blaming Assad For Using ‘Sarin’ By Eric ZUESSE 14.07.2017
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/07/14/us-bombs-with-white-phosphorous-while-blaming-assad-for-using-sarin.html

On June 14th, Human Rights Watch headlined “Danger From US White Phosphorous”, and linked to far more evidence of America’s fire bombings in Syria and Iraq, than had ever been presented regarding the alleged-by-America April 4th sarin gas event that allegedly resulted in Syria from one of Assad’s bombs on that day having hit a ‘rebel’ warehouse that might have had sarin in it — a mistake if it had even happened as America charged it happened. America then on April 7th missile-bombed in ‘retaliation’ one of Assad’s military airports, a supposed ‘punishment’, which was praised by U.S. ’news’ media for that additional U.S. invasion of Syria’s sovereign territory, where the U.S. is an occupier and an enemy-invader instead of any legal participant in the war there. (Russia and Syria urged an independent investigation to determine what had actually happened on April 4th; it was “blocked by Western delegations without any explanations.”)

Will Assad (or Russia, perhaps) now respond as Trump did: bomb one of America’s military airports, in order to retaliate against what can only be called this additional illegal invasion of Syria by the U.S. and by its jihadist allies (the foreign jihadists who had been brought in by the Sauds, Qataris, and America’s other allies trying to overthrow Syria’s government), and now by America’s fire bombings there?

Why not? Is it because Syria’s government isn’t as barbaric, nor as hypocritical, as is America’s government (which constantly condemns Assad as ‘brutal’, for less)?

Usage by America of white phosphorous firebombs, and even of carcinogenic depleted uranium munitions, against populated areas, is almost routine. As I had documented on 3 February 2015, “Brookings Wants More Villages Firebombed In Ukraine’s ‘Anti Terrorist Operation’”, the Brookings Institution had wanted the Obama Administration to increase military assistance to the racist-fascist regime that the Obama Administration had imposed upon Ukrainians in the wake of the Obama regime’s February 2014 coup overthrowing the democratically elected Ukrainian President for whom 90% of the residents in this far-eastern part of Ukraine had voted — fire bombed them in order to get rid of the people there, who had voted 90% for the man whom Obama’s people had overthrown. And Brookings wanted even more of them fire bombed to death by the U.S.-installed fascist regime’s white phosphorous bombs.

But, this time, it’s America’s own firebombing (and depleted-uranium bombing) of Raqqa, and of Mosul — not by a U.S.-installed Ukrainian junta — and also not the merely alleged usage, by the Syrian government, of sarin; but the U.S. even admits to having done it. However, unlike the alleged sarin attack, these fire bombings and nuclear contaminations by the U.S., in both Iraq and Syria, receive very little attention in the Western press.

Here’s a video of that firebombing in Mosul Iraq on June 3rd:

https://twitter.com/FazelHawramy/status/871331640630530050

The other examples are in Raqqa Syria. Here’s one of the Syria videos from June 8th:

https://twitter.com/Raqqa_SL/status/872911900727808000

Here’s another:

https://www.facebook.com/Raqqa.Sl/videos/1576588162352429/

Here’s another, the next day:

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-us-warplanes-bomb-isis-neighborhoods-raqqa-illegal-incendiary-airstrikes/

But, is the U.S., this time, condemning the usage of illegal weapons, and at the same time prohibiting any independent analysis of the video evidence there, such as happened when the U.S. was accusing Bashar al-Assad of using “barrel-bombs” and ‘sarin’? No. Instead, the U.S. is simply prohibiting any follow-up investigation at all of the evidence, even though the U.S. itself presumably (once ISIS is completely defeated there) will be able to control the area and to allow in investigators to examine what remains after those fires, and to have independent investigators determine whom is responsible for these fire bombings — which the U.S. government would be roundly condemning if only the white-phosphous bombing had been perpetrated by the sovereign government there, instead of by the invading American government.

When America invades and commits war-crimes, it’s supposed to be ‘okay’.

The meeting between Trump and Putin at the G20 in Hamburg injects new hope into the complicated relationship between the United States and Russia. Only time can confirm whether there is any basis for this hope.

The US Deep State: Sabotaging Putin-Trump Ceasefire Agreement in Syria By Federico PIERACCINI 16.07.2017
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/07/16/us-deep-state-sabotaging-putin-trump-ceasefire-agreement-in-syria.html

The most eagerly anticipated meeting of the year, that between Putin and Trump, lasted far more than the scheduled 20 minutes, extending past two hours. This is not too much of a surprise given the points of friction that needed to be discussed, the many outstanding issues in international relations, and the fact that this was the first official meeting between the two world leaders. The results achieved exceeded initial ambitions, and the personal chemistry between Putin and Trump seems to have been sufficient to reach an important agreement in Syria as well as to conduct discussions surrounding cyber security. Trump even asked Putin about the alleged Russian hacking in the US presidential election as a way of appeasing detractors back home. The statements of both presidents following their meeting underlined their positive intentions. Putin called Trump a very different person from the one portrayed in the media, mentioning that he was reflective and very attentive to details. Trump, for his part, praised the meeting with Putin, stating the importance of dialogue between nuclear-armed superpowers.

The most important agreement concerned a ceasefire in southern Syria along the border with Israel and Jordan. This is a very active area of fighting, and so the ceasefire obviates the possibility of dangerous confrontations between the United States and Russia, as well as between Syria and Israel, which could escalate out of control as seen when the US Air Force shot down a Syrian Su-22 jet as well an Iranian drone. Israel, from its position in the occupied Golan Heights, has repeatedly struck the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), in a desperate effort to halt its gains against al Qaeda and Daesh terrorists.

In their first meeting, within less than two hours, Putin and Trump came to an agreement on potentially the most volatile situation in the region, saving hundreds of civilian lives in the process. The agreement on Syria now has to run the gauntlet of the deep state and all the other interests arrayed against Trump. Just four days following a similar agreement reached in 2016 between Obama and Putin, everything was upended by the US Air Force bombing and killing nearly a hundred soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army in Deir ez-Zor, shredding the ceasefire agreement that had just been reached.

Trump is dealing with the same occult forces that sabotaged Obama’s ceasefire agreement. It is impossible to know how much strategic support the US deep state has for the ceasefire decision. Ever since the SAA reached the Iraqi border north of al-Tanf, the space available for the US and her allies to maneuver has been dramatically diminished. With al-Tanf isolated, Washington's ceasefire does not change or shift the already heavily altered balance of power in that area of Syria. For all these reasons, the ceasefire does not appear to be a concession by either party but merely a commonsense move to lessen the possibility of a direct confrontation between super-powers.

The military apparatus seems to be focused on the situation in northern Syria, with Raqqa and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) being the central pivot for the US to reach Deir ez-Zor and its associated oilfields. The US State Department, as well as the US military wing involved in Syria, hope to balkanize Syria, dismembering it in different regions and putting Raqqa under the control of a puppet authority in Damascus. However, such American hopes of imposing a Brennan-style governorate as in Iraq is forlorn, as Damascus is the only authority recognized on Syrian territory, and once Raqqa is filled with returning Syrian citizens, such American plans will fall apart. Moreover, the Baghdad authorities have already made clear on two occasions how reluctant they are to support Americans in their military operations. In the case of Mosul, they reiterated that the US deployment and involvement be minimal, while the Iraqi authorities have already announced that they want to place under their full control their border with Syria, in effect hobbling Washington’s plan to leave chaos and instability along the borders of the two countries. The US deep state finds in chaos the ideal way to channel conflict and foment instability. One of the most important objectives of the Syrian and Iraqi armies is therefore to isolate the borders and control the flow of human traffic from one country to the other, nixing in the process what has hitherto been a strategic advantage for Daesh and other terrorist organizations, where they have been free to cross borders with weapons and whatever else they please. (Article continues.)

 

[Ant22]

The meeting between Trump and Putin at the G20 in Hamburg injects new hope into the complicated relationship between the United States and Russia. Only time can confirm whether there is any basis for this hope.

The US Deep State: Sabotaging Putin-Trump Ceasefire Agreement in Syria By Federico PIERACCINI 16.07.2017
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/07/16/us-deep-state-sabotaging-putin-trump-ceasefire-agreement-in-syria.html

The most eagerly anticipated meeting of the year, that between Putin and Trump, lasted far more than the scheduled 20 minutes, extending past two hours. This is not too much of a surprise given the points of friction that needed to be discussed, the many outstanding issues in international relations, and the fact that this was the first official meeting between the two world leaders. The results achieved exceeded initial ambitions, and the personal chemistry between Putin and Trump seems to have been sufficient to reach an important agreement in Syria as well as to conduct discussions surrounding cyber security. Trump even asked Putin about the alleged Russian hacking in the US presidential election as a way of appeasing detractors back home. The statements of both presidents following their meeting underlined their positive intentions. Putin called Trump a very different person from the one portrayed in the media, mentioning that he was reflective and very attentive to details. Trump, for his part, praised the meeting with Putin, stating the importance of dialogue between nuclear-armed superpowers.

The most important agreement concerned a ceasefire in southern Syria along the border with Israel and Jordan. This is a very active area of fighting, and so the ceasefire obviates the possibility of dangerous confrontations between the United States and Russia, as well as between Syria and Israel, which could escalate out of control as seen when the US Air Force shot down a Syrian Su-22 jet as well an Iranian drone. Israel, from its position in the occupied Golan Heights, has repeatedly struck the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), in a desperate effort to halt its gains against al Qaeda and Daesh terrorists.

In their first meeting, within less than two hours, Putin and Trump came to an agreement on potentially the most volatile situation in the region, saving hundreds of civilian lives in the process. The agreement on Syria now has to run the gauntlet of the deep state and all the other interests arrayed against Trump. Just four days following a similar agreement reached in 2016 between Obama and Putin, everything was upended by the US Air Force bombing and killing nearly a hundred soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army in Deir ez-Zor, shredding the ceasefire agreement that had just been reached.

Trump is dealing with the same occult forces that sabotaged Obama’s ceasefire agreement. It is impossible to know how much strategic support the US deep state has for the ceasefire decision. Ever since the SAA reached the Iraqi border north of al-Tanf, the space available for the US and her allies to maneuver has been dramatically diminished. With al-Tanf isolated, Washington's ceasefire does not change or shift the already heavily altered balance of power in that area of Syria. For all these reasons, the ceasefire does not appear to be a concession by either party but merely a commonsense move to lessen the possibility of a direct confrontation between super-powers.

The military apparatus seems to be focused on the situation in northern Syria, with Raqqa and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) being the central pivot for the US to reach Deir ez-Zor and its associated oilfields. The US State Department, as well as the US military wing involved in Syria, hope to balkanize Syria, dismembering it in different regions and putting Raqqa under the control of a puppet authority in Damascus. However, such American hopes of imposing a Brennan-style governorate as in Iraq is forlorn, as Damascus is the only authority recognized on Syrian territory, and once Raqqa is filled with returning Syrian citizens, such American plans will fall apart. Moreover, the Baghdad authorities have already made clear on two occasions how reluctant they are to support Americans in their military operations. In the case of Mosul, they reiterated that the US deployment and involvement be minimal, while the Iraqi authorities have already announced that they want to place under their full control their border with Syria, in effect hobbling Washington’s plan to leave chaos and instability along the borders of the two countries. The US deep state finds in chaos the ideal way to channel conflict and foment instability. One of the most important objectives of the Syrian and Iraqi armies is therefore to isolate the borders and control the flow of human traffic from one country to the other, nixing in the process what has hitherto been a strategic advantage for Daesh and other terrorist organizations, where they have been free to cross borders with weapons and whatever else they please. (Article continues.)

Israel rejects US-brokered ceasefire in Syria:

http://thehill.com/policy/international/342246-israel-rejects-us-brokered-ceasefire-in-syria

Israel reportedly opposes the ceasefire agreement in part of Syria negotiated by Russia and the U.S.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron during a meeting Sunday that Israel does not support the agreement, Haaretz reported.

Israel rejects the plan because it "perpetuates the Iranian presence," according to Haaretz.

The ceasefire was brokered during the G-20 summit in Germany earlier this month.

It is aimed at bringing relief to the southwestern part of Syria.
Russia and the U.S. have previously brokered ceasefires for Syria, which has been embroiled in civil war since 2011.

Last weekend, President Trump touted the ceasefire.

"Syrian ceasefire seems to be holding," Trump tweeted. "Many lives can be saved. Came out of meeting. Good!"

 

[angelburst29]

The Golan Heights has been one of the major hotspots in Syria throughout the country's civil war. A Sputnik correspondent witnessed the humanitarian aid being distributed in the Jiba settlement, located in the Quneitra province in the Golans.

Unique Report From Syrian Golan Heights Included in US-Russia Brokered Safe Zone
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201707191055686805-syrian-golan-heights-ceasefire-russia-us-truce/

It was the first humanitarian operation carried out in the village after Quneitra was included in the south-western safe zone regardless of the terrorists being deployed 1.2 miles away from Jiba.

Hoping for the Better - Syria's border with Israel is 40 minutes away from Damascus by car. Jiba the second further settlement from the Israeli-controlled territory outpost of the Syrian army in the Golan Heights; Isra located the closest.

Jiba is among a dozen other villages which have recently joined the southwestern de-escalation zone. Just 10 days ago, fighting in the village was underway, but since Russia and the United States agreed on introduction of a ceasefire regime in Amman on July 7, there is now hope for a peaceful life for thousands of Syrian citizens.

Quneitra used to host Syria’s elite forces that were getting ready for a possible Israeli intervention, the Sputnik correspondent was told.

First Impression - Today marks the first time for months that Jiba’s citizens have gathered in the settlement’s center to receive humanitarian aid.
The Russian reconciliation center along with the Syrian troops delivered food and essential goods for 500 families.

While children living in the settlement expressed the most obvious expressions of gratitude, its residents were hospitable toward the troops who delivered the aid, calling them guests.

While the humanitarian assistance was being distributed, Russian and Syrian experts arranged a temporary site for medical treatment in a nearby building.

Front Line - After the humanitarian mission was over, two Russian officers, accompanied by the Syrian servicemen, went to the front line to assess the situation at the safe zone's border. A senior officer met the delegation as it was leaving the settlement.

"Now everything is quiet, there is the furthest point [we control] some hundreds meters in front. A militants-controlled settlement follows. There is no communication between us, there are three roads and all of them are blocked. We have left only one small path for the militants, who want to lay down their weapons," a senior Syrian officer said, as they accompanied the Russian officers to the border.

For the most part, the region was shrouded in silence for over a week. However, servicemen acknowledged that militants had initiated several provocations during the week and started firing against government forces.

Pro-Damascus forces continue conducting negotiations with the leaders of armed groups, calling on them to lay down their arms and return to their peaceful lives. Civilians and authorities believe that the political way out of the crisis is possible and the bloodshed is about to end.

The United States and Russia are currently discussing the second ceasefire agreement in Syria, US President Donald Trump said in joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.

US, Russia Working on Second Ceasefire Agreement in Syria - Trump
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201707131055521666-syria-ceasefire-trump-russia-us/

"By having some communication and dialogue [with Russia] we were able to have a ceasefire and it’s going to go on very well. Frankly, we are working on a second ceasefire in a very rough part of Syria," Trump told reporters.

"And if we get that we going to have no bullets being fired in Syria."

A well-informed source said a second ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia may come into force in Eastern Damascus and Homs in mid August before Astana talks on the Syrian crisis.

Russia, US May Announce Second Ceasefire Deal in Syria's Homs, Damascus Provinces
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960428000502

The Arabic-language desk of Sputnik quoted the source as saying that Moscow and Washington will possibly announce the second ceasefire deal in mid August that will include Eastern Ghouta and Homs. "It will be announced soon, before the next international meeting on Syria in Astana (in late August), around August 14 or 15," the source said.

"There will be expert consultations between the Russians and Americans in one of the European capitals first. The ceasefire will probably cover Homs, and maybe Eastern Ghouta," the source added.

Russian senators ratified on Wednesday a protocol to an agreement with Syria on the deployment of the Russian Armed Forces aviation group in the Arab Republic.

Russian Senators Ratify Agreement on Air Forces Deployment in Syria
https://sputniknews.com/world/201707191055674447-russia-stateduma-syria-ratification/

The Council of the Federation endorsed the protocol after the lower house, the State Duma, ratified it last Friday.

The protocol regulates Russia’s aviation group deployment in Syria, its movable and immovable assets in the country and matters connected to its counterterrorist operation, according to the Kremlin press service.

A two-year intergovernmental agreement on the deployment of the Russian aviation in Syria grants diplomatic-level immunity and no border checks for Russian military personnel in Syria.

A senior Russian parliamentarian said the ceasefire agreement in Southern Syria reached by Moscow and Washington will not be revoked because Israel fears.

Russian Official Fires back at Israel’s Disapproval of Syrian Ceasefire
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960427000821

Israel’s motives are not concealed: it fears the strengthening of Iran’s position in the region, and also, it appears, limited possibilities for Tel Aviv itself to act against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad," the chairman of the Federation Council’s committee for international affairs Konstantin Kosachev said, Al Masdar reported.

"However, nobody will be revoking such an important document that gives hopes for a breakthrough in the Syrian situation only because of Israel’s guesses about Iran’s hypothetical intentions,” He said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Tel Aviv categorically opposes the ceasefire agreement reached by the US and Russia as it will give an opportunity for Iran to expand its presence in the region,

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said later that the interests of Israel’s security were fully taken into account.

Media reports said that tens of Ankara-backed militants and five Turkish soldiers were killed in their failed attack on the positions of the Kurdish fighters in Northern Aleppo.

Syria: More Turkish Soldiers, Ankara-Backed Militants Killed in Clashes with Kurdish Fighters
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960427001564

The Kurdish-language Hawar news reported that almost 30 fighters of the militant groups affiliated to the Turkish army were killed in their attacks on the Kurdish fighters' positions in the village of Ein Daqneh in Northern Aleppo.

Hawar news further said that five Turkish soldiers were among the killed militants, adding that bodies of the killed Turkish soldiers are in a region that is controlled by the Kurdish fighters.

Relevant reports said on Monday that the Ankara-backed militants' mortar and missile units opened heavy fire at the positions of the Kurdish combatants in the village of Ein Daqnah in Shahba region.

The Kurdish fighters' artillery and missile units further carried out retaliatory attacks and pounded the militants' strongholds in the town of Azaz and several villages near the town.

According to field reports, the militants managed to prevail over the Kurdish forces' defense lines and captured one of their positions.

In a latest display of Turkish anger at US policy in Syria, the state news agency divulged the locations of 10 US military bases and outposts in Northern Syria where Washington is leading military operations against the ISIL group in its de facto capital of Raqqa.

Turkey Leaks Secret Locations of US Troops in Syria as Tensions Rise Between Ankara, Washington
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960428000968

Two US bases in Syria that are in Rmeilan in Northern Hasaka and in Kharab Ishq, near Kobani in Aleppo province already were well-known before the Anadolu news agency released their locations.

Anadolu said Rmeilan, in Syria’s oil-producing district, was set up in November 2016, and is big enough to handle transport aircraft, while the base South of Kobani, set up in March 2016, is used only by military helicopters.

The report disclosed that eight outposts, often hidden behind signs warning of a “prohibited area,” are being used both for active military operations, such as shelling into the city of Raqqa, and for desk jobs such as training and operational planning.

It claimed bases used for military operations house artillery batteries with high maneuverability, multi-barrel rocket launchers, various mobile equipment for intelligence, and armored vehicles for general patrols and security.

According to Turkish security officials in Hasaka province, the US has three outposts, all used to train Kurdish forces, as Anadolu even gave the number of US Special Forces troops it believed were stationed at two of the three outposts.

According to Anadolu, there are three US military outposts in Syria’s Raqqa province. French special forces troops are stationed at two of them. One of the locations serves as a communication center for the International Coalition fighting ISIL and is also used to disrupt group's communications.

In Manbij, which the Kurdish fighters captured last August, the US now has two outposts. The US sends out patrols, the agency noted acerbically, to protect the Kurds from militants operating out of the Turkish controlled part of Syria known as the Jarabulus pocket.

Turkish security officials confirmed the accuracy of the Anadolu list to The Daily Beast.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared at the end of G20 summit in German city of Hamburg that Ankara will respond decisively to any threats on its borders, warning against any push by the Kurds to secure their own independent region.

Earlier, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had announced that Washington will continue to provide weapons to Syrian Kurdish fighters after the battle to oust Daesh militants from Raqqa is over.

Mattis' comments came after Turkish officials disclosed that US Defense Secretary has reassured them by letter that arms given to the Syrian Kurds would be taken back and that Washington would provide Ankara with a regular list of arms give to the fighters.

In May, US President Donald Trump had approved arming of Kurdish militiamen in Syria with heavy armament, including mortars and machine guns, ahead of an attempt to drive ISIL from Raqqa.

The Russian military forces deployed to the Southern territories of Syria to observe implementation of de-escalation zones agreement, a military source confirmed.

Russian Forces Deploy to Southern Syria to Monitor Ceasefire
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960428000365

The source reported that the Russian military has deployed to Dara’a province to begin their indefinite operation to monitor the ceasefire in Southern Syria.

The Syrian army also continued its advances in other key provinces across Syria.

Dara'a - The Russian military will be specifically headquartered in the town of Izra’a, as they serve as the primary force observing truce in de-escalation zones in the Southern part of Syria, the military source said.

A ceasefire came into force in Southwest Syria -- in the provinces of Dara'a, Sweida and Quneitra in the Southwest, along the Jordanian border -- in July 9 after a deal was brokered by the US and Russia on the sidelines of G-20 summit in the German city of Hamburg.

Media reports said that hundreds of families have returned to their regions in Northern Hama following the clean up operation of the Syrian Army's engineering units in the region.

Syrian Army Restores Sustainable Security to Northern Hama, Civilians Returning Home
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960428000671

The Syrian state news agency reported that hundreds of families that had fled their homes for fear of terrorists' threats have returned to the villages and towns of Souran, Taybat al-Imam, Ma'ardes, Kawkab and Ma'aden in Northern Homs.

The agency said that the engineering units have defused bombs and landmines planted by the terrorist groups in the region.

Local sources confirmed that a large number of ISIL terrorist group's commanders have started fleeing towns in Eastern Deir Ezzur following the recent advances of the Syrian Army troops in Eastern Homs and Southern Raqqa towards Deir Ezzur.

ISIL Commanders Fleeing Deir Ezzur Following Syrian Army's Recent Rapid Advances in Region
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960428000797

The sources said that a large number of ISIL field commanders have fled the town of al-Mayadeen and its surroundings in Southeastern Deir Ezzur after the army troops in Raqqa and Homs deserts managed to advance against terrorists.

The sources further added that ISIL Commander in the town of al-Ashareh Northeast of al-Mayadeen Barakat Motaleb nom de guerre Qasoureh al-Ashari has fled the battlefield.

Relevant reports said on Tuesday that the army troops and Air Force intensified anti-ISIL operation in Deir Ezzur and managed to destroy a long tunnel and a command center, inflicting major losses on the militants.

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board of the Al-Nusra Front) engaged in fierce clashes with Ahrar al-Sham rival terrorist group in several regions in Southern Idlib and managed to take control of several positions.

Infighting Continues Among Al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham in Syria's Idlib
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960428000846

A fresh round of heavy infighting erupted between Tahrir al-Shan and Ahrar al-Sham in the villages and towns of Iblin, Haas, Kansafreh, Hazarin, Kafr Nabal, Kafruma and Idlib, leaving several militants dead or wounded. A number of militants from both sides were captured too.

Field sources reported that Tahrir al-Sham took control of Ahrar al-Sham's checkpoint along Hawarin-Kafr Nabal road, the town of Hazarin and another checkpoint at the Western entrance of the town of Kafruma in Southern Idlib.

The sources said that Ahrar al-Sham dispatched more forces and equipment to the town of Hazarin in Idlib's countryside to attack the positions of Tahrir al-Sham.

Also, Tahrir al-Sham sent a large volume of military hardware to the villages of Jabal (mount) al-Zaweiyeh.

Based on the field reports Tahrir al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham have engaged in heavy fighting in the villages of Jabal al-Zawiyeh up to the village of Haas.

The Syrian Army troop and the Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, backed up by the Russian Air Force, are to kick off a fresh round of operations against ISIL and Al-Nusra Front (also known as Fatah al-Sham Front or the Levant Liberation Board) at border with Lebanon, Arab media reports said.

Russian, Syrian, Hezbollah Forces to Launch Joint Anti-Terrorism Operation at Border with Lebanon
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960428000949

The Arabic-language al-Hadath news reported that the tactical plans have been prepared for military operation against ISIL and Al-Nusra Front in Jaroud mountain and the Syrian soldiers and Hezbollah fighters, equipped by modern Russian weapons, will start imminently their operation against terrorists.

In the meantime, the Russian Air Force will support the Syrian soldiers and Hezbollah with surveillance and combat missions in the operation.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army has embarked on reinvigorating its positions at the borders with Syria to defend border villages against possible revenge attacks of the terrorists and block their flow into Lebanese territories while fleeing the battlefields in Syria.

France’s military chief resigned on Wednesday following a public dispute with President Emmanuel Macron over the government’s proposed defense budget cuts.

French Army Chief Resigns over Dispute with President
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960428001509

In a statement, 60 year-old Pierre de Villiers said he had tried to keep the armed forces fit for an ever more difficult task within the financial constraints imposed on it, but was no longer able to sustain that, Reuters reported.

"In the current circumstances I see myself as no longer able to guarantee the robust defense force I believe is necessary to guarantee the protection of France and the French people, today and tomorrow, and to sustain the aims of our country," he added.

A military source announced that Macron moved quickly to replace de Villiers, appointing General Francois Lecointre, 55, to fill the role.

The departure of France's most senior soldier also highlighted the stresses of a major military power as it battles insurgencies in Africa, partners with allies in Middle East conflicts, and patrols the streets at home in response to a series of attacks on French soil.

A disagreement between the army chief and French President started last week when the government revealed the details of a plan to make 850-million-euro cuts to the 2017 military spending.

The government announced that the move was aimed at bringing France’s deficit to below the European Union’s limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The general protested the plan the following day at the president’s own council of defense and the parliament’s defense commission.

 

[angelburst29]

The Washington Post has reported that US President Donald Trump is going to end the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) controversial program of arming and training of US-friendly Syrian rebels who oppose the Russian-backed Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad. But is it fake news?

‘Putin Won in Syria’: Will Trump Withdraw US Support for Anti-Assad Rebels?
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201707191055701504-trump-may-withdraw-rebel-support/

The Post spoke to anonymous officials who claimed that Trump is ending the program both because it has proven to be ineffective and to improve relations with Moscow, which has frequently called on the US to withdraw their support for the rebels.

The officials claimed that Trump made the decision during a meeting with CIA Director Mike Pompeo and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, as part of preparations for his much-anticipated July 7 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

One major consequence of that meeting was the establishment of a ceasefire and a safety zone in southwestern Syria. The Post's sources said that the cessation of arming Syrian rebel groups was not part of the ceasefire negotiations, as that process had already begun.

Trump and Putin have had a touch-and-go relationship in the six months since the former took office, mostly predicated on incidents that occurred in Syria. In April, the United States struck a Syrian government Air Force base in Shayrat, their first and only direct attack against Assad. In June, the Americans shot down a Syrian government fighter jet that was buzzing an SDF position. Russia expressed outrage following both incidents.

The Post framed the decision as Trump capitulating to Moscow. "This is a momentous decision," said one of the Post's anonymous sources. "Putin won in Syria."

"We are falling into a Russian trap," added Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. "We are making the moderate resistance more and more vulnerable…. We are really cutting them off at the neck."

Other Post quotes called the cessation "foolish" and a "huge strategic mistake."

No US government source has confirmed or denied the story. The National Security Council, the CIA, and the White House have all declined to comment. White House Spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that she "can't at this time" comment on the alleged decision.

So is the program doomed, or is it fake news? The evidence conflicts. Free Syrian Army rebels announced that the CIA froze aid to them in February as they clashed with Daesh-affiliated militant groups, which would support the notion that Trump wished to phase the program out.

But in May, the White House announced that they would increase their efforts to arm Syrian Kurdish rebel groups fighting Daesh. While the Kurdish YPG is mostly occupied with a campaign to retake Raqqa from Daesh, they are no friends of the Assad regime.

High-level administration officials have held that the United States is intent on seeing Assad removed from power. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said in April that she didn't "see a peaceful Syria with Assad in there" and that "regime change is something that we think is going to happen." US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in early July that Washington saw "no long-term role for the Assad family or the Assad regime."

The arming of Syrian Democratic Forces began in 2013 as a way of exerting pressure against Assad, who the Americans have persistently opposed since the beginning of the civil war. It was the centerpiece of former US President Barack Obama's involvement in the war.

The ineffectiveness of the program, as rebel groups steadily give ground to the Syrian government, has brought it under considerable criticism. It was seen as a middle ground option between staying out of the civil war (and failing to enforce US interests) and of directly attacking the Assad government (and potentially escalating against Russia) — a decision that disappointed both hawks and doves.

ARA News reported earlier in July that 8,500 SDF soldiers were trained by the Americans, and over 400 military vehicles were provided to the SDF courtesy of the US.

In a move that reflects his interest in working with Russia, President Trump has decided to end a covert CIA program supporting Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow (Video)
_https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-ends-covert-cia-program-to-arm-anti-assad-rebels-in-syria-a-move-sought-by-moscow/2017/07/19/b6821a62-6beb-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html?utm_term=.b9296106b2a5

President Trump has decided to end the CIA’s covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move long sought by Russia, according to U.S. officials.

The program was a central plank of a policy begun by the Obama administration in 2013 to put pressure on Assad to step aside, but even its backers have questioned its efficacy since Russia deployed forces in Syria two years later.

Officials said the phasing out of the secret program reflects Trump’s interest in finding ways to work with Russia, which saw the anti-Assad program as an assault on its interests. The shuttering of the program is also an acknowledgment of Washington’s limited leverage and desire to remove Assad from power.

Just three months ago, after the United States accused Assad of using chemical weapons, Trump launched retaliatory airstrikes against a Syrian air base. At the time, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, said that “in no way do we see peace in that area with Assad at the head of the Syrian government.”

Officials said Trump made the decision to scrap the CIA program nearly a month ago, after an Oval Office meeting with CIA Director Mike Pompeo and national security adviser H.R. McMaster ahead of a July 7 meeting in Germany with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Article continues.)

President Donald Trump will nominate veteran diplomat and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman to serve as US ambassador to Russia, according to the White House.

Trump to nominate Huntsman as US ambassador to Russia
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/07/19/528942/US-Russia-ambassador-Jon-Huntsman

“Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. of Utah to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Russian Federation,” the White House said in a press release on Tuesday.

"Huntsman has had a distinguished career as a politician, diplomat, and businessman," it added.

[...] In March, the White House confirmed it would tap the former Republican presidential contender to the Russia post, but it had delayed his formal nomination and sending it to the Senate for confirmation as Washington waited for the Kremlin to approve his selection.

Jon Huntsman, the candidate for the post of the US ambassador to Russia, is a great professional and Moscow gave its preliminary consent to his appointment, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Wednesday.

Russian FM Calls US Ambassador Candidate Huntsman 'High-Level Professional'
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201707191055699778-ryabkov-us-ambassador-huntsman/

Ryabkov noted that under US laws, before Huntsman's official appointment as ambassador to Moscow his candidacy must clear the US Senate.

"We will see how hearings in the Senate will go, but we gave our consent having a good understanding of Huntsman's biography, realizing that he is a high-level professional, a person who has strong convictions, very experienced, who has seen much," Ryabkov said during the 60 Minutes program broadcast by Rossiya-1 television.

Huntsman was born on March 26, 1960 in the town of Palo Alto, the US State of California. Huntsman has served as the head of the US diplomatic mission to Singapore and China. From 1989 to 1990 Huntsman was the deputy assistant secretary of state in the Department of International Trade. In 2005-2009 he was the governor of Utah.

The bill on new Russia and Iran sanctions is currently held up by the US House of Representatives, Senator and former Hillary Clinton running mate Tim Kaine told Sputnik on Wednesday.

Russia-Iran Sanctions Bill 'Held Up' by US House of Representatives
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201707191055699693-russia-iran-sanctions-bill/

When asked about the status of the bill, Kaine said, "It seems to be kind of held up right now."

The US Senate passed the sanctions package on June 15 with a 98-2 vote, but the legislation was flagged by the House as a "blue slip" violation because any bill that raises revenue for the government must originate in the lower chamber.

Last week, House Democrats introduced identical legislation to what was already passed by the Senate. They then called on the House to quickly pass the bill back to the Senate.

The bill, which censures Iran over its ballistic missile program, also slaps new sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s alleged interference in the US presidential election in 2016.

The legislation targets Russia's defense, intelligence, mining, shipping and railway industries and restricts dealings with Russian banks and energy companies. It also limits the US president's ability to ease any sanctions on Russia by requiring Congress' approval to lift any restrictions.

Russian officials have repeatedly denied allegations that Moscow meddled in the US election.

Lavrov was referring to a RIA Novosti report on Monday which cited a high-ranking unnamed White House official as saying that the US is not planning to return the diplomatic property to Russia without asking for “something in return.”

'They sound like gangsters' - Lavrov at US over seized Russian diplomatic property
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDLohm9GEAU (RT - 1:37 min.)

Israeli PM overheard saying bloc would wither and die unless it changed attitude towards his country at meeting of eastern European leaders

Netanyahu attack on EU policy towards Israel caught on microphone
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/19/eu-will-wither-and-die-if-it-does-not-change-policy-on-israel-netanyahu

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has launched a withering attack on the European Union at a closed-door meeting of eastern European leaders in Budapest, saying the political grouping would wither and die if it did not change its policy towards Israel.

The remarks, caught on an open microphone, underlined Netanyahu’s often barely disguised contempt for the European political union, which has criticised Israel – and his government in particular – over issues including Jewish settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories and the peace process.

Netanyahu also made a rare public admission that Israel has struck Iranian arms convoys in Syria bound for Hezbollah “dozens and dozens of times”.

The overheard remarks were reported by Israeli journalists covering the trip.

The bombastic remarks, which bizarrely predicated Europe’s future on its attitude towards Israel – not one of the most burning issues on an EU agenda confronting the challenges of immigration, Brexit and economic growth were made in a meeting with the leaders of Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland, whom Netanyahu urged to close their doors to refugees from Africa and the Middle East.

“I think Europe has to decide if it wants to live and thrive or if it wants to shrivel and disappear,” he said. “I am not very politically correct. I know that’s a shock to some of you. It’s a joke. But the truth is the truth – both about Europe’s security and Europe’s economic future. Both of these concerns mandate a different policy toward Israel.”

“The European Union is the only association of countries in the world that conditions the relations with Israel, which produces technology in every area, on political conditions. The only ones! Nobody does it,” Netanyahu said before officials realised the meeting was being overheard by reporters and cut the feed.

“It’s crazy. It’s actually crazy,” he added, urging the leaders present to help push Europe to expedite the EU association agreement with Israel that has been held up because of current Israeli policies.

Netanyahu’s remarks were made following criticism of his visit to Budapest, where he has been accused of soft-pedalling on accusations against the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, for allegedly stoking antisemitism, not least in a high-profile campaign targeting billionaire Jewish philanthropist George Soros.

Netanyahu’s comments also come in the midst of problems for the embattled Israeli prime minister at home, where he is under investigation in two police inquiries and amid an escalating corruption scandal involving his government over the purchase of German submarines.

 

[angelburst29]

A new video has surfaced that shows the same unmarked, gray S-92 Helibus that we identified last March in northern Syria, but this time it was seen supposedly flying over or very near the Islamic State's defacto capital of al Raqqa. Similar helicopters were originally spotted in Djibouti in 2015, adding to the mystery of who owns and operates them, especially considering the type is not officially in the Pentagon's active inventory.

Unmasking The S-92 Mystery Helicopter In Syria Which Was Spotted Again Near Raqqa July 18, 2017 (Photos - Video)
_http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/12616/unmasking-the-s-92-mystery-helicopter-in-syria-which-was-spotted-again-near-raqqa

The video, which was posted on social media, cuts to V-22 Ospreys, which are also known to be highly active in the region. Similar helicopters were originally spotted in Djibouti in 2015, adding to the mystery of who owns and operates them, especially considering the type is not officially in the Pentagon's active inventory.

The video, which was posted on social media, cuts to V-22 Ospreys, which are also known to be highly active in the region. The Ospreys ferry US special operations forces, US Marines, and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters, which are primarily made up of Kurds, around eastern Syria to battle zones and forward operating bases. With the offensive to rout ISIS from al Raqqa finally underway, it only makes sense that the Ospreys are now flying along the outskirts of the the besieged city. As to the exact mission of the shadowy S-92, we still don't know.

After our last posting pinpointing the aircraft in Northern Syria, near the Syrian-Turkish border, numerous reports came in with photographic evidence showing the same aircraft, or another with the identical configuration and paint job, flying around the southeast United States. In particular, the aircraft was spotted at Lafayette Regional Airport in Louisiana in early March, and a couple weeks later at Raleigh-Durham International, North Carolina.

In both sightings, there were no discernible markings on the aircraft, but it turns out that an identical S-92 was photographed around the same time with a registration temporarily applied. That registration number is N992SK. This same number was worn by a blue and white S-92 that operated out of Malta from around 2012, while the US was still embroiled in the Libyan conflict, before it was spotted without the tail number in Erbil, Iraq in 2015.

Since then the helicopter appears to have been repainted in the gray tactical scheme we recognize today. Before and after the paint job, the aircraft's registration was and still is assigned to Leasing Source LLC, which once had its address in Helena, Montana, but is now listed in New Iberia, Louisiana.

The company shares its address and an office building with a hangar and helipad attached with Helicopter Management LLC. The building is set near Acadiana Regional Airport in Louisiana, and right by a large Halliburton campus and the home of Bristow Helicopters US—a major S-92 operator.

Both of these companies—Helicopter Management LLC and Leasing Source LLC—and roughly a dozen others are owned by PHI Inc. we discovered through a SEC filing from 2010. PHI Inc., which is a well established helicopter services provider, describes itself on its website as "the total helicopter company," and details its history and current operations as follows:

"PHI, Inc. is one of the world’s leading helicopter services companies. Known industry wide for the relentless pursuit of safe, reliable helicopter transportation, PHI offers services to the offshore Oil and Gas, onshore mining, International, Air Medical, and Technical Services industries.

The Company's core business consists of offshore operations in the energy basins around the world. The highly skilled staff of pilots and maintenance technicians gives the company great depth in all areas of operation. The PHI team is composed of highly skilled, dedicated, hardworking and loyal employees.

PHI has a long history of operating in the Global Marketplace. In addition to operations in the United States, the company has operated in 43 foreign countries and continues to operate for customers across the globe. PHI helicopters fly 250 miles into the Gulf of Mexico and to locations 200 miles offshore in international waters. PHI's Headquarters are in Lafayette, Louisiana USA.

PHI provides service to the Healthcare industry through its Air Medical Group. Since its inception in 1981, PHI Air Medical Group has grown from one medically equipped helicopter to over 60 helicopters with state of the art medical interiors designed. The current customer list spans the United States and includes many premier health care organizations.

The company is considered to be an industry leader in maintenance, technology, and overall operations. The overhaul and maintenance facility based in Lafayette, Louisiana is considered by many to be the premier facility in the world because of its technology and experienced staff. PHI employees conduct routine maintenance and repair work; completely overhaul engines and airframes; operate a state-of-the-art painting facility; study and engineer new parts and lubricants; research new procedures and develop new techniques.

As the offshore oil and gas industry moves further out into the Gulf of Mexico, the air medical industry gets more advanced and as international arenas open, PHI plans to be able to meet the needs of customers in any location. PHI provides customers with the safest, most reliable helicopter transportation in the world. As the industry progresses into the 21st century, PHI is primed for any challenge."

Considering one of its handful of S-92 helicopters is flying in a chaotic and excessively dangerous war zone, the "primed for any challenge" mantra seems to be quite accurate. Also note that the company's major maintenance facility is at the same airport where the gray S-92 was recently spotted. Apparently employees at the airport were told not to photograph it when it arrived according to one spotter.

But just because we know who owns the helicopter, or helicopters, we still don't know exactly who is using them, or even flying them.

It could very well be that PHI Inc. leases these helicopters to an agency or to the military, and those governmental institutions fly and operate them. On the other hand, PHI Inc. could be providing "end-to-end" services with the lease, which would include maintenance and crews, including pilots.

Considering the massive helicopter capacity of the US military, contracting out a single or handful of S-92s sounds odd. But for an intelligence agency or the State Department, or even for another country's military that has far less helicopter capacity than the US military does, outsourcing such a capability set may make more sense than not. Maybe the US government contracted the helicopter on behalf of the SDF, which have zero airlift capabilities of their own—not even for their most elite commanders.

Even through the mysterious S-92 may seem a little less mysterious now, it still hasn't given up all its secrets. But considering that the battle for Raqqa has just begun, and what comes after could be more perilous than what came before, it won't likely be the last we will see of the shadowy chopper.