oxmox 73 Posted October 6, 2015 NATO rejects Russia explanation on Turkish air space (Reuters NATO on Tuesday rejected Moscow's explanation that its warplanes had violated alliance member Turkey's air space by mistake and said Russia was sending more ground troops to Syria and building up its naval presence. With Russia extending its air strikes to include the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he was losing patience with Russian violations of his country's air space. "An attack on Turkey means an attack on NATO," Erdogan warned at a Brussels news conference. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance had reports of a substantial Russian military build-up in Syria, including ground troops and ships in the eastern Mediterranean. "I will not speculate on the motives ... but this does not look like an accident and we have seen two of them," Stoltenberg said of the air incursions over Turkey's border with Syria at the weekend. He noted that they "lasted for a long time". The incidents, which NATO has described as "extremely dangerous" and "unacceptable", underscore the risks of a further escalation of the Syrian civil war, as Russian and U.S. warplanes fly combat missions over the same country for the first time since World War Two. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/06/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN0S01DS20151006 Russia Shuns No-Fly Zone for Syria as Clerics Urge Reprisals (Bloomberg) Russia rebuffed calls for a no-fly zone over Syria as Saudi clerics and Islamist rebels urged for retaliation against its extended bombing campaign that has targeted militant groups in the Arab country. The Russian Defence Ministry had said that an SU-30 warplane had entered Turkish air space along the border with Syria "for a few seconds" on Saturday, a mistake caused by bad weather. NATO says a plane also entered Turkish air space on Sunday, an incident Russia says it is looking into. ---> As world powers get drawn deeper into the conflict, more than 50 Saudi clerics called on Syrian rebels and Muslim countries on Monday to support a jihad against Syria’s government and its allies. More than 40 insurgent groups on Monday called “Russia’s military aggression in Syria a flagrant occupation" that is a "legitimate target." Their statement said: “The coming war is one that aims to liberate our land from two occupying forces: Iranian and Russian.†http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-06/russia-reject-no-fly-zone-bid-as-warplanes-hit-targets-in-syria @Isnt it a bit of an overreaction of NATO and Turkey, talking already about an attack ? Saudi Arabian Clerics call for war, maybe they should take some of the refugees. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted October 6, 2015 Well, the main risk comes from Turkey which could shoot down a Russian airplane, Erdogan being some kind of Turkish Putin, mixing Islam and Nationalism as Putin mixes Orthodox religion and Nationalism. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sudayev 27 Posted October 7, 2015 Russian Navy of the Caspian Fleet commenced a long range bombardment with long range cruise missiles. Salvo of 26 missiles reached the potions islamic rebel groups in Syria. Couldn't find a better picture :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted October 7, 2015 Watching it in 3d ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oxmox 73 Posted October 7, 2015 As Russia escalates, U.S. rules out military cooperation in Syria (Reuters; Oct. 7th) The United States on Wednesday ruled out military cooperation with Russia in Syria's war, accusing Moscow of pursuing a "tragically flawed" strategy that would force it to limit military talks to basic pilot safety. "We are not prepared to cooperate in a strategy, which as we explained, is flawed - tragically flawed - on the Russians' part," Carter told a news conference during a trip to Rome. The United States and its allies have been waging a year-long air campaign against Islamic State in Syria, while pushing to diplomatically edge Assad from power. "Despite what the Russians say, we have not agreed to cooperate with Russia so long as they continue to pursue a mistaken strategy and hit these targets," Carter said. Efforts to ensure pilot safety have gained urgency after the United States and NATO denounced Russia for violating Turkish airspace. Turkey, a NATO ally, threatened to respond, raising the prospect of direct confrontation. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/07/us-mideast-crisis-usa-cooperation-idUSKCN0S11EH20151007 Russia should not interfere in US efforts to destroy ISIS: White House Amid Russia's escalating military activities in Syria, the White House has warned it not to interfere in the US-led international efforts to destroy the Islamic State in the strife-torn region. "The President has made quite clear that Russia should not be interfering with the 65-member international coalition that is seeking to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS. We've made that quite clear," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Tuesday. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Russia-should-not-interfere-in-US-efforts-to-destroy-ISIS-White-House/articleshow/49253856.cms Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonci87 163 Posted October 7, 2015 I think the US is quite mad now that they haven´t done more to break ISIS in the past few years.... If they had Russia wouldn´t have a legit excuse to back Assad right now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spooky lynx 73 Posted October 7, 2015 Coalition is seeking to degrade and destroy ISIS but seems that ISIS didn't know this and expanded its territory. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oxmox 73 Posted October 7, 2015 I think the US is quite mad now that they haven´t done more to break ISIS in the past few years.... If they had Russia wouldn´t have a legit excuse to back Assad right now. The US/Britain/France are getting entangeled more and more in their own contradictions... For example, in 2012 they did ignored an offer by Russia to have Assad step aside, many of the so called "moderate" rebels are in reality Islamists/Jihadists and some of them like the Taliban...... West 'ignored Russian offer in 2012 to have Syria's Assad step aside' (TheGuardian; Sept. 15th 2015) Exclusive: Senior negotiator describes rejection of alleged proposal – since which time tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced Russia proposed more than three years ago that Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, could step down as part of a peace deal, according to a senior negotiator involved in back-channel discussions at the time. Former Finnish president and Nobel peace prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari said western powers failed to seize on the proposal. Since it was made, in 2012, tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions uprooted, causing the world’s gravest refugee crisis since the second world war. But he said that the US, Britain and France were so convinced that the Syrian dictator was about to fall, they ignored the proposal. Officially, Russia has staunchly backed Assad through the four-and-half-year Syrian war, insisting that his removal cannot be part of any peace settlement. Assad has said that Russia will never abandon him. Moscow has recently begund sending tanks, troops and aircraft in an effort to stabilise the Assad regime and fight Islamic State extremists. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/15/west-ignored-russian-offer-in-2012-to-have-syrias-assad-step-aside Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sudayev 27 Posted October 8, 2015 No one of you is surprised about Caspian fleet long range strike? Warships who carried the strike do not exceed 2000 tons and missiles they used are a new technology - 3m14 / Kalibr NK vertical launchers reaching a great distance up to 1500 kilometers! https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/10/07/these-are-the-cruise-missiles-russia-just-sent-into-syria/(according to new reports - some rocket crashed before reaching their targets) http://southfront.org/russian-navys-long-arm-kalibr-missile-family/?COLLCC=2279485840more one Kalibr family. In NATO ranks ships with total weight of 6000-10000 tons are the only ships armed with such weapons. According to recent Russian developments - small ships carry these. Doesn't that change rules of the naval game? Moreover we're getting close to this - truck container lanuchers. Syria indeed is a polygon of testing new armaments. Yet again - Vladimir Putin goes one step ahead of NATO this time, because long range strike from distant Caspian Sea is a WTF. Western world ruled by socialdemocrats caught with their pants down again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted October 8, 2015 (BBC NEWS) Gulf Arabs 'stepping up' arms supplies to Syrian rebels : http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34479929 Saudi Arabia is responding to the recent Russian air strikes on Syrian rebels by stepping up its supplies of lethal weaponry to three different rebel groups, a Saudi government official has told the BBC. The well-placed official, who asked not to be named, said supplies of modern, high-powered weaponry including guided anti-tank weapons would be increased to the Arab- and western-backed rebel groups fighting the forces of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian, Iranian and Lebanese allies. He said those groups being supplied did not include either Islamic State (IS) or al-Nusra Front, both of which are proscribed terrorist organisations. Instead, he said the weapons would go to three rebel alliances - Jaysh al-Fatah (Army of Conquest), the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Southern Front. Who knows where that'll stop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sudayev 27 Posted October 8, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWJ6oFBqdJc Russian Hinds in low alt. assault Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
St. Jimmy 272 Posted October 8, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWJ6oFBqdJc Russian Hinds in low alt. assault Can someone explain what's happening @2:00-> what those explosions are? And where they're shooting @1:30 because it looks like they're shooting the air? Sorry I've no idea about that stuff :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwarden 1124 Posted October 8, 2015 notice there is 3rd and 4th hind flying behind first 2 so I would say another rocket barrage from those quite nice low altitude attack tho ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonci87 163 Posted October 9, 2015 At 1:30 they have to aim a bit up because those rockets have a ballistic flight path, they are not guided. The explosions at 2:00 are from the rockets fired by Hind 3 and 4. So, I assume these are Syrian Hinds, not Russian ones? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted October 9, 2015 (BBC News) Iran Revolutionary Guards commander 'killed in Syria' A senior commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards was killed in Syria on Thursday, Iran has said. In a statement Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said Gen Hussein Hamedani was killed during an advisory mission near Aleppo. It said he was advising the Syrian army in their battle against Islamic State (IS) militants. Iran has blamed IS for the general's death, but the exact circumstances remain unclear. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted October 9, 2015 Are Russian strikes helping IS to get rid of other Syrian rebels ? (BBC News) Syria conflict: Islamic State seizes villages north of Aleppo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonci87 163 Posted October 9, 2015 Are Russian strikes helping IS to get rid of other Syrian rebels ? (BBC News) Syria conflict: Islamic State seizes villages north of Aleppo Not only that, but I imagine that some groups who have been more or less indifferent to ISIS might now be activelly joining them because they have more strenght (and maybe better anti air?). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sudayev 27 Posted October 11, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_ily8CjDXc#t=84 Conflict in Syria for beginners, explained in 90 seconds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
schadler17 36 Posted October 11, 2015 Russians are simply clearing out the other groups and allowing ISIS to fill the gaps. Once the other groups are disbanded, they'll focus on ISIS, as it'll be the only other force out there that can effectively go against Assad. But right now, the main groups going after Assad are the other Syrian Rebel groups like Al Nusra, FSA and other "moderate" groups, which will be Russias focus to stabilize the region as much as they can before they begin to focus on ISIS. Right now, its just about destabilizing ISIS and putting fear in them so when the time comes, a coordinated assault will be more effective. imho, they'll have to find better ground troops, because Assads forces continue to lose heavy numbers each time they deploy. And all the ATGM systems being supplied by CIA/Saudi Arabia don't help their cause, especially the 500 ATGMs that were delivered recently to the FSA. http://www.businessinsider.com/syria-rebels-and-tow-missiles-2015-10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oxmox 73 Posted October 13, 2015 Former UK Ambassador to Syria & Bahrain: The following day, Peter Ford, a former British ambassador to Syria, criticized Britain’s foreign policy against Assad as a “shambles.†In an Oct. 3 interview with Sky News, Ford predicted that the Christian minority in Syria would be “massacred†by jihadists if Assad was ousted.“The fall of the regime will be opening a Pandora’s box such as we saw with the fall of Gadhafi in Libya and when Saddam Hussein fell,†he said.“Is this what (Prime Minister) David Cameron really wants, to open another Pandora’s box?†he said. “Does he not realize that the fall of the Assad regime would lead to the massacres of Christians, Shias, Alawites, Druze and other minorities? “I realize it is not fashionable to point to the plight of Christians in the Middle East today but he (Cameron) would have blood on his hands if Assad were to fall as the result of Western support for what Cameron amazingly called the ‘legitimate opposition’ to Assad,†Ford said.“Let us be clear here – we are talking about jihadis,†he added. “Most of the opposition groups are jihadis, the so-called Free Syrian Army is just a footnote. If Assad was to fall — and the Russians thankfully realize this -– it would be a disaster.†Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted October 14, 2015 (Vice news) Thousands of Iranian Troops Are Teaming Up with Russia for an Assault on Aleppo (Vice news) Russia is Bombing a Lot of Familiar Faces in Syria Although Russian airstrikes on Syria are a new development, Moscow will be dropping bombs on a lot of familiar faces. Many of the foreign fighters in Syria were Chechens recruited through the Islamic State's presence in the North Caucasus. These particular militants are long-time enemies of Russia, and that they once again find themselves on opposite sides is not incidental. Syria has become a melting pot of foreign fighters, tens of thousands of whom have made the journey from more than 100 countries around the world. At least 1,700 Russians — maybe more — are currently fighting in rebel and extremist groups in Syria and northern Iraq, making Russia the fourth largest contributor of foreign fighters, after Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan (and the largest contributor from the non-Muslim world). These fighters are products, even veterans, of previous conflicts with Moscow. Some fighters are going to Syria from the Caucasus with their own personal vendettas against the Russians. Abu Omar al-Shishani, an Islamic State commander whose assumed surname literally means "the Chechen," is originally from an ethnically Chechen enclave of Georgia and has fought Russia twice before, as a rebel in the Second Chechen War and as a member of the Georgian army during the Russo-Georgian War in 2008 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sudayev 27 Posted October 19, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q60yBQG8XI Russian made film from a drone camera soaring over ruins of what what left of Syrian capital city - Damascus. This is a must see video. Amazing quality, montage and camera work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonci87 163 Posted October 19, 2015 Jobar district, quite close to the old city. And then you wonder why people flee from there..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
d_lukin 16 Posted October 20, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q60yBQG8XI Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
