Middle east general / Syria war. Merry Christmas

>>32433918
>reports of rebel/turk gainz in Al Bab
They just retreated from a position overlooking the city when ISIS casually strolled to the place with a VBIED.

Those guys are doing a good job at holding the city from the turks and Co.

In other news, rebels unite in East Ghouta to attack the SAA, only to be repelled by the government forces.

And kurds keep advancing towards Tabqa.

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So i just watched a recent video about T4 and saw pic related.

That reminds me about that T-34 in Yemen where they trigger the firing mechanism from outside the tank as well.

Apparently its a somewhat widespread practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evk42jlqgao

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>>32434372
that is actually common pratice with artillery, not som much with tanks

>>32434562
Why though?

Is it that loud/cramped/dangerous inside the howitzer?

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>>32434372
In fact artillery/ Ruaf airstrikes and clashes are reported clashes ongoing around T4 as of 30 min's ago.

IS released pictures of a SAA attack they claim they repelled west of T4 yesterday

>>32434571
Howitzers are cramped as fuck, and the whole thing shakes when it goes off, much more comfy to hang out behind it, and you got a number of dudes working and a whole bunch of crap lying around, including multiple various forms of ammo, from the demonstration i was shown, it seemed like Working outside a stationary piece was the way to go if you wanted to keep up any meaningful firing rate.

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>>32434770

>>32434571
>loud
Yes, of course the crew has hearing protection and it's perfectly possible to fire from inside if absolutely needed, but outside is likely to be more pleasant most of the time. Doubly so innadesert where any vehicle without godly aircon is going to be a fucking oven after a couple hours in the sun.
>cramped
Pretty much any vehicle is cramped once everyone's inside, all that varies is how much so depending on what you're in.
>dangerous
If you know what you're doing and are paying attention, and the vehicle/gun is in good condition then not really. However even if the snakbars in a particular picture are originally from an arty/armor regiment at some point in life so notionally have some idea wtf they're doing, I still wouldn't be too keen to trust the provenance of the vehicles they're using. Anyone have to hand the webm of IS/FSA (I forget which it was) using a captured (I think Russian) SPG that vented a sizable amount of blast back into the crew compartment every shot, setting the thing on fire each time? Even if you think your gun is in good condition, if you have the option to stand outside just in case something like that happens, then why not.

Also being stood 20+ feet away from the ATGM magnet is probably a fair bit safer than being inside it, sure the blast is going to unpleasant and maybe you eat a bit of shrapnel depending on exact direction/location of a hit, but your chance of surviving is quite likely higher than being inside.

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>>32434775
Some SAA killed around T4, i'll only post two.

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>>32434782

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>>32434790
lastly a 57mm cannon technical which every group in Syria uses.

>>32433918
Thank you Syrian Santa

Hearing the Turks are escalating in al-Bab.

Do the mussies celebrate anything around christmas times? I find it sort of ironic that Al-bab had a white christmas while we haven't had snow since october up in norway.

>>32434913
Of course they are ,they had to after being humiliated by IS plus the execution video.

Another unverified but possibly bad for a A-10 as pro IS sources claim a A-10 was shot down over Tabqah.

https://twitter.com/RamiAILoIah/status/813051665075044357

YPG/SDF forces are still outside of Tabqah but they are closing in. IS will likely launch a counter attack soon.

>>32435001

American burning execution when?

>>32435017
I mean that would be the worse case wouldn't it. It would force a large US military response and be egg on the face of Obama as he leaves office.

Frankly I don't believe this report without further proof.

>>32435044

I don't think IS would want to humiliate a fellow Muslim.

Kinda funny if kurds reach and capture Tabqa, considering the fact that SAA wasted a shitload of resources when it tried to capture Tabqa during the failed summer offensive.

>>32435223
You bring up a good point between the two. The SAA one was a bizarre straight line run to Tabqa. No military planning whatsoever. They just took off for it in a convoy.

Despite the SDF being a joke when they started they have seen steady progress northern Raqqa. IS struggling with this as they fight for Mosul and Al Bab while expanding in eastern Homs. They will have to response sooner or later before SDF is at Raqqa city doorstep.

>>32435044
Meanwhile on things not to believe without further proof theme pro IS accounts are clearly saying IS has breached into T4 and fighting is inside the airbase right now.

>>32435588
To be fair their push is more favorable with a buffer zone provided by the lake on one of their flanks. Much better than open desert on both sides of a desolate road. Plus ISIS wasnt in such deep shit then pounded on so many important fronts.
I feel the whole operation was orchestrated by some naive Ruskie wanting to show the world how they fight the good fight against ISIS. Morale among advancing SAA mustve been rock bottom after Ilytrhia junction and their hasty retreat after the first real sign of resistance is self evident

Holy fuck, SOHR is saying 63 pro SAA forces/milita were killed in the last 24 hours in eastern Aleppo. The story is they came into these neighborhoods to loot despite warning from the Russians and Hezbollah that the area is not clear of mines and what do you know. They got blown up by mines and boobytraps.

http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=57760

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>>32436381

>SOHR

For my own Jihad.

>>32436381
Hard to believe though.
Maybe some of them walked into some mines, but 63 at the same time?

>>32436585
It is the SAA we're talking about here.

>>32436585
>63 at the same time?
Not at the same time, over 24 hours. I can entirely believe that happening, and even then I expect more will still go despite it being obvious how stupid it is.
Still it's good for all parties, rebels get slightly fewer meatshields thrown at them later, and SAA have to deal with having slightly fewer of the most retarded derpits being retarded when there's actual fighting going on.

>>32436623
And they get those booby traps out of the way too.

Why turks can't concentrate on encircling Al-Bab? That's the most effective way to deal with city (see Aleppo)
This is getting ridiculous

How is the Turkish involvement working? Are they kicking ass? Chewing ass?

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>>32437375

>>32437288
They don't want to settle down for months of siege to get the city, they're in a race to try and cockblock both SAA and the Kurds from re/claiming territory. As soon as there's no IS left for them to fight they lose all of their flimsy excuse for being in Syria to begin and have to either stop, or be 100% open about fighting the Kurds and potentially the SAA as well. If they can take Al Bab and whatever else they can blunder along with more bullshit about staying around to guard against IS retaking the area, as cover for continuing to try and remove Kurd.
Of course it's all a load of bollocks, but if you're going to stick your dick into a mess of proxy wars like Syria you ideally need to keep at least some tiny veil of legitimacy to your actions, if only to look a tiny bit less stupid on the world stage whenever you get btfo.

>>32437375
>BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:15 P.M.) - The Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) pushed back against the Turkish Armed Forces on Sunday, seizing several sites near the western outskirts of Al-Bab City in eastern Aleppo.

>ISIS began the counter-assault during the wee hours on Sunday, sending a suicide bomber to target the Turkish Army's defenses near the Al-Farouq Hospital in western Al-Bab.

>The suicide bombing proved successful for the terrorist group, as ISIS was able to overrun the Turkish Army's positions and regain control of the Al-Farouq Hospital before noon on Sunday.

>Following the capture of the Al-Farouq Hospital, the Islamic State militants stormed Jabal Aqil, resulting in another series of intense firefights with the Turkish Army.

>The Islamic State terrorists were once again successful in their attack, seizing Jabal Aqil after the Turkish Army retreated west of this mountaintop in eastern Aleppo.

>ISIS has officially repelled the Turkish Army's advance at least four times in the last ten days in western Al-Bab.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/isis-pushes-back-turkish-army-reclaim-territory-aleppos-al-bab/

>>32438058
>Turkish Army

They dont't have an army in Syria.

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aleppo rebels final form

>>32438217
These are rebels inside the city proper? Or just on the rebel held outskirts?

>>32438209
t. erdogan

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what happens here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdJnCUHoLng

>>32438281
I dunno.

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Leopard captured by Islamic State

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Islamic State combatants flm themselve inside ex-putinik base palmyra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgX2jQrRUaQ

Thank you Syrian Santa!

>>32433918
THANK YOU SYRIAN SANTA

>>32433918
THANK YOU SYRIAN SANTA

>>32433918
Thank you Syrian Santa

>>32435223
Ever considered the fact that the ISIS guys attacking T4 are from Raqqa province?

>>32437382
So Turks are literally almost as bad as your average Arab army now.

>>32438209
Yeah and the Iranians don't have an army in Syria

>>32438624
Wew Turks looks like the SAA.

>>32439397
They are from Iraq.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2BbcA3mLnQ

these Iraqi's really hate sand

>>32439410
Keep mind we had to deal with a military coup and following purges.

>>32439668
A third of their country has been controlled by a terror group for 4 years, so I'd agree with you

>>32439686
This, the purges have robbed the Turkish Army of a lot of good officers and personnel. However even after that the effects of the failed coup are creating a post Stalin purge scenario where only erdogans cronies and supporters are going to be (and are being) promoted.

>>32439668
>Those bullet impacts
Are they supposed to be all over the place? Jesus

>>32437382
Why does Turkey run A4 models if they couldn't stop hyping their upgrade kit?

>>32442578
>reminder that Turkey could have fresh A6M models at least if they didn't have the stupid idea of making an own tank.

>>32442583
They would still lose them so what does it matter?

>>32438866
Wow that's some haul

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Can kurds use Tabqa dam to flood the Raqqah?

>>32442612
Even if they wanted to do so (it would be a PR disaster) short of blowing it up (an even bigger PR disaster) most likely no, at least not to any significant extent unless the whole city is barely above normal river level. Unless that dam for some reason has an exceptional number/size of sluice gates it wouldn't be possible to generate a significant enough extra flow purely by opening them, generating those kind of flow levels wouldn't have been part of the design brief for the engineers. The only way it might have the capacity to discharge that fast would be if it had no spillways and relied purely on sluice gates to manage the water level, which would be a bizarre design and is not the case.
To get massive extra downstream flow compared to normal you usually need to either destroy the damn, or have a massive flow level arrive at it when it's already at/close to capacity, in which case the excess volume overflows down spillways without any control, but the only way to generate such a scenario artificially is maybe if you can produce maximum flow from a large number of inputs to the dams reservoir by opening gates on any/all upstream dams on tributaries, but I don't think the Euphrates has anywhere close to that level of complexity in its management, let alone if all other circumstances to make it a potentially viable approach are present.

>>32436585
>>32436604
It's SOHR were talking about here.

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>>32442849
You are really know much about dams, are you?
You are probably right, dam itself isn't that big

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>>32434913
Supposedly some of the FSA are abandoning the al bab campaign

>>32436381 that was supposedly all at once and it was a school turned headquarters that was rigged to blow

>>32436604
Funny everyone talks shit about the SAA but makes excuses about turkeys failures

Anyways here's the plan post Aleppo

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>>32442866
Those are just the gates at one end, the entirety of the dam is the whole structure over 2.5 miles (straight line measurement, dam structure itself will be longer since it's very much not straight), from where those gates are at the southern end all the way to what appears to be the spillway at the northern end.
There were reports a few days ago that IS had been rigging the dam with explosives in preparation for the Kurd advance, what will be interesting is whether it really happened/they actually use them, and whether they have any engineers to ensure they don't just dig a few charges into the back of the earth bank portion (which would need to be massive to do shit to it) but instead target weaker/more vulnerable areas.
Whilst yet another tragedy for Syrian infrastructure it would also be hilarious if they did manage to significantly demolish the gate structure in your pic and fuck their own city entirely. More likely is they just blow up the generators and/or various sluice gates and the controls for them, not gong to get the catastrophic downstream flooding (there will be some but nothing on the scale of the whole reservoirs worth of water going, obviously) but it's certainly fairly easy to render a dam and its infrastructure useless as a means of generating power and controlling water levels. Short term sure it would be shooting themselves in the foot, but we all know its only a matter of how long before they get kicked out of Raqqa and by whom, not whether it will happen.

>>32442939
That would be really some form of ironic (or idiotic) justice if IS floods it's own city

>>32433918
THANK YOU SYRIAN SANTA

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXD7YD3Mq5M

wtf

>>32443338
bunker buster versus a road?

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>>32443338
>>32443364
IED/mine clearing I guess after ISIS fucked off. Explains why he was filming it and why its in the middle of a road.

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>>32443338

>>32442927
>Funny everyone talks shit about the SAA but makes excuses about turkeys failures
Turkey has an actual coherent military, one of the largest in NATO, and has deployed almost none of it. They've been relying on the FSA.

The "SAA" no longer exists as it once did. The handful of units that haven't been functionally destroyed are not capable of operating without Iranian and Russian support, and much of its manpower is taken from other groups, like the NDF, or unwilling conscripts, many of whom flee or go into hiding rather than be drafted.
It's just a word people use to refer to "pro-government forces", most of which weren't and aren't in the Syrian military and lack what minimal professionalism the SAA had. Much like people casually refer to "rebels", even though many of them are actually transnational jihadists.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alvtx7oGtEM

>>32443676
I'd probably want to run in and steal anything of interest
>snatch and run y'all!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNUs82nkMZk

>>32433918
THANK YOU SYRIAN SANTA

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tactical quad damage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSljDf_76ng

>>32443676
>Nugget Enterprises prepares for its first ever warehouse open day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bfJAK1-sx4

one way ticket

>>32442927
>>32442927
Phase 3 does not make much sense, now that the Turks have the eastern countryside for them already.
Apart from trying to get Deyr Hafir secured while the Turks are busy in Al Bab, but then they should do that right now and not wait to the end (especially with ISIS likely regrouping in Hafir once they are defeated in Al Bab)

Phase 1 will also probably be smaller in scale, you know, take the Rashideens, Khan Asal, Mansoura, to get the rebels away from the edge of Aleppo city before they do anything funny, but not more.

Phase 2, regaining Khan Touman and Al Eis to remove the threat from Hader and to reach the M5 again, okay, but I dont really see the neccesarity to take the southern clay.

In general, I have heard rumours that a lot of manpower will go towards Eastern Ghouta, and the SAA and friends will at first just priorize to securing Aleppo city, but no larger offensives.

>>32443667
>Turkey has an actual coherent military, one of the largest in NATO, and has deployed almost none of it. They've been relying on the FSA.

Turks haven't really been involved in any major conflicts since ww1. Other than the invasion of Cyprus and genocides against mostly unarmed armenians and bombing of kurds in the east they haven't had an opportunity to test their mettle. Following Erdogans purges their military capabilities will probably decline as well.
I think it's strange people assume the turks are competent, it seems like an opinion that simply stems from the fact that the turks managed to beat back an overstretched and undersupplied greek army in 1922, which also happens to be the last time they've been in a proper war. Iraq also had a coherent military, and one of the largest in the world, look how that turned out for them.
I agree with the rest of your post, but it's simply an unfair bias to give the turks the benefit of the doubt or ignore their failings. It's about as nonsensical as the people arguing France is a third rate military because they lost ww2.

>>32443774
The best parts of the current Middle Eastern conflicts are all the janky weapon systems mixed into the same warzones as guided anti-tank missles and scout drones

Any news on people freezing in their foxholes? Is it now officially Bastogne?

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roaches send reninfocments (maybe to al bab)

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>>32443676

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuB9UFv7Gho

>>32442803
>This kills the jew

A Christmas miracle
https://www.rt.com/news/371887-syria-suicide-bomber-girls-father/

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I wonder how close they will come to aleppo.
europe rocks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2A3KidIhe8

>>32447060
I hope they all get raped and killed somewhere in Idlib.

>>32447060
>Comments are disabled

lel

>>32447215
really? I few minutes ago I could write one. I blamed the russians for their warcrimes in syria.

>>32433918
Thank you syrian santa

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>>32447060
a few hours ago the march kicked off from berlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UAkLmOALmQ

>>32447302
>>32447060
t-t-t-thank you germany, once again saving the world with rainbows and tolerance and open-mindedness

>>32447376
The woman in that video seems to be from Poland.

(But they had to start in Berlin, since there are no refugees in Poland).

>>32447426
also in poland stupid people are the minorty

>>32447587
But apparently they do exist.

This whole march feels so retarded on several levels.

Its aimed at hipsters, students, neets and "artists" since nobody else could even manage to find the time to go there because things like jobs do still exist.

It also comes at a point when Aleppo has been conquered/liberated (depending on your PoV), and the risk of getting beheaded by Assads men is way lower than by Al Nusra/Zinki guys. Also there are no more bombs What a coincidence they go now..

The whole thing reminds me about this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Crusade

combined with the "Kony2012"-hype.

What I really don't get about the whole Aleppo situation is how the civilians are all evacuating to the rebel side. No fucking shit they're going to get bombed and shot at if they're in the areas the government are fighting for, why don't they go to the government territory and let the government fight the rebels without them getting in the way? You're just going to have the exact same fucking problem in a few weeks or months when the next big city comes under siege.

If they're worried about reprisals for aiding the rebels, maybe they shouldn't have been aiding the rebels.

>>32447870
maybe they are the families of the rebels.
i remember that 80% of the population of east aleppo wasn't pro rebel at all when the rebels took over the city. Lot of them (rich sunnist who wants stability) probably fled away.
Also you have to consider that every men doesn't want to get caught by the SAA (you either go to jail or forced to fight for the SAA).

Dier Ezzor liberation when?

>>32446803
Those poor rebels, they even ran out of ammo...lol

>>32447302
Where are they crossing the border into Syria? Also, are they doing to the gov controlled side of Leppo? I can't really find any info on the Syria section of thier trip.

>>32447302
>the FSA flags
A great way to get inside govt controlled Aleppo. Hope jihadis in Idlib will be donate some suicide belts to them

>>32447201

More like in Turkey. Back in 2008 ("safer" times) a performance artist tried a "march for peace" through the Middle East: she managed to get to Turkey before getting beaten up, raped, killed and the buried in a ditch.

It ain't Europe, son.

I am trying to pick up where I left off. Monday was a scratch with little movement from any side. SDF/YPG in a battle with IS over the village of Jabar in northern Raqqa. It's gone back and forth in a counter attack. SDF absorbing the blows as US CAS has supported their march this far. As I hinted at earlier IS getting nervous and trying to slow them down.

>>32452098
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-euphrates-idUSKBN14G0NQ?il=0

Reuters reporting IS commander Abu Jandal al-Kuwaiti killed in Jabar.

>>32447870
Rather die on your feet with the rebels fighting for freedom than die on your knees under the SAA regime~

>>32452090
I agree.

Also, depending on what route they will take, countries like Bulgaria, Romania and the Balkan states aren't exactly safe either.

>>32452341

The Balkan states are safer than most areas as long as you avoid the gypsies and refugees. I solo traveled through most of the Balkan in april. Even the shadier and more run down areas of Beograd, Tirana, Pristhina, Podgorica, Sarajevo or Skopje are a lot safer than the muslim quarters of Stockholm, Oslo, Berlin etc.

They might get beaten up in Serbia but that's because they don't tolerate hipsters , liberals or gay people.

>>32447656
crawl back into your sibirian cave.

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>>32435017

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removing ASShats from civil property

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW4avm_GerQ

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At first I was like ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POmzNkVfcg4


but den...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlZeHPYpC0E

>>32435001
How many times have they claimed the shoot-down of A-10's without it being true? I know it has happened at least once, might not have been IS though.

>>32452729
Eh it's possible they've manage to hit them a few times, A-10 NOPES out of there in a hurry and flies home with chunks missing because that's pretty much what it's designed to do, later they claim it a shoot-down because they hit it and it fucked off with bits missing so they either presume it went down elsewhere, or don't care and hitting it with damage caused is enough for them to crow about shooting something down.

>>32452729
There are only a few A-10s and no way to hide losses. Aircraft spotting is an old hobby and modellers keep track of serials and tail flashes too. Aircraft parts are distinctive. If you see someone holding debris they claim is from an aircraft, zoom in and try to determine the part or post pics because someone will recognize it. I've seen CBU dispenser panels claimed as aircraft parts by Iraq during Desert Storm. Live ordnance typically has yellow markings. Live rocket motors usually have brown bands.

If someone bags a Warthog they'll have plenty to show for it. The gun, landing gear, engine cores and armor will remain. Those parts will be identifiable after any aircraft crash.

>>32452807
Yeah, thats why I mentioned that they had claimed shooting them down and it turned out being false.
Haven't seen many cases of IS taking credit for shit they haven't done, but starting rumors of them "shooting down" A-10's has happened a few times i think

>>32452807
Basically this.
If they shoot down a plane or a chopper they are extremely proud and they show it to everyone on twitter asap.

A claim without pics is nothinjg.

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>>32452770
>>32452807
>>32452885
>>32452887
Untrue. I've personally shot down 22 B-2 bombers and the U.S. government managed to hide it from the public with ease.

>>32452909
how

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Escaped from the "Tiger Force" teenager said that fighters Suhel al-Hassan teach boys to rape captured militants

>Julian Röpcke

current Syrian government division Spetsnaz "Tiger Force" is not only mobilizes teens to replenish its ranks, but also teaches them to rape captured insurgents Al-Nusra front fighters and PAS, says Julian Röpcke. It told him defected to the Al-Nusra Front 15-year-old Ahmid.

According to him, a few months ago, he was drafted into the CAA from his hometown Morek and taken to the camp, "Tiger Force" in the suburbs of Damascus. There he began to make out the "Tiger". After two months of training it along with the other newcomers were sent on a special operation in the city of Aleppo, where they had to grab for his commanding as much as possible the number of prisoners the militants Al-Nusra Front fighters and PAS, defending the city from the bloody tyrant Bashar al-Assad. Before sending Suhel Al-Hassan promised recruits that if they fulfill their mission well, then return will "strengthen their iman."

According Ahmida, at first he did not understand what the commander meant. But all it cleared up soon. Over the next two days the young men, most of which were about the same age as the Ahmid, forced to watch as Suhel al-Hassan and other "Tigers" raped captive fighters and oppositionists abducted in previous raids.

According Ahmida, the Mujahideen and the Democrats were screaming and calling for help, but the "Tigers" did not pay attention to it. Sometimes they are threatened with a weapon prisoners. In parallel, "Tigers" gave the boys a verbal "instructions" how best to rape. "They told us that we pressed the prisoner to the floor, holding with both hands," - said Ahmid.

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According to him, it was strange, because before Suhel al-Hassan never let the men touch the prisoners. He said that "men are designed for adult men, not boys." But now everything has changed. After one of the battles killed a large number of "Tigers", Suhel al-Hassan's nothing left, how to send a new mission to adolescents, and prisoners used as motivation.

According Ahmida, many of his peers, such a ruse worked. However, he was not interested in getting the promised commander "strong iman". Therefore, after the operation in Aleppo as "Tiger Force" with a trophy in the form of the prisoners came back, he escaped. At some point, a few prisoners jumped from the truck in which they were taken, and ran into the woods. Ahmid pretended to be chasing them, and thus escaped from the "Tiger Force". Later he got to the training camps of the Free Syrian Army in Kafranbele - near Idlib, the administrative center of the province of Idlib.

Ahmida In addition, in the camp, and there were a number of former prisoners "Tiger Force", including minors. Two captive journalist told BILD, that while in captivity "Tigers" were raped "little boys". One kind of them was not more than 13 years. As told the BILD Abu Taran, 16-year-old militant Al-Nusra Front, which has been raped: "Underage" Tiger "was so small that at first I easily pushed him away, but as a result of violence could not be avoided because the teen had too strong iman ".

Erdogan keeps doing Erdogan things

> Erdogan accuses US-led coalition of supporting ISIS & other terrorist groups in Syria

>>32453452
>>32453461

concentration camp porn stories were a huge thing in israel after ww2.. so this is the arabic version of that i guess.

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Here are the people, for They DID not a leave for food or to give a better picture of the state, for They left Because for They want reconciliation Between Syrians.
All These people left for the future of Syria. Picture him, and picture me, I am a Free Army and he's a Regime army soldier. [Do you still refer to yourself as Free Army?] No now we are groups to conciliation. The days of Free army and revolution and whatever are gone, they did not help anybody, not us or them. Now we are groups to help fix the country, we want to move forward. If we want to keep moving backwards, we will hit the wall.
Move forward to know how to see infront of you, because the country has been gone between a oppostion and regime and this and that, and Israel came in between us. Since when does Qatar, Saudi, and Turkey love you? Now we understand that they are all sitting outside and they are arming us to fight each other.
Iran, Russia, America, Saudi, Qatar, we are all fight with their weapons for them. Countries support sides and we are fighting each other. I am from Syria, he's from Syria [SAA soldier], why are we fighting each other? Let them man up and the countries fight each other if they hate each other that much. Russia is a power, America is a power, Iran is a power, Saudi is a power and they got weapons. Why do not they fight? But they arm us and let us fight each other.
We do not want, we want to look forward, we want to see our country. If we keep thinking of the money and dollar, it would not benefit us. You get all the money, and would die with one bullet, money does not benefit you. What benefits you is your land, your country. Stay with God, stay with your country , your diginity.
We are all one hand, against the Takfir and terrorism. Against ISIS and Nusra and all those want to attack Syria, all those who want to attack someone who is Syrian.
In the end we are all brothers, and in the end we are destined to return to each other.

>>32453888
>& other terrorist groups in Syria
Uhm the US is extremely open about helping the Kurds in a large number of ways, and they're considered terrorists by Turkey. It's not even as if there's anything to 'claim' there, it's simple fact.
The IS tag-on can be referring (still) to the SAA bombing incident a couple months ago, or how US gear is ending up in IS hands via various indirect/unofficial channels, or just because he want to bitch at America for the sake of it.

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>>32453888

"We have the evidence: photos and video" - leads the agency words of the Turkish leader.

>>32447060
You can just look at this bitch in the eyes and tell she's low IQ.

Piss on marching Euros. I wish them a nice frag bath for being stupid. Politics belong on /pol/ because there is zero consensus on any of that stuff (or there'd be no wars in the first place). Atrocities are likewise irrelevant and perfectly natural in unconventional war where enemy society IS part of the fight and from a logical military standpoint should be disrupted, displaced and killed to avoid fighting the same people twice over the same issues.

Postions, movements, strengths, objectives etc should be documented and preserved for the historical record. This is /k/ after all.

>>32453953
Arab culture is a bit crazy with the amount of boyfucking that happens. It's a constant from the richest of the rich to the poorest of the poor. It doesn't get discussed as much as it probably should be.

>>32454323
It's irrelevant but someone was going to bring it up.

It's a weird time to discuss military fronts as there are conflicting claims at T4 and in Deir Ezzor, Al Bab etc. It's still very intense by T4 but no side has progressed on each other. I am waiting for the dust to settle. Side issues were bound to leak in ITT

Wish we could've seen some serious IDF/ISIS action while that was still possible.

>>32454853
Probably one of the better decisions made by IS, they were having plenty of success pulling apart countries with broken militaries, it would have made little sense for them to pick a fight against a rather more competent foe in preference to taking the lower hanging fruit of continually expanding in Iraq and Syria.
I'm sure if they had kept the momentum going long enough they would have had a proper crack at Israel, and it would likely have ended pretty badly for them eventually but definitely given us some fireworks along the way. Who knows maybe their last gasp death throes will be a random mad dash south to take that fight, it'd make about as much sense as half the shit that's happened over there in the last few years has.

>>32454853
An ISIS affiliate attacked Israeli troops in the Golan a while back.
IAF bombed their technical, and then leveled their staging area.

By the way, does IS has serious support in villages it controls? Or it just controls them with fear?

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literally 40k Ork tier

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wurvfr6Rvtk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRtc0q2dSIY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkJkld3NXXU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjpWriH0F-k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDgsnqL7mgk

>>32455301
flame thrower?

>>32453979
Who wrote that?

How's Mosul going?

>>32456146
boring

>>32456551
Damn. Totally stuck then is it?

Jesus, this thread is shit.

>>32433918
Thank you Syrian Santa

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Sunni tribesmen, Mosul

>>32460884
hey look a vz

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>>32454853

wahaha

there is afaik only a single accident in all the years, the ISIS allied group in daraa governate attacked israel (or what they claim to be israeli ground) as he already mentioned >>32454954

nothing will happen.

guess whos behind this - i mean seriously, thouse terrorists are completely braindead, but smart enough to not attack the -in theory- biggest enemy, beeing in their backyard?

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>>32455715
retard?

look at the ammo and the size of the muzzle break

Will Erdogan's spergout have any serious consequences ?

New ceasefire incoming (moscow/ankara deal).
Pretty sure part of Syria will belong to Turkey. New Cyprus incoming.

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-Turkey and Russia have agreed on a comprehensive truce plan, which will be presented to the parties to the conflict in Syria. On Wednesday 28 December, Anadolu reported, citing its own sources.

-The agreement on cease-fire does not apply to the terrorist groups.

>>32461812
So they're just going to call everyone a terrorist again so they can keep bombing everyone while pretending that they're holding true to their "cease fire"?

>>32462334
Well have we had one yet this month? We need a monthly bingo card for shit like this
>"Ceasefire" Excluding terrorist organisations (of course between all parties everyone else is regarded as terrorists at some point)
>Erdogan whines about US supporting IS/Terrorists
>Assad whines about US supporting IS/Rebels
>US whines about only way forward being the removal of Assad
>UN Grave Concern Intensifies
>Hospital in <Area> bombed by evil Assad/Putin (rarer post-Aleppo but should still have milage)
>Strong defensive position held by <Faction> collapses instantly/in hours for reasons of "RUN AWAY"
I'm sure there's a few other regular occurrences could go on there to fill things out a bit more, those are just a few of the frequent ones that sprang to mind.

>>32443667
>The "SAA" no longer exists as it once did
Are you sure you didn't get that from some vague source? last i checked the SAA got bigger when they created the 5th corps, that SAA lacking manpower and no longer existing is all just jihadi ranting with no solid proof
I can say the same thing to the terrorists in Idlib. the Sham and Fateh groups are empty names now after losing most of their men and heavy weaponry to the 2 Offensives in trying to break the E. Aleppo siege, with the Uighurs/Turkmen in the TIP now in 2nd place after Al-Nusra in terms of overall power

>>32462334
what the FUCK are you going to do about that exactly?

Violent action ongoing around T4 today. IS now claims a 4th tank destroyed after announcing 3 earlier as Ruaf airstrikes hit the outskirts. As far as I can tell most of the fighting is west of the airbase(sometimes north) and both sides are taking large casualties.

This battle has been going on for two weeks as IS has thrown the kitchen sink at the largest Saaf airbase in the country.

>>32462601
Also today Al Rahman corp destroyed a BMP in Jobar. You want to talk about a long battle that's it. It's a military enigma to me.

>>32462601
Any chance Syria still has chemical weapons at T4 that could be seized by isis should they manage to take the base?

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>>32456146
Iraqi army being dummies as usual.

>>32462672
T4 has a large underground ammunition storage center. I have no idea what they keep down there. There is also large underground fuel tanks they built to supply aircraft.

>>32462687
Isn't their advance bigger by now?
At least Livemaps has a bit more of the city under iraqi control.

>>32462781
I've heard conflicting reports of them pulling back and consolidating. So it's a fluid map.

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Meanwhile north of Raqqa

>>32463469
Map a day or two ago I'm sure showed them having taken the whole of the pocket to the west bordering the lake, retaken by IS or just over optimistically claimed previously?
Or there isn't anything much of interest in that area so neither side has made any efforts to go there, and which way it gets colored just depends on the mapmaker could be the case I guess.

>>32433918
THANK YOU SYRIAN SANTA

>>32433918
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzwFPzg-yys

>>32463558
This is actually a SDF source map. As far as the pocket the pro rebel source posting it pointed out nobody has any proof this area was taken, map makers just made shit up.

I think this map is his way of showing the SDF themselves have not declared taking the pocket but beside that SDF/YPG have made dramatic progress on this flank.

>>32447302

It's the retarded postmodern children's crusade. Probably come to the same end though.

>>32462687
At this rate they may as well just encircle, wall, and hold siege a couple years.

>>32463973
They need to make massive amounts more progress before any proper sort of siege could be considered, otherwise it's simply way too large an area to cover with the fairly small amount of (somewhat more) competent/trustworthy troops they have available. If they could get IS down to an area maybe 1/8 what's in that image they could start thinking about it, although even then I'm sure they'd still have issues with lots of people taking bribes to allow miscellaneous vehicles through without checks.
Whilst not quite as bad the Iraqi army has a similar problem to the SAA in that they're reliant on irregular militias for a notable part of their total manpower, expecting all of those to sit around holding ground for a long term siege and actually be reliable seems like a pretty unrealistic plan, even compared to the current crawl into the suburbs.

>>32439668
>>32442059

it's a combination of a crappy gunner and a crappy pilot.

the helicopters are flying way too low and fast and are overshooting the target, and the gunner is sinking his finger on the trigger instead of using short bursts to walk the fire to target.

they're probably too scared and want to bug out before the enemy can return fire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrGzogViIkE

>>32464149
god damn helicopters are so effective against infantry.
I always wonder why ISIS was still able to advance in Palmyre/T4 despite the Russian helicopters.

>>32464175

Russians don't do anything you see on that video. Their main tactic, and we've seen this in videos, is to strafe with rockets at Nap-of-Earth heights.

These videos are also taken in conditions of low light or even night time, making the helicopter way better protected against enemy fire. I don't think i've seen much night fighting throughout the whole war, while i saw the US push relentlessly during the night back in the Afghan war years.

I think it's the single most relevant distinction between the way the US fights it's wars and how others do. I never saw the US wait for daylight or even reasonable weather to pressure and strike, the training, command and gear that enables them to do that makes all the difference to squeeze an advantage out of situations.

>>32464576
whats the cause of that ? US helicopters technology is simply better ?

>>32464710
too many AA weapons in syria

>>32464710
wide spread quality optics, night vision, ir, and normal ones. add this to significant night training and the us owns the night.

As for bad weather remember pretty much only the us cares about all weather equipment and fighting.

B10 vs. assadistic sniper element

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ5jv2ERIVI

>>32465041
B10 vs. assadistic rat cave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qVJHVcebP8

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Syrian Arab Army starts operation to regain control of the city of Palmyra.

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Intense Russian airstrikes targeting Idlib city, including use of cluster munitions, civilian casualties reported.

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Hey guys, just in case if you are wondering why Mosul assault is going so bad...
https://youtu.be/vTqW4vRdsMs

>>32465917
are there any sunni units fighting for mosul? I mean if you are shia or a pesh and you are assigned to take a huge ass city such as mosul with a population which hates your guts it's no wonder these guys just say fuck this and walk

>>32465694
FREE IDLIB ARMY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDaP5faMR18

i wonder how bad assadists suck lil putinik cock once again..

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>>32466365

Displace people to west rural Aleppo & they bomb them, displace them to Idlib & they bomb them, where are people supposed to go?

>>32453452
>that image

Is this mother-fucker wearing real tree?

>>32464710
Also Russian helicopters are simply very different than US helicopters, very tanky, you just can't do with them the things you can do with US helis, as the Hungarians learned the hard way.

>>32469115
>Hungarians
What did I miss?

>>32466468
Gemany and Sweden lol
In 10 years we have civil war there and then either the Muslims kick out the europeans or the euros kick out the muslims
Circle of life

>>32464073
Well I guess they're fucked then hey

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>>32462687
Maybe they're doing what the coalition forces did in Iraq, when clearing and locking down cities like Ramadi. Move in slowly then build/reinforce some sort of defensive structure out of some buildings, then move in slowly and build/reinforce another defensive structure down the street.

>>32472396
That would be kinda reasonable though. Arabs are not really known for stuff like this.

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>the year of our lord 3368
>russian space marines airdrop on hostile planet squatting atop hovering APCs

>>32472625
fuck i want to play battlefield 3 : Strike at Karkand now.

>>32472403
Well it'd be the effect of having so many US advisors embedded with them, rather than something they're likely to have decided to do on their own initiative.
Problems will be that you still need competent troops to hold already secured areas, else you end up with isolated pockets getting fucked or outright losing whole areas again, and it was a fairly slow process that still generated casualties when the US did it, it'd be a brave person to bet on the Iraqis suddenly doing better.
Not like they have many other options though, they lack the strength by a large margin to just bumrush in, and I doubt Trump will be any keener than Obama to do things the fast way and give the B-52 fleet a week or two of formation flying practice to soften up the area.
As it is I have doubts they will or realistically can take the city as it is now, it's more a case of constantly applying pressure to IS and bleeding them in as many places as possible until the whole organisation runs out of man/willpower in Syria/Iraq and falls in on itself, right now the US actually needs SAA/Russians to fight back hard in T4/Palmyra, as it's another potentially significant drain on IS's resources that could help keep men away from Mosul and the Kurd push around Raqqa. So long as they don't get kicked back out again the Iraqis in Mosul can fulfill their role in the opera well enough turtling their way into the city for the next year or two until the combined efforts of them, Kurds, SAA/Russians and maybe Turkey have done enough to bleed out IS as a standing army and they fall back to a typical insurgency.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUOffXxwRxQ

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>>32472703
Just wait for the PMU militias to blitzkrieg through the desert and reach the western side of Mosul city

>>32472396
That's basically the way to do it given their options and need to appear to give a shit about civilian casualties.

The right way to reduce a city is massive bombardment, Grozny style. Russia and Assad don't have the resources to bomb cities flat and the US barely does (if it pulled from CONUS bases to a nearby place where it could mount heavy bomber sorties) but can't do it because UN.

Artillery and lots of it works, but no one in the area has very much. This is a war of dispersed targets, distant air assets, and restrained budgets.

>>32472403
The Egyptian combat engineers crossing Suez were pretty smart, and even during Desert Storm Iraqi combat engineers were noted for quick repairs/bypass of blown bridges etc. Of course the men who did those things are old or dead today.

Russian brokered ceasefire.

Turks want no more Hezbollah in Syria and a draw down of Russian personal in Syria.

They also made it so the YPG and ISIS were both EXCLUDED from the ceasefire, meaning the Kurds are free game.

If this isn't a huge fuck you to the US in Syria idk what is, lel.

>>32472827
US had an interesting strategy with Kobani, admittedly the whole city was pretty much a ruin after it though. Could they do a similar campaign with Mosul?

>>32473193
What about Ahrar Al-Sham? I can't figure out if they are included or not.

Al-Nusra definitely isn't.

>>32473479
Same, can't figure out if al-Sham was included or excluded from the cease-fire.

Nursa ofc is excluded.

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https://twitter.com/alqadisiyyah___/status/814271020848873472

>arabs

>>32473193
Russian's actually HELPING the Turkish armed forces and Turkish backed FSA capture Al Bab from IS certainly is a plot twist I didn't see coming.

T4 has been semi epic today. The claims swing from pro SAA to pro IS. Sana reported 70 IS killed northeast of T4 and SAA taking the hills south of T4 and for about a hour every pro SAA twitter from NDF, Hez and reporters were flooding the T4 feed with news and suddenly IS claims to have destroyed a 3rd tank and Shilka by the pumping station then the pro IS crowd came flooding back.

tl;dr Intense combat action ongoing by T4, both sides making incredible claims

>>32473534
This is why I call the Syria civil war a soap opera. I feel like a middle aged woman watching "days of our lives" when factions switch sides.

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>>32433918

>>32473193
so the small green pockets left will be left alone, right?

what about Idlib? Is it considered as terrorist clay or not?

does it mean that the SAA will focus on palmyra and deir ezzor as of now? (possibly raqqah?)

>>32473686
al-Nursa is not included in the cease fire and no one knows if al-Sham is or not.

Likewise the opposition is so heavily fragmented no one really knows how the ceasefire will even go.

There is a rebel pocket right by Damascus that the regime wanted to exclude from the ceasefire as well and people aren't sure if they got that wish or not, everything is kind of in the air still.

>>32473705
http://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12107227@egNews

Al Sham and JAI (two big groups) are outright listed as part of the ceasefire according to Russian sources. Notice JAI has about 12,000 troops. Between 8 to 10 thousand are in eastern Ghouta.
>muh moderate rebels

>>32473820
Wew, Putin got the short end of the bargain on this ceasefire.

At least he gets to toot his own horn and keep the Americans out of the first round of talks.

>>32472827
>Russia and Assad don't have the resources to bomb cities flat

Russia certainly could flatten a city if they really wanted to, but Mosul? Why?

Does Iraq still own some Scuds?

>>32473257
>Could they do a similar campaign with Mosul?

You realize that Kobani had 54k inhabitants in 2007, right? That "city" was fucking small.

In 2010 Mosul had almost 3 Million inhabitants.

It certainly would be possible to flatten the entire city, but civil victim numbers would be immense since IS won't let the civilians go. No way the US would risk such a 100% PR-disaster.

>>32473548
>incredible claims

Whats so incredible about a 3rd destroyed tank?
Even 70 (lets divide that by half to be on the save side) would be reasonable possible if IS did one of their human wave attacks against a secured perimeter of the base or if they hit them somewhere in the open with air support.

>>32473647
>>32473534
>implying they can spot whose planes those are. They are allied with turks, so all planes destroying their enemies = turk planes. Ofc they cheer.

>>32473912
The 3rd tank/shika is only on one side. On the west side only one tank was destroyed today plus yesterdays and a couple of bulldozers. If their claims are true it's been an armored graveyard for the past week on top of conflicting claims over the village of Sharifah nearby. I never said I didn't believe the SAA claim of 70 IS killed either. Both sides are taking heavy casualties.

>>32473950
Correction* I never said I didn't believe the SAA claim of 70 IS killed *is possible* either. The SAA has been lacking of picture proof around T4 lately other than the group of dead IS that suicide charged the airbase the first week. IS has some videos of their armor kills but not all.

I won't believe either side without proof to make that clear.

>>32472396
Sounds too strategically intelligent for them.

>>32473839
>Wew, Putin got the short end of the bargain on this ceasefire.

They took Aleppo and Nusra is not part of the agreement you dumbfuck.

Now with Trump coming in, it's a great time to focus on ISIS/Nusra.

>>32474201
Both JAI and al-Sham aren't part of the agreement, so yes, he did get the short end of the stick.

>>32474248
What? expand with source's please. This ceasefire is crazy. Tune in tomorrow "as Syria turns"

>>32474248
So what exactly is the "short end"? Should Turkey not get anything in return? Does Putin want the US-backed YPG and SDF to continue expanding in Syria?

The ceasefire favors Turkey/Russia over Kurds/US/ISIS.

I doubt this peace will stick but it's going to be hilarious if Obama gets cuckolded out of stopping the Syrian civil war. Straight up new "Iran hostages released after Carter leaves office" for the history books.

>>32474286
I have a source
https://twitter.com/michaelh992/status/814546675570266112
Al Sham isn't signing. Peace canceled (at least in Idlib)

>>32474485
Expected.
Now the SAA and friends can advance on Idlib through southern and western Aleppo.

>>32474612
It wasn't expected. They were already assumed to be leaving JFS on island for the Russian led crew to pick them off. It strengthens JFS's hand at the end of the day.

>>32473865
>Russia certainly could flatten a city if they really wanted to,

They don't have enough conventional weapons or aircraft to flatten Mosul. Never overestimate airpower. Americans, who have most of it, continue to make that mistake then excuse it will bullshit. Airpower has limits, and area destruction requires an immense amount of explosives which require thousands of sorties to deliver.
Anyone who wants to can do the bomb load X sorties per day X number of mission capable aircraft under ideal conditions, but real world conditions are of course not ideal.
Scuds have babby 500lb warheads in most cases and poor accuracy. I saw Patriot engage two Scuds at KKMC during Desert Storm. The warheads are not that impressive when they go off.

>>32475537
They have ballistic missiles though. Lots of them.
They also have thousands of artillery tanks, rocket launchers and even towed cannons.

It might take some time (and money/effort), but if they really wanted to, they could flatten every single house in that city and the IS could do shit to prevent it.

>Scuds have babby 500lb warheads in most cases and poor accuracy.

Who needs accuracy if the goal is to flatten everything in the general area?

btw:

>On 20 April 1991, the marketplace of Asadabad was hit by two Scuds, that killed 300 and wounded 500 inhabitants. Though the exact toll is unknown, these attacks resulted in heavy civilian casualties.[30] The explosions destroyed the headquarters of Islamic leader Jamil al-Rahman, and killed a number of his followers.

>Three districts in the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo and the nearby city of Tel Rifat were hit by ballistic missiles on 22 February 2013, flattening up to 20 houses in each of the places hit.

>>32475608
Those are small casualty rates and you will notice Scud bombardments don't come forty or fifty at a time.

>They also have thousands of artillery tanks, rocket launchers and even towed cannons.

Stretched all over an enormous area with the vast, vast majority of it not remotely in range or conveniently deployable to bring it in range of Aleppo. Serious wars kill 50K in one day, as in major WWI battles. A few hundred or a thousand is background noise. Twenty or forty or a hundred houses is no city of three million.

Small wars such as the current regional mix of civil wars don't kill many people. No major groups are wiped out. They may disappear to reform later or join others per sensible unconventional war custom, but there is relatively little death.

That's what makes these wars so practical to sustain for decades.

>>32475729
>you will notice Scud bombardments don't come forty or fifty at a time.

True, but they could if they wanted, thats the point. Maybe not the SAA, but russia has the numbers for sure.

>>32475729
Grozny is what it looks like when there's enough firepower to do the job.

https://northcaucasusland.wordpress.com/tag/chechnya-before-and-after-war/

>>32475737
Russia doesn't use masses of Scuds or other missiles because it's an extremely inefficient way to put explosives on target and stunningly expensive. Moscow isn't infinitely rich. Neither is the US which is why all air campaigns aren't replaced by missiles.

If the rough estimated TOTAL Scud production (over many years and dispersed in many countries) of say 7,000 Russian-built units wore nothing but conventional warheads that's only 3.5 MT TNT equivalent.

That could fuck up a large city if delivered at once, but those missiles don't all exist any more nor if they did would they all be in range and capable of hitting Syria.

It would take about 875 sorties by fighter-bombers with a 4Klb load for the same result at much less expense, which is why the US and Russia use many aircraft and relatively few missiles. No cities are disappearing because both countries operate over the theater and cannot abandon the other fights to focus on one.

Reality is real. Nobody has an air force that can mount the thousand bomber raids of WWII. It's all about PGM now which are cute until you have area targets to destroy.