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[AcademicSaucer]

Syrian government forces and their allies are on the verge of breaking a nearly three-year siege imposed by the Islamic State group on parts of the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, opposition activists and state media said Monday.

Breaking the siege on Deir el-Zour would mark another victory for President Bashar Assad, whose forces have been advancing on several fronts against IS and other insurgent groups over the past year.

Syrian troops and allied militiamen have for months been advancing toward Deir el-Zour, the provincial capital of the oil-rich province of the same name. Government forces are besieged in a handful of neighborhoods as well as a nearby airport.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday that the advancing forces are a few hundred meters (yards) from a besieged, government-held air base known as Brigade 137. If they reach the base, they will be able to lift the siege.

State TV reported that government forces are only three kilometers (2 miles) away from breaking the siege. State news agency SANA reported the "collapse" of IS defenses in the area.

"The morale is very high," Deir el-Zour's governor Mohammed Ibrahim al-Samra told state TV, speaking from inside the besieged area.

"Assad's forces are few kilometers (miles) from breaking the siege," said opposition activist Omar Abu Laila, who currently lives in Europe but is from Deir el-Zour. He is with DeirEzzor 24, an activist group that has reporters throughout the eastern province.

Al-Manar TV, the media arm of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, aired footage of people celebrating in the streets of besieged parts of Deir el-Zour. Some 70,000 people live in government-held areas, which have been relying on air drops for food and basic goods.

Hezbollah is fighting alongside Assad's forces, and Russia is providing crucial air support. The Russian Defense Ministry said its aircraft have carried out 80 airstrikes, destroying two tanks and killing and wounding 70 people in the Deir el-Zour area.

Thousands of people have been fleeing Deir el-Zour province because of the offensive, many of them heading toward the northeastern province of Hassakeh. Last week dozens of people were killed or wounded by mines laid by the militants.

IS has suffered a series of major setbacks in both Syria and Iraq in recent months. The group is now forcibly conscripting all men between the ages of 20 and 30 to replace lost fighters.

Also on Monday, the U.S.-led coalition said allied Syrian fighters have successfully cleared a centuries-old mosque in Raqqa after seizing the Syrian city's ancient quarters from the Islamic State group.

The coalition says the seizure of the Old City of Raqqa and especially the Great Mosque is a "milestone" in the battle to defeat IS. It said the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, went to great lengths to limit damage to infrastructure, including the ancient mosque.

The Great Mosque is the oldest mosque in the city and has been under IS control since 2014, when the extremist group captured the city. IS later made Raqqa the de facto capital of its self-styled caliphate.

The SDF, aided by the U.S.-led coalition, launched their offensive to capture Raqqa on June 6, and have since taken more than half the city.

http://abcnews.go.com/International...ps-close-breaking-siege-eastern-city-49608480

 

[kruis]

Good news. Fuck ISIS.

 

[Captain Smoker]

ISIS is falling apart this year.

Deir el-Zour is the red dot in the middle of Syria which is being liberated currently.


January 1st 2017

September 4th 2017

 

[AmayaPapaya]

Good, I heard Assad was starting to win against the rebels, too. Time the west just accepts him and we try to stablize his government, IMO.

 

[BasicMath]

Good news but I can't help but feel that the last part of the article was propaganda.

"Look guys, we're also WINNING. Arming the rebels wasn't a bad idea AT ALL. Those rebels are really putting in some work."

 

[sofa]

Between Isis and coalition bombing it's a miracle that the SAA managed to hold as long as it did. Zahreddine will come out as a war hero.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

Assad is no better than ISIS. He actually played a big role in the creation of ISIS.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

Between Isis and coalition bombing it's a miracle that the SAA managed to hold as long as it did. Zahreddine will come out as a war hero.

The SAA was almost never targeted by the coalition, and it was backed up by direct Russian and Iranian army support, without mentioning dozen of sectarian militias.
Also the SDF is directly helped by the coalition, and it's pro-Assad. The YPG also helped Assad against FSA in some instance, like in Aleppo.

 

[FZZ]

Good, I heard Assad was starting to win against the rebels, too. Time the west just accepts him and we try to stablize his government, IMO.

Yeah...no

see below

Assad is no better than ISIS. He actually played a big role in the creation of ISIS.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

Also, we should recall when the official mufti of the Assad regime was threatening Europe with suicide bombers in 2011.

The West should stick to it's morals principles and stop allying with dictatorships in order to fight terrorism. Dictatorship only produce radicalism, as bombing civilians does.

 

[Generalpsyduck]

Good, I heard Assad was starting to win against the rebels, too. Time the west just accepts him and we try to stablize his government, IMO.

He has used chemical weapons he has committed mass executions and tortured his enemys he has targeted hospitals he used scud missiles to shell Aleppo killing 38,000 people so no we should not accept him.

 

[Xisiqomelir]

Zahreddine is a modern-day Zhukov

o7

 

[MistakenMobius]

He has used chemical weapons he has committed mass executions and tortured his enemys he has targeted hospitals he used scud missiles to shell Aleppo killing 38,000 people so no we should not accept him.

Yeah turned out so well the 50 last time the west backed rebel.
We should just stay out of this mess.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

Yeah turned out so well the 50 last time the west backed rebel.
We should just stay out of this mess.

Imposing a no-fly zone in 2012 would have had excellent result in Syria, as it worked in Serbia-Bosnia perfectly in the 90's

Even in Libya it prevented a large massacre and refugee crisis.

Non-intervention and just let Iran and Russia rape Syria gaved us +20M refugee crisis, one of the most powerful terrorist group that have never existed and more than 500k civilians casualties...

 

[sofa]

The SAA was almost never targeted by the coalition, and it was backed up by direct Russian and Iranian army support, without mentioning dozen of sectarian militias.
Also the SDF is directly helped by the coalition, and it's pro-Assad. The YPG also helped Assad against FSA in some instance, like in Aleppo.

We're talking about the Deir Ezzor siege and i'm not aware of iranian or russian ground forces presence there.
The coalition bombed the garrison there several times by mistake, killing hundred of soldiers.
SDF it's not really pro-assad. They didn't shared much of frontline, aside some pockets in the north, until recently and they clashed just a couple months ago south of Raqqa.

 

[MistakenMobius]

Non-intervention and just let Iran and Russia rape Syria gaved us +20M refugee crisis, one of the most powerful terrorist group that have never existed and more than 500k civilians casualties...

More like supporting Saudi gave us that

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Whatever your stance on the whole Syria situation, is amazing how they have survived a 3 year long siege with so many civilians, I hope some day we learn more about what transpired in that city.

 

[AmayaPapaya]

He has used chemical weapons he has committed mass executions and tortured his enemys he has targeted hospitals he used scud missiles to shell Aleppo killing 38,000 people so no we should not accept him.

Saying we shouldn't go to war with Syria =/= to saying he is a good guy. Maybe if the US had a good history of regime change...but it's quite the opposite. Maybe if we had a good replacement in mind, but no one has come up with a good one. Maybe if Assad was losing, so we wouldnt have to go through his military first (let alone, Russia and Iran). Not interested in Iraq 2.0. Or Libya 2.0. Or Iran 2.0. Or Cuba 2.0. Or whatever other place the US has toppled/installed governments in post-WWII.

Not to mention, Russia has already picked sides and I'm not too keen on being on the opposite.

Can't we be pragmatic? The US simply doesnt have a good answer to this. There is no reason to trust that they do either. Especially when Donald Trump is at the helm.

 

[Septy]

ISIS have repeatedly thrown themselves at Deir el-Zour. Even as they were in retreat on their other fronts, they preferred to try and break the city, rather than reinforce other fronts. It's an open-sore that has been bleeding ISIS white.

 

[Ushojax]

He has used chemical weapons he has committed mass executions and tortured his enemys he has targeted hospitals he used scud missiles to shell Aleppo killing 38,000 people so no we should not accept him.

The only way to stabilise the region is to prop him up, sadly. Forcing regime change has been a disastrous policy and led to the hell on earth that is the current situation in Libya, Iraq etc. Russia is already backing him so the die is pretty much cast.

 

[RustyNails]

Genocidal warcriminal's army at close to breaking the siege of a murderous death cult's hold on a city, raising fears for a full scale destruction of city and its 70,000 civilians

 

[HighResTomato]

Imposing a no-fly zone in 2012 would have had excellent result in Syria, as it worked in Serbia-Bosnia perfectly in the 90's

Even in Libya it prevented a large massacre and refugee crisis.

Non-intervention and just let Iran and Russia rape Syria gaved us +20M refugee crisis, one of the most powerful terrorist group that have never existed and more than 500k civilians casualties...

None of that is accurate, Libya is a living hell right now but since its natural resources are secured now you won't hear it on the news.

A no fly zone in Syria with the same coalition as in Libya would have resulted in 10 times the air strikes and destruction.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

raising fears for a full scale destruction of city and its 70,000 civilians

what?

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

We're talking about the Deir Ezzor siege and i'm not aware of iranian or russian ground forces presence there.
The coalition bombed the garrison there several times by mistake, killing hundred of soldiers.
SDF it's not really pro-assad. They didn't shared much of frontline, aside some pockets in the north, until recently and they clashed just a couple months ago south of Raqqa.

Yes, by mistake. So it's not like they are under coalition fire. If it was the case, they would have ended long time ago, since they are basically forced to serve.

The conflict is defined by air force, not ground force, so it's pretty irrelevant and in any case, the SAA did had direct russian (ground and air) support in Deir Ezzor, according to pro-Assad medias.

SDF is aligned to YPG, which was in a conflicted position with the regime at the beginning but it's now pretty blatant that the regime is accepting a kurdish territory in Syria in exchange of support against rebels.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

None of that is accurate, Libya is a living hell right now but since its natural resources are secured now you won't hear it on the news.

A no fly zone in Syria with the same coalition as in Libya would have resulted in 10 times the air strikes and destruction.

Totally BS. Libya is having 20k casualties after 5 years of civil war. It's a heaven of peace in comparison to Syria. Without no-fly zone and the expected struggle of Khadafi to stick to power, it would have become a Syria bis.

No-fly zone mean that there is no Russian, Assad army or Iranian planes flying over. So it would have reduced considerably the death count. More than 90 % of the civilians are killed by the airforce of those countries. Also, with a no-fly zone in 2012, Russia would never have invaded like they did. Without Russian intervention, Assad regime would have fallen in 2014.

 

[Oemenia]

Genocidal warcriminal's army at close to breaking the siege of a murderous death cult's hold on a city, raising fears for a full scale destruction of city and its 70,000 civilians

This, doesn't Assad indiscriminately bomb people?

 

[Codeblue]

Genocidal warcriminal's army at close to breaking the siege of a murderous death cult's hold on a city, raising fears for a full scale destruction of city and its 70,000 civilians

Yeah, this is more accurate.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

In before negationnist bs. Syria is the first conflict where you have a very large, live and accepted negationnist effort going on. It's like journalism, testimonies and history about prisons that are closer to death camps, mass killing and systematic torture and rape don't exist anymore. Just dismissed by "alternatives facts".

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

This, doesn't Assad indiscriminately bomb people?

Yes, and targets aid centers and food distribution.

Sadly for those people there is no liberation. Assad's military and militias will make many of them disappear to his his death camps.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Siege has been broken


Maybe a mod can update the title.

 

[RustyNails]

This, doesn't Assad indiscriminately bomb people?

This is the understatement of a lifetime. Assad bombs civilians discriminately, including hospitals and shelters. Those who somehow make it out alive are thrown into deathcamps.

 

[Oemenia]

Great, so one evil for another (even more) evil.

 

[Starfish_Oxide]

One step closer to peace.

 

[Xisiqomelir]

Siege has been broken


Maybe a mod can update the title.

Heartwarming

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

Heartwarming

Heartwarming celebration before the mass-rape and sectarian cleansing.

 

[Xisiqomelir]

Heartwarming celebration before the mass-rape and sectarian cleansing.

I think you should check the sect that the inhabitants of DeZ belong to before prognosticating this. If you'd said the same thing about Idlib you'd find no argument from me.

Since we don't have the Syria megathread any more I'll leave this here:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...orses-independent-kurdish-state-idUSKCN1BO0QZ

Israel endorses independent Kurdish state

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel supports the establishment of a Kurdish state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, as Kurds in Iraq gear up for a referendum on independence that lawmakers in Baghdad oppose.

Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s, viewing the minority ethnic group -- whose indigenous population is split between Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran -- as a buffer against shared Arab adversaries.

On Tuesday, Iraq’s Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said he would press ahead with the Sept. 25 referendum despite a vote by Iraq’s parliament rejecting it.

“(Israel) supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to achieve their own state,” Netanyahu said, in remarks sent to foreign correspondents by his office.

Western powers are concerned a plebiscite in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region - including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk - could divert attention from the war against Islamic State militants.

Netanyahu said Israel does however consider the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) a terrorist group, taking the same position as Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

An Israeli general told a conference in Washington last week that he personally did not regard the PKK, whose militants have been fighting Turkey for more than three decades, as a terrorist group.

Netanyahu, who is due to address the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 19, voiced support for “the Kurds’ aspirations for independence” in a speech in 2014, saying they deserve “political independence”.

His latest remarks appeared to be a more direct endorsement of the creation of a Kurdish state.

But they will cut little ice in Baghdad, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel and has strong ties with Israel’s arch-foe Iran.

Iraq’s neighbors -- Turkey, Iran and Syria -- oppose the referendum, fearing it could fan separatism among their own ethnic Kurdish populations.

Kurds have sought an independent state since at least the end of World War One, when colonial powers divided up the Middle East after the collapse of the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire.

If Trump really wants to learn 3D chess he could do worse for a tutor than Bibi.

 

[Greigor The Fellhand]

fuck isis.