Syria Superthread [merged]

[CougarKing]

Possessing this equipment and knowing how to operate it effectively are two different things.  Then comes the questions of having qualified 'Maintainers - mechanics, FCS technicians, wpns technicians, etc to keep them in operating condition as well as ammunition to fire.

Would ISIS compensate for this by trying to recruit Sunni members from the Iraqi Army prisoners they have, or at least forcing some of their mechanics to maintain or repair damaged vehicles? As for the parts problem, weren't there a few Iraqi Army vehicle depots at outposts overrun by ISIS?

One would think that this would be less of a problem with the Russian vehicles and equipment and they have in greater quantities.

----------------------

And in other news, the oil refineries are targeted by coalition aircraft:

Defense News

US, Coalition Forces Hit IS Oil Refineries in Syria
Sep. 24, 2014 - 06:49PM  |  By DOUG STANGLIN and RAY LOCKER 

US aircraft and those from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates struck Islamic State targets in Syria Wednesday, including 12 “modular oil refineries,” the US Central Command said.

The 13 airstrikes used a combination of fighter aircraft and drones, according to Central Command. The targets were in the remote eastern part of Syria near the towns of Al Mayadin, Al Hasakah, and Abu Kamal. Another strike hit an IS vehicle near Dayr az Zawr, also in eastern Syria.

The latest attacks follow strikes early Wednesday on five targets in Iraq and Syria connected to the militant Islamic State terrorist organization, the US Central Command reported.

(...EDITED)

 

[CougarKing]

It's inevitable that Assad will still benefit from these coalition air strikes against ISIS despite Obama specifically saying they won't work with Assad:

Military.com

US, Allies Risk Benefiting Syria's Assad by Striking Militants

Stars and Stripes | Sep 25, 2014 | by Travis J. Tritten and Jon Harper
WASHINGTON — One year ago, the Obama administration considered a cruise missile strike on Syria, but the target was not the Islamic State or al-Qaida.

The president accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of murdering more than 1,000 citizens with poison gas. But U.S. airstrikes never came. Instead, the U.S. opted to negotiate the removal of Syria’s chemical weapons, and Assad continued a bloody war against his opponents that has killed an estimated 200,000 Syrians over more than three years.

Administration officials said again this week that Assad must relinquish power. But the new U.S.-led air war there against the Islamic State and al-Qaida offshoots Khorasan and the Nusra Front puts the administration in a precarious position — it is counting on Assad’s ouster while pounding some of his most dangerous enemies from the air.

(...EDITED)

 

[CougarKing]

Now France is mulling Syrian strikes after one of their citizens is beheaded; they are already engaged in the air campaign over Iraq.

Reuters

Hours after tourist killed, France says does not rule out Syria strikes

By John Irish and Andrew Callus

PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Thursday it did not rule out joining U.S.-led air strikes on Syria, just hours after an Algerian Islamist group beheaded a French tourist in retaliation for French military action against Islamic State militants in Iraq.

France has repeatedly said it would not take part in air action in Syria where Islamic State has its power base. On Thursday it struck its first targets in almost a week since joining the United States in raids against militants in Iraq.

Paris fears that strikes against Islamic State in Syria would leave a void that only Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces could fill, making it difficult for rebels to counter the more organized Syrian army.

(...EDITED)

 

[CougarKing]

ISIS-captured tanks caught on the ground? (or more probably former Iraqi Army T-72s or T-62s?)

BBC

US air strikes in Syria 'destroy IS tanks'

US-led air strikes on Islamic State (IS) militants have destroyed four tanks and damaged another during a fourth night of bombardments in Syria.

The Pentagon said it also carried out seven strikes on IS positions in Iraq, including one on the outskirts of the capital, Baghdad.

The Danish government says it is sending seven F-16 fighter jets to join anti-IS operations - but only in Iraq.

The UK parliament is due to vote on possible air strikes in Iraq on Friday.

IS controls much of north-eastern Syria and earlier this year seized swathes of territory in neighbouring Iraq, including the second city, Mosul

(...SNIPPED)

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Destroying or preventing ISIS from using their heavy equipment, forces them to operate like Light Infantry, putting them on a level playing field with the Kurds, well not level if the west provides air support and tactical battlefield intelligence.

 

[CougarKing]

Khorasan- just an elite group of Al-Qaeda or another offshoot that will grow into ISIS-propotions?

Yahoo Finance/Business Insider

Meet The Khorasan, The Terrorist Group That's Suddenly A Bigger Threat Than ISIS
Business Insider
By Jeremy Bender and Brett LoGiurato – 11 hours ago

Up until late last week, no US official had ever publicly mentioned the terrorist group known as the Khorasan. On Monday night, the US carried out unilateral airstrikes against the previously unknown group in northwest Syria.

And on Tuesday, US officials were describing the group as an imminent threat on par with or worse than the group calling itself the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL), which has been the focus of US airstrikes for more than six weeks.

The key difference between ISIS and Khorasan: US intelligence believes Khorasan poses a threat to the US and its homeland, while it believes ISIS does not currently have the capability to carry out a large-scale attack on the US homeland.

Khorasan was involved in "imminent attack plotting" against the US and its interests along with Europe, the Pentagon said Tuesday . The group has been portrayed as a collection of top Al Qaeda officials from Central Asia who have been taking advantage of the chaos in Syria to establish training camps. In a  statement from the White House, US President Barack Obama called them "seasoned" Al Qaeda operatives .

"The intelligence reports indicated that the Khorasan Group was in the final stages of plans to execute major attacks against Western targets and potentially the U.S. homeland," Lt. Gen. William Mayville, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday.

BuzzFeed's Rosie Gray reports that Khorasan appears to have been connected to I brahim al-Asiri , the master bomb maker in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The group is believed to be led by Muhsin al-Fadhli, a senior Al Qaeda operative and a close confidant of Osama bin Laden.

(...EDITED)

 

[tomahawk6]

From what I gather this group doesnt exisat.Obama claimed that AQ was destroyed when that is not true.So the Khorasan group was created.AQ is alive and well.Every time you see Khorasan mentioned think - AQ.

 

[CougarKing]

The coalition air strikes continue:

Reuters

U.S. says strike aimed at Syria vehicles adjacent to grain storage
Mon Sep 29, 2014 11:16am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Monday an American air strike overnight targeted Islamic State vehicles in a staging area adjacent to a grain storage facility near the northern Syrian town of Manbij, and added it had no evidence so far of civilian casualties.

"We are aware of media reports alleging civilian casualties, but have no evidence to corroborate these claims," Colonel Patrick Ryder, a spokesman at the U.S. military's Central Command said, adding the military however took such reports seriously and would look into them further.

A group monitoring the war said on Monday the air strike hit the grain storage areas and added that the operation appeared to have killed civilians, as opposed to Islamic State fighters.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[CougarKing]

Turkey itching to intervene?

Reuters

Obama says misread Islamic State; Qaeda warns of attacks on West
Mon Sep 29, 2014 9:58am

BEIRUT/MURSITPINAR Turkey (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has acknowledged that U.S. intelligence underestimated the rise of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, where the head of an al Qaeda branch warned militants will attack the West in retaliation for U.S.-led air strikes.

Turkish tanks took up positions on the Syrian frontier, opposite a besieged border town where Islamic State shelling intesified and stray fire hit Turkish soil.

U.S.-led air strikes overnight hit a natural gas plant controlled by Islamic State fighters in eastern Syria, a monitoring body reported, part of an apparent campaign to disrupt one of the fighters' main sources of income

(...SNIPPED)

At least 15 Turkish tanks were positioned at the frontier, some with guns pointed towards Syrian territory. More tanks and armoured vehicles moved towards the border after shells landed in Turkey on Sunday and Monday.

(...EDITED)

 

[CougarKing]

And speaking of Turkey's mulling whether to intervene:

Turkey 'can't stay out' of anti-IS fight: Erdogan

Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey cannot stay out of the international coalition fighting Islamic State (IS) jihadists, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday, as Ankara prepares in the coming week to define its military involvement.

Turkey has for months frustrated the West with its cautious position against IS, but there appears to have been a sea change in its policy following Erdogan's trip last week to the United States.

"We will hold discussions with our relevent institutions this week. We will definitely be where we need to be," Erdogan said in a keynote address to a World Economic Forum meeting in Istanbul.

"We cannot stay out of this," he added.

(...SNIPPED)


Yahoo News

And a pic of Turkish M60 tanks gathering at the Turkish-Syrian border:

 

[Edward Campbell]

I'm sure this isn't exactly how it's being done, but ...

... that's what US policy looks like, to me.

 

[CougarKing]

Raptors doing "bomb truck" duty over Syria:

Defense News

F-22 Continuing Operations in Syria
Sep. 29, 2014 - 03:45AM  |  By AARON MEHTA

WASHINGTON — The kid gloves appear to be fully removed from the F-22 Raptor, with a US Air Force general indicating Monday that the fifth-generation fighter will be available for future operations over Syria for the foreseeable future.

That doesn’t mean the F-22 is running missions every day, however. The jet is being used for specific mission sets, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations, where its suite of advanced sensors and avionics can make an impact.

“Planners are taking a look at the specifics of each mission and determining if they need them or not,” Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements, told reporters. “So it will depend on what the targets are, where they are, and the environment — whether it’s day, night, those kind of things — to determine if it is necessary to flow the F-22 into the package.”

The F-22 had its first official combat mission during the first day of strikes against Islamic States (IS) forces in Syria. It was a long time coming for the jet, which went operational at the end of 2005 but was largely viewed as being kept in bubble wrap for a potential air-to-air combat situation against another advanced air force.

The general confirmed that the F-22 has been used in operations since then. And while its first operation involved dropping a weapon on an IS command and control facility, Harrigian said the jet would not be dropping bombs on every sortie.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[CougarKing]

Ankara changing their minds after denying coalition forces the use of their airbases for air strikes last month?

Reuters

Turkey vows to fight Islamic State, coalition strikes near border
BY AYLA JEAN YACKLEY AND OLIVER HOLMES
MURSITPINAR Turkey/BEIRUT Wed Oct 1, 2014 10:14am EDT

(Reuters) - Turkey signalled it may send troops into Syria or Iraq and let allies use Turkish bases to fight Islamic State, as coalition jets launched air strikes on Wednesday on insurgents besieging a town on its southern border with Syria.

The government sent a proposal to parliament late on Tuesday which would broaden existing powers and allow Ankara to order military action to "defeat attacks directed towards our country from all terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria".

The proposal would also mean Turkey, until now reluctant to take a frontline role against Islamic State, could allow foreign forces to use its territory for cross-border incursions.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[CougarKing]

The barbarians at it again:

Reuters

Islamic State beheads seven men, three women in Syria: monitor
Reuters – 11 hours ago

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State beheaded seven men and three women in a northern Kurdish area of Syria, a human rights monitoring group said on Wednesday, part of what it described as a campaign to frighten residents resisting the militant group's advance.

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human, Rights Rami Abdulrahman, said five anti-Islamic State Kurdish fighters, including three women, and four Syrian Arab rebels were detained and beheaded on Tuesday 14 km (8 miles) west of Kobani, a Kurdish town besieged by Islamic State near the Turkish border.

He said a Kurdish male civilian was also beheaded.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[CougarKing]

Turkish troops getting ready to fight ISIS?

US News and World Report

Turkey OKs Ground Troops to Fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria

NATO has no plans to assist its ally, however, as local defense minister lowers expectations.

The Turkish parliament voted Thursday in favor of sending ground troops into neighboring Syria and Iraq to help quell the surging Islamic State group threat, becoming the first NATO ally or U.S. partner to seriously consider deploying the much discussed “boots on the ground” option from which all others have distanced themselves.

A resolution in favor of the deployment passed the parliament with three quarters of the vote, according to the BBC. It includes a provision allowing friendly nations to use Turkish soil as a staging ground for launching attacks. The Turkish government had been reticent about involving itself directly in Syria in recent weeks as more than 40 of its citizens were previously held captive by the extremists. The details of their release late last month remain unclear.

Nonetheless, fierce fighting has taken place along the country’s border with Syria near the village of Kobane.

(...EDITED)

 

[CougarKing]

The ISIS barbarians behead another Briton:

Reuters

Islamic State beheads Briton Henning in new video: SITE
Fri Oct 3, 2014 4:43pm EDT

(...SNIPPED)

The one-minute, 11-second video, titled "Another Message to America and its Allies," showed the British aid worker introducing himself, said SITE. Henning says "because of our parliament's decision to attack the Islamic state, I, as a member of the British public, will now pay the price for that decision," according to SITE.

 

[CougarKing]

Isn't the theological challenge rhetoric more for the consumption of western countries (namely diplomats) than for within Arab countries?

Defense News

Arab Leaders Attack IS With Intel, Theological Challenge
Oct. 4, 2014 - 11:25AM  |  By AWAD MUSTAFA 

DUBAI — As the international coalition’s military operations against Islamic State (IS) militants have ramped up, Arab leaders also have begun waging an intellectual war while providing intelligence to guide airstrikes.

According to retired Maj. Gen. Anwar Eshki, an adviser to the joint military council of Saudi Arabia, the coalition operations will continue for some time because it is being structured as a NATO-style force.

“It will either be an extension of NATO or a NATO-style coalition because the US wants this coalition to include the Middle East joining Eastern Europe,” he said. “It will continue for many years to destabilize terrorism in the region and weaken it,” he added.

In addition, Saudi Arabia will be training Syrian rebel forces and has received its first 5,000 recruits, he said, with an expectation to train a total of 15,000 soldiers.

(...SNIPPED

Jordanian armed forces have also used a network of surveillance and monitoring radar systems placed in the Ajloun mountain in the north to collect intel and track movements, he said.

In Iraq, coalition forces rely on the Iraqi military and intelligence services, although insight into Islamic State-controlled territory is limited. However, according to Eshki, efforts by the Iraqi government to collect support from Sunni groups formerly backing the IS militants have been successful.

(...EDITED)

Despite the Qatari government long being criticized for hosting and financing Islamic extremists, the rich gulf nation has become a key opponent of the Islamic State in Syria, contributing two Mirage 2000 jet fighters during the first raids in Syria, according to a Pentagon official’s statements to US press.

(...END OF EXCERPTS)

 

[CougarKing]

ISIS closing in on the Syrian Kurds: Yikes! 

Reuters

Syrian border town still under siege by Islamic State despite allied air strikes
BY AYLA JEAN YACKLEY AND SYLVIA WESTALL
MURSITPINAR/BEIRUT Sat Oct 4, 2014 12:08pm EDT

(Reuters) - Islamic State forces shelled the Syrian border town of Kobani on Saturday and its Kurdish defenders said they were expecting a new assault to try to capture it.

U.S.-led coalition warplanes had struck at Islamic State targets overnight to halt the insurgents' advance and Saturday's barrages were less intense than the previous day.

"Clashes continue now, they are shelling on all three fronts. They tried to invade Kobani last night but they were repelled," senior Kurdish official Asya Abdullah told Reuters from the town on Saturday.

"We think they are planning to launch another big attack but YPG is prepared to resist them.," she said, referring to the Kurdish armed group defending it.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[tomahawk6]

I keep waiting for Turkish intervention to save the town.They did say the other day that they wouldnt let Kobane fall.Warthogs may arrive in time,but will need coordination with the ground.

 

[CougarKing]

The Syrian Kurds continue to hold on despite heavy losses to ISIS's unconventional tactics:

Reuters

Thirty Kurdish fighters killed in suicide bombs in Syria's Hasakah: monitor

BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 30 people were killed in two suicide attacks on two checkpoints run by Kurdish fighters in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakah on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"The attacks targeted checkpoints run by Kurdish fighters on the western entrance of the city. They occurred within minutes of each other," Rami Abdelrahman from the Observatory said.

For more than three weeks, Syria's Kurds have been engaged in heavy fighting with fighters from the Islamic State group which is trying to seize the border town of Kobani after taking large parts of Syria and Iraq.

On Monday, the radical group raised its black flag on a building on the outskirts of Kobani.

(...SNIPPED)