Posted on 06/05/2016 11:58:32 PM PDT by Trumpinator
Syrian troops reach edge of Raqqa, after Russia-backed offensive
REUTERS 12:00 AM JUNE 6, 2016
The Syrian army has pushed into Raqqa province, home to the de facto capital of Islamic State, after a major Russian-backed offensive against the militants, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday.
The offensive is the third big assault on the self-proclaimed caliphate in recent days after Iraqi forces attempted to storm Fallujah in central Iraq and a Syrian militia advanced with US support towards Manbij in the north, near the Turkish border.
The offensives are some of the most aggressive campaigns against Islamic State since it declared its aim to rule over all Muslims from parts of Iraq and Syria two years ago.
The Raqqa assault saw the army reach the edge of the Syrian province after heavy Russian airstrikes hit Islamic State-held territory in eastern areas of neighbouring Hama province.
Raqqa city, further east, is Islamic State’s de facto capital in Syria and, along with Mosul in Iraq, the ultimate target of those seeking to destroy the group.
State media said the army had made territorial gains and inflicted heavy casualties on the militants. State media have given no indication of how many troops were involved in the offensive, or what weaponry they used. The observatory also had no comment about numbers or weapons, but said at least 26 Islamic States militants had been killed along with nine from the Syrian and allied forces.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au ...
Kill every single one of those daesh-holes
I hope they catch al Baghdadi & his wife and hang them up in public on meat hooks , like they did to Mussolini. Then allow mongrel dogs to consumethe remains . Film all , openly publish widely ....
Mosel should be leveled by B-52 strikes , then turn the rubble over with more strikes. Same with Fallujah
makes you wonder why the USA wasn’t able to smash the Islamic state earlier — what happened to all the firepower of the USAF?
I wonder where all those regular pro-Chechen anti-Russian FR posters have gone. A lot of their relatives are about to get filled full of holes in Syria. Must be a sad day for them.
makes you wonder why the USA wasn’t able to smash the Islamic state earlier — what happened to all the firepower of the USAF?
—
It was a pretend war for Obama. We were flying sorties all the time but not hurting Isis.
Your tagline answers your question
Since Korea we have allowed politicians, rather then Generals, to make war.
“daesh-holes”
Let’s leave the former Senate Democrat Leader out of this, he has long-since retired.
They have entered the Province of Raqqa, but are still far from the city (~50 miles).
They are out in pretty open desert, and would have to spread out very widely to secure their flanks, or just make a run up the road to a strongpoint and hole up (which they would have to capture first).
On the way to Raqqa City, they would first likely have to capture Taqba Air Base, South of the Highway into Raqqa City. When they do that, they will be seriously threatening Raqqa City. From there, they could run helicopter attacks all day - just a few minutes of air time to target.
There was a long, hard fight when ISIS captured Taqba Air Base in the first place. Until the Syrian Army re-captures that Air Base, their real priority will likely be on the fight for Aleppo, followed by securing other areas in the West, like Damascus and Idlib. I don’t look for them to commit serious resources toward Raqqa for a long while, unless it is to simply exploit weakness, if ISIS collapses.
They will probably maintain contact to keep pressure on ISIS along that front, just advancing whenever ISIS withdraws.
The big heat on ISIS in Syria is in the North, where the Kurds are moving to cut them off from Turkey in Manbij, and ISIS is fighting hard to push other rebel groups out of Marea and Azaz, to take their road into Turkey. Many ISIS jihadis are bolting for the door, as they see it closing.
+1
Obama takes credit in 1, 2, 3...
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