Posted on 02/16/2020 4:58:26 PM PST by BeauBo
Syrian President Bashar Assad has gained what's perhaps his most significant strategic victory in the nearly nine-year-old Syrian civil war: the recapture of the all-important M5 highway.
It is arguably one of the most coveted prizes in Syria’s civil war, and after eight years of fighting, Syrian President Bashar Assad has got it back.
The Damascus-Aleppo highway, or the M5, is known to Syrians simply as the “International Road.” Cutting through Syria's major cities, the motorway is key to who controls the country.
Assad gradually lost control over the M5 from 2012, when various rebel groups fighting to topple him began seizing parts of the country...
For the Turkey-backed rebels fighting Assad, the highway was a cornerstone in holding together their territory and keeping government forces at bay. Its loss marks a mortal blow for opposition fighters whose hold on their last patches of ground in northwestern Syria is looking more and more precarious...
Under a September 2018 agreement between Russia and Turkey, the M5 and M4 highways were supposed to be open for traffic, linking the government's stronghold on the coast with Aleppo before the end of that year. That never happened, as insurgents refused to move away and allow joint Russian-Turkish patrols to protect the traffic there.
That eventually led to the latest government offensive in Idlib, the last rebel-held bastion in the country.
Government troops backed by Russia carried out several major advances in Idlib, retaking towns and villages on both sides of the motorway...
This week, Syrian troops recaptured the last rebel-controlled section of the highway around Khan al-Assal. That brought the road under the full control of Assad’s forces for the first time since 2012.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
They are bombing the the crap out of each other every day, and displacing another big wave of refugees, in the middle of Winter.
The Syrian Government has been pretty steadily advancing, and has now re-connected the second city, Aleppo, to the Capital in Damascus, and the rest of the Syrian heartland along the main M5 Highway - a Strategic accomplishment.
There is a long hard slog ahead to dislodge Turkey and their jihadi militias from Syria, but this was a very notable step in that direction.
Separately from this pretty intense engagement in Idlib Province, Turkish Military and their surrogates are steadily engaging with Kurdish forces in other parts of Northern Syria (trying to push toward Manbij and around Ain Issa).
Syria Ping, Amigo.
What does Dr. Daystrom think about this?
B.O.’s Arab Spring really was a success. Right? Riiight.
“B.O.’s Arab Spring really was a success. Right?”
Biggest refugee movement since WWII. Major cities destroyed, like Aleppo, or Mosul, devastated in the biggest urban battle since Stalingrad. Whole Nations, like Egypt, lost a decade’s worth of economic growth, and millions of people lost everything they owned - and probably a million or more died across the region.
Oh, and Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Syrian territory taken by Turkey last years was said to be used for the millions of Syrian refugees taken in and being supported by Turkey. Is that what happened? If so, then, the Syrians will just be forcing the Syrian refugees back to Turkey.
He thinks he’s gonna show all those who doubted him, who stole his work. And look now, mighty starships to be tossed about like playthings!! ((Nerve pinch))....
Syria Ping
Nobel?
Obozo?
Bump
What a tragic disaster for many million people. And he is behind the stealth coup in the USA now. He and Soros Money.
May be be punished for his crimes.
Nice to see some good news coming out of that horrible war.
“The Syrian territory taken by Turkey last year was said to be used for the millions of Syrian refugees taken in and being supported by Turkey. Is that what happened?”
No. There is just no housing or jobs in that small strip of rural land, for the large numbers that Turkey was proposing. Their aspirations appear to be for a much larger bite out of Syria, than just that.
It seems that Turkey’s real strategy is to gradually occupy and administer more Syrian territory along the Turkish border, conduct ethnic and sectarian cleansing of its opponents (like Kurds and Shi’ites), and then selectively repopulate the areas with Sunnis who are loyal to Turkey, from among the Syrian refugees it has in Turkey (the rest of the refugees would presumably be dumped to Europe at some point).
Then at some point Turkey would stage a “Democratic Referendum”, on seceding from Syria, to become part of Turkey.
Interesting take, thanks!!
Shutting down a major freeway brings a government to its knees.
Something to remember.
I think the plan was to uproot any of the Leaders in the m.east who were not cooperating with the overall goals of the Globalist New World Order ......replacing them with Leaders among the Muslim brotherhood (as they did in Egypt)... That administration wildly believe they can control the Brotherhood......plus the brotherhood is spread out throughout those areas so they falsely believed the brotherhood would unite the m.east.
If Hillary's people are ever back in office that plan will likely be played again.
I was hoping for a Star Trek TOS reference.
I am great, you are great!
noted. ;-)
[M5 tie in] “your response is appreciated, but illogical”.
CC
M1-M4 were not entirely successful.........
Still a better track record than formulas 1 through 408.
CC
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.