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Al Nusrah Front and allies claim victory at Al Mastoumah, Idlib
Long War Journal ^ | 19 May 2015 | Caleb Weiss

Posted on 05/19/2015 4:11:30 PM PDT by Lorianne

The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and its allies in the Jaysh al Fateh coalition are claiming to have completely overrun the Assad regime’s forces at the Al Mastoumah military camp in Idlib. The camp was one of the last remaining regime strongholds in the northwestern province.

The jihadists have been promoting the victory on Twitter and other social media. On Al Nusrah’s official Twitter feed for its Idlib operations, the jihadist group said that it and its Jaysh al Fateh allies have fully “liberated” the camp. In other tweets, it said that the regime forces at the camp had retreated and that the road between Al Mastoumah and the regime-held town of Ariha is under its control.

The Islamic Front’s Ahrar al Sham, an al Qaeda-linked group that belongs to Jaysh al Fateh, has also reported victory on its Twitter feed, claiming “dozens of Assad’s forces” were killed. Ajnad Sham, another member organization in the coalition, has said that its forces have destroyed at least two Russian-made BMP’s and a tank in the battle.

According to accounts of the battle, the offensive to take the camp started with a suicide bombing by Jund al Aqsa. A video claiming to show the suicide bombing has been uploaded to YouTube in recent days. Jund al Aqsa is an al Qaeda front group that is heavily comprised of foreign fighters and fights alongside the Al Nusrah Front. After the suicide bombing, the other rebel groups then began the offensive with Al Nusrah Front claiming to have stormed the base from its southern side.

(Excerpt) Read more at longwarjournal.org ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: iraq; syraq; syria
photos at website
1 posted on 05/19/2015 4:11:30 PM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Lorianne

Got to love the comment at the site. Bush’s fault.


2 posted on 05/19/2015 4:15:11 PM PDT by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts It is happening again.)
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To: Lorianne; All

Check:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3291527/posts


3 posted on 05/19/2015 4:17:04 PM PDT by robowombat
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To: Lorianne

Break out the gas...


4 posted on 05/19/2015 4:21:13 PM PDT by Mr. Blond
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To: 21twelve; All
Yes

‘We simply are going broke trying to put out the fire Bush started and not getting anywhere.’

You hear a lot of this from some people in the armed forces. It seems that no one ever points out to them that the US could not keep 1/4 of its tac air tied up enforcing the UN embargo of Iraq with the Global War on Terror on and that a first year ROTC student could point out the error of leaving a powerful foe placed on ones flank in SW Asia. The withdrawal of most US air assets would have led to the collapse of the embargo of Iraq in a year or so and Saddam could have strutted around proclaiming , again, ‘Brave Iraqis you have won (because my regime outlasted them).’ All of this is so elemental, but none of the Bush people will ever just say it.

5 posted on 05/19/2015 4:25:00 PM PDT by robowombat
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To: Lorianne

This is the bunch that McCain and Grahamnesty wanted to arm. Maybe some of the weapons from Benghazi ended up with them.


6 posted on 05/19/2015 4:41:11 PM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Know Islam, No Peace - No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: Lurkinanloomin

Arm both sides. Preferably make profits along the way. Small arms only, however. But Obola is already giving away nukes.


7 posted on 05/19/2015 6:38:31 PM PDT by sagar
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