Posted on 10/09/2015 7:52:23 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
BEIRUT — Islamic State militants seized several villages from rival insurgents north of Aleppo, Syria, on Friday, in a surprise attack that came despite intensive Russian airstrikes that Moscow insists are targeting the extremist group, activists said.
Iranian state media reported that a senior commander in Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard was killed by the Islamic State group on the outskirts of Aleppo city, but it was not immediately clear whether Gen. Hossein Hamedani's death was related to the new ISIS offensive.
An Iranian state television report said he was killed while "carrying out an advisory mission." It didn't provide any further details. The official IRNA news agency read a statement by the Guard in which it blamed ISIS for his death.
The new developments come amid a wave of Russian airstrikes that have targeted insurgents fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad and a ground offensive by the Syrian army in the country's central region.
Moscow says it is targeting mainly ISIS militants, but US officials and Syrian rebels have said the strikes have hit mainstream rebels for the most part and are designed to shore up Assad's embattled government and troops.
In a surprise attack, ISIS seized a string of villages from rebels in Aleppo province Friday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the advance by the extremists, which began Thursday night, was the most significant in months. It said the militants seized the villages of Tal Qrah, Tal Sousin, and Kfar Qares north of Aleppo city.
The group also seized a former army base known as the Infantry Academy that rebels captured from the Syrian army two years ago. The base is located around 10 miles (16 kilometers) northeast of Aleppo city. ISIS-affiliated accounts on Twitter also announced that the militants had seized those villages.
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It seems to me many Americans on the Protestant side are ignorant or ignoring this reality. Many rather have Syria's Assad fall because he is a threat to Israel and if that means native Syrian Christians get wiped out - so be it.
His head will be arriving in Teheran via parcel post in 5 to 7 days.
A lot of us want to see Israel and the region’s Christians defended, not one at the other’s expense.
“A lot of us want to see Israel and the region’s Christians defended, not one at the other’s expense.”
That would be so much easier to do if they were safely behind the same walls.
Second point, Russia has flexed its muscles, but now it needs to perform.
Israel is out for her own, I think and as it should be. Israel would love to see Assad fall even if ISIS took over - because it would be easier to defeat ISIS held Syria than Assad's Iranian held Syria. It would also weaken hezbollah - no small consideration. In all that I don't think Israel considers the fate of any of Syria's secularists or Christians or Muslim non Sunni minorities.
I am OK with that because that is not Israel's job to take care of Christians.
Sadly, in Syria, to defend Christian life there I feel and I think many feel on here and beyond that the best way to do that is to prop up Assad and that involves Putin's stance also on Syria and ironically, Iran's as well.
The Syrian sunni rebels have proved to not be moderates. In fact the rebellion was probably always about the Sunni majority hating living under the ruling of hated Shiites. They may have been a few genuine democratic rebels at first but they were few and far between.
What I do notice by cruising the forum is that those that support the ouster of Assad never mention the plight of Syria's Christians and that makes me wonder why. I think in their minds they have wrote those Christians off to the grave.
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