Posted on 01/23/2017 8:40:57 AM PST by Freemeorkillme
Last evening, the US military killed more than 100 al Qaeda fighters in an airstrike on a training camp in Syria. The US has launched five attacks against al Qaeda’s network in Syria since the beginning of 2017.
A B-52 bomber and a number of remotely piloted aircraft, more commonly known as drones, were involved in the strike, US officials told The Associated Press. It is unclear if any senior al Qaeda leaders were killed.
The Pentagon later released a statement confirming the attack, and said it targeted the “Shaykh Sulayman Training Camp”, which “was operational since at least 2013.” It is unclear why the Pentagon allowed this camp to operate for more than 3 years before targeting it.
“The removal of this training camp disrupts training operations and discourages hardline Islamist and Syrian opposition groups from joining or cooperating with al Qaeda on the battlefield,” the Pentagon said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that last evening an “unidentified drone” targeted “Regiment 111,” a base in western Aleppo near the border of Idlib province, near the town of Shaykh Sulayman. Regiment 111 is controlled by Jabhat Fatah al Sham, al Qaeda’s branch in Syria that was formally known as the Al Nusrah Front, and Nur al Din al Zanki, a group allied with JFS. The Observatory later reported that 40 JFS fighters and three Nur al Din al Zanki fighters were killed. The strike described by the military and the one by the Observatory do appear to be one and the same.
Jabhat Fatah al Sham issued a statement denouncing the strike on “one of the training camps that prepare the mujahideen and graduate them to fill the garrison points and fight the criminal regime and its allies,” according tot the SITE Intelligence Group. Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria accused the US of siding with the Syrian government against the people.
The Pentagon has stepped up its targeting of al Qaeda and Jabhat Fatah al Sham. Last evening’s strike is the fifth against al Qaeda’s network in Syria since the beginning of the month. At the beginning of January, more than 20 al Qaeda operatives were killed in a pair of airstrikes in Syria. On Jan. 1, US warplanes hit a convoy of al Qaeda operatives as they left a headquarters near Sarmada. The Pentagon estimated that five fighters were killed.
Two days later, on Jan. 3, the Pentagon estimated that it killed more than 15 al Qaeda personnel when it targeted multiple buildings and vehicles in the Sarmada headquarters. Among those reported killed were Abu Khattab al-Qahtani, another al Qaeda veteran who is said to have fought in Afghanistan and Yemen, and Abu Omar al-Turkistani, a senior member in the al Qaeda-affiliated Turkistan Islamic Party who is reported to have served as a leader in JFS. [See FDD’s Long War Journal report, Pentagon: Airstrikes kill 20 or more al Qaeda fighters in northern Syria.]
Yesterday, the Pentagon announced that two al Qaeda leaders were killed in bombings in Syria on Jan. 12 and Jan. 17. Among those killed were Mohammad Habib Boussadoun al-Tunisi, who was described as an external operations leader, and Abd al-Jalil al-Muslimi, an al Qaeda veteran of Afghanistan and Syria who was trained by the Taliban and supported attacks against the West. [See FDD’s Long War Journal report, US kills al Qaeda facilitator and external ops planner in Syrian airstrikes.]
The US military has targeted al Qaeda’s cadre in Syria since September 2014, and has killed multiple high profile leaders over the past several years. However, the Islamic State has been the focus of the vast majority of the 6,647 Coalition airstrikes in Syria as of Jan. 19, 2017, according to Operation Inherent Resolve. With five strikes against al Qaeda in Syria already over the past 20 days, the US military may be signaling that the global jihadist group will get more attention over the coming months.
But, we can surmise with fair certainty, can't we, Bill
Was this done under the DoD stewardship of Ash Carter or Mad Dog Mattis?
I cannot imagine why this never happened while Barack Hussein was calling the shots. I guess President Trump got lucky. Again.
Did they belong to the McCain faction, the DOD faction, or the CIA faction??
The BEGINNING of.........
WINNING!
A second strike should have been planned an hour after the first to dispatch anyone arriving to help or check out the damage. The word would get out and the bodies and debris would go untouched for a very long time.
One can’t help but wonder if the military doesn’t have a whole lot of known targets that will be disintegrated now that there’s a new sheriff in town.
These guys were probably the spontaneous rioters who protested the horrible anti-Muslim video and overran the U.S. consulate in Benghazi some years ago.
I do love starting the week with good news
Not unclear to me ..
Given this and the other Lybian “suspected” camp bombings, it looks a lot like tying up loose end re: CIA weapons running operation to jihadis in Syria.
#LockThemUp
We know this to be the case.
Check my quote of the article on my post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3516558/posts
Terrorists, your game is through
You’re gonna have to answer to
America...F YEAH!
This sounds like Trump’s first big score. I’m sure bammy left lots of nice targets.
A second strike should have been planned an hour after the first to dispatch anyone arriving to help or check out the damage. The word would get out and the bodies and debris would go untouched for a very long time.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
The ideal scenario for gathering post-op intel for the ole boots on the ground.
was this the attack Obama order right before leaving office?
if so... I suspect ... this was just Obama covering his tracks.
My guess... these were the terrorists Obama had been supporting and Obama couldn’t leave them around when Trump took over to spill the beans.
One can’t help but wonder if the military doesn’t have a whole lot of known targets ..........
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Trump May Have Early Chance to Target ISIS Leader al-Baghdadi
http://abcnews.go.com/International/trump-early-chance-target-isis-leader-al-baghdadi/story?id=44920109
They know where he is .... the question is collateral damage in taking him out.
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Lets hope that Trump has also withdrawn the insane rules of engagement that have been killing our troops.
.
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>> “My guess... these were the terrorists Obama had been supporting and Obama couldn’t leave them around when Trump took over to spill the beans.” <<
You just might be onto something there.
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Well, that was quick!
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ‘critically injured in air strikes in northern Iraq’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3516568/posts
Hope this report is accurate!
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