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Syrian insurgents advance on Hama city after capturing Aleppo
The Guardian ^ | Tue 3 Dec 2024 | Oliver Holmes

Posted on 12/03/2024 7:10:14 AM PST by MinorityRepublican

Syrian insurgents fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have launched attacks in the central province of Hama, threatening to cut off government troops from a key route linking the capital, Damascus, with rebel-held Aleppo.

The army was engaging in “violent confrontations” with armed groups in Hama, the Syrian state news agency, Sana, reported.

Separately, a longtime independent war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said on Tuesday morning that rebel factions in the province had managed to seize several “towns in the last few hours”.

“Syrian and Russian air forces carried out dozens of strikes on the area,” said the Britain-based monitor, which has a network of sources inside Syria.

After their lightning assault on Aleppo over the past few days, militants led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have advanced south towards Hama.

The city sits on a critical road linking Aleppo in the north with major central locations such as Homs city, the coastal ports of Latakia and Tartous, and Damascus in the south.

Hama was a bastion of opposition to the Assad government when pro-democracy protests first erupted during the Arab spring in 2011. A bloody response by security forces to peaceful marches across the country led the opposition to arm itself, and a years-long civil war ensued.

Since retaking Aleppo in 2016, Assad has regained a tight grip over the country, although he has never fully retaken all of Syria’s borders. The sudden insurgent victory in Aleppo is the most serious challenge to the dictator’s control in years. Rebel groups backed by Turkey have also engaged in the fight.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Syria
KEYWORDS: aleppo; basharalassad; basharassad; damascus; hama; hayattahriralsham; homs; homscity; hts; latakia; minoritywarpigs; oliverholmes; sana; specialsyriasock; syria; tartous; turkey; turkiye
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1 posted on 12/03/2024 7:10:14 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: All

2 posted on 12/03/2024 7:12:42 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Isn’t Latakia where an errant US air-to air missile was launched at a Syrian Jet fighter and instead landed in a harbor full of Soviet ships, causing a chain reaction of explosions and triggering WW3?
From the novel ‘Alas Babylon’ where a military family must cope with the surprise global thermonuclear war and its aftermath, set in a sleepy Florida town.


3 posted on 12/03/2024 7:23:52 AM PST by desertsolitaire ( Lee Harvey Oswald and the Bands final performance)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Interesting photos on liveuamap and elsewhere of A10 Warthogs taking on opponents of US-backed Kurds in Syria.


4 posted on 12/03/2024 7:24:32 AM PST by jjotto ( Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

lol. The “insurgents” got drawn into a kill zone in Aleppo and are now getting extinguished. This is literally the oldest trick in the book. Joshua used it at the battle of Ai. Hannibal used it at the battle of Cannea. The American Indians used it repeatedly in the Ohio Valley Indian wars. It always works against egotistical and ambitious opponents . Those of us in the the suburbs should keep this in mind.


5 posted on 12/03/2024 7:58:25 AM PST by circlecity
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To: MinorityRepublican
"The US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a briefing on Monday that Assad was “a brutal dictator with blood on his hands, the blood of innocent civilians,” and that Washington’s stance on his rule had not changed."

I can't get my head around this: it's evident to anyone who bothers to look that Assad's regime is all there is protecting Christians and other minorities against slaughter. The Middle East and 'democracy' do not compute; over there, democracy is the subjugation of minorities.

Yet dems, starting with obama and hillary climb into bed with the Turk Erdogan, the Islamist Terror flavor-du-jour, and apparently Israel, to gut the last buffer against Islamist subjugation. We saw this 4 years ago, and before that with the "Arab Spring."

What do we expect to gain from turning this state into a butcher's shop? Can somebody explain?

6 posted on 12/03/2024 7:59:38 AM PST by tsomer
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To: MinorityRepublican
Yah! US A-10 Warthogs join invading terrorists around the stolen Syrian oil field area against Syrian forces.

.

https://youtu.be/_yN-PNaVU3Q?si=nKzZOWBWiI_hlAnh

7 posted on 12/03/2024 8:03:35 AM PST by Karl Spooner
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To: MinorityRepublican

lol. The “insurgents” got drawn into a kill zone in Aleppo and are now getting extinguished. This is the oldest trick in the book. Joshua used it at the battle of Ai. Hannibal used it at the battle of Cannea. The American Indians used it repeatedly in the Ohio Valley Indian wars. It always works against egotistical and ambitious opponents . Those of us in the the suburbs should keep this in mind.


8 posted on 12/03/2024 8:05:45 AM PST by circlecity
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To: circlecity
lol. The “insurgents” got drawn into a kill zone in Aleppo and are now getting extinguished. This is literally the oldest trick in the book. Joshua used it at the battle of Ai. Hannibal used it at the battle of Cannea. The American Indians used it repeatedly in the Ohio Valley Indian wars. It always works against egotistical and ambitious opponents . Those of us in the the suburbs should keep this in mind.

I would expect that most of the assets by the Russian Air Force is in Ukraine right now.

9 posted on 12/03/2024 8:13:26 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Why would you “expect” that?


10 posted on 12/03/2024 8:16:07 AM PST by circlecity
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To: tsomer

“We” expect this situation to be in the hands of other people, who aren’t “we”. The US has very little part in this at this point.

OK, maybe backfilling the Israeli weapons stocks helped them smash Hezbollah somewhat more thoroughly, which is what brought this on.

Other people or interest groups exist, and they do whatever makes sense to them at the time, and they rarely check with the US government if they dont have to.


11 posted on 12/03/2024 8:20:59 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: MinorityRepublican

The functional parts of the RuAF are probably mainly in a set of airfields in Russia, at least 300km away from Ukrainian held territory.


12 posted on 12/03/2024 8:23:45 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: circlecity

Moving light infantry dispersed over a lot of territory aren’t terribly vulnerable to occasional bombs, no matter how large. I doubt they are conveniently congregating in Aleppo to greet the bombs.

Whats clear is that the “insurgents” just advanced into a vacuum left after Hezbollah and allied forces withdrew in a hurry, over a broad stretch of territory.


13 posted on 12/03/2024 8:31:59 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: circlecity

Because Ukraine is where they are being used.


14 posted on 12/03/2024 8:33:24 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: Karl Spooner

The targets are supposed to be Iraqi Shiite militias in Iranian service, advancing into the Kurdish zone. Which the US protects. This is a multi-sided conflict.


15 posted on 12/03/2024 8:36:39 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: buwaya

And why did they leave that vacuum? Why did Hannibal leave a vacuum at cannea?


16 posted on 12/03/2024 8:47:53 AM PST by circlecity
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To: circlecity

Because Israel smashed Hezbollahs leadership - pretty much exterminated it - and infrastructure. And their morale broke.


17 posted on 12/03/2024 8:50:58 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: circlecity

Cannae. And Hannibal had strong mobile forces on the flanks.
None of that apparent in this case.


18 posted on 12/03/2024 8:52:33 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: buwaya

They don’t? They are already running.


19 posted on 12/03/2024 8:53:51 AM PST by circlecity
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To: circlecity

Who is running where?


20 posted on 12/03/2024 8:55:48 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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