Posted on 08/31/2019 9:43:58 PM PDT by BeauBo
US forces attacked jihadist leaders in northwestern (Idlib Province) Syria on Saturday, the Pentagon said, in what a battlefield monitor called a missile strike that left at least 40 dead...
The US Central Command said in a statement that the attack targeted leaders of Al-Qaeda in Syria (AQ-S) "responsible for attacks threatening US citizens, our partners and innocent civilians"...
The Idlib region is supposed to be protected from a massive government offensive by a Turkish-Russian deal struck in September 2018 that was never fully implemented as jihadists refused to withdraw from a planned demilitarised cordon.
Turkey backs rebels in northwestern Syria...
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces control around 60 per cent of territory, has vowed to reclaim the rest of the country, including Idlib.
(Excerpt) Read more at afp.com ...
Either of those options is bad bad news for President Erdogan of Turkey, who seems to have thought he could play off Russia against the USA (negotiating a truce in NW Syria and buying their AS-400), to consolidate his seizure of NW Syria, and make it another ISIS-like mini-State, or annex it to Turkey outright.
Ping For Your Interest, Friend.
Strange they would tthink it safe to have this meeting.
I believe ‘jihadists’ is a term for pro-government militia in this case.
If their AS-400 could not deter/detect our attack, the Russians may have learned a lot more from this operation than we gained.
I sure hope those were important camel-humpers we wasted.
If Russia has no high value targets in the area, it’s not likely to be well defended. Also, you don’t necessarily waste missiles trying to defend an attack that is not a threat to your own assets.
If we really want to attack a target defended by AS-400, we will use aircraft/ordinance/tactics that will defeat the system.
We are so very very talented as a nation at defending the sovereignty of other countries with all of our military technology and acumen. Yet we cannot defend our own sovereignty and borders and have control over who shall or shall not inhabit our land, without being accused of racism. And it is our very own institutions who grant to invading hordes rights and privileges and protections our own natural born citizenry is not permitted to claim.
You put too much trust into stealth. To believe it may not be defeated is rather naive. It doesn’t mean the Russians would fire into American assets nor the Americans would fire into Russian assets at this point over anything going on in Syria.
... their AS-400 system could not effectively detect or deter an actual American attack.
Turkey is also negotiating manufacture of the SU-57, in the wake of the failed F-35 bid (which created an F-35 spare parts problem for the US, since many parts were made in Turkey)
The systems at the Russian Tartus naval base only protect the base, and are usually not turned on.
Turkey has successfully played the US against the Russians; or perhaps is allying with Russia.
The Iranians don’t like Turkey’s idea of controlling part of Iraq and have surrogates (Al-Qods units directing) fighting them.
AS-400 is a software system, S-400 is the Russian air defense system.
The Turkish supported and protected terrorists are still getting their butts handed to them by the UN recognized government.
Airstrike targeted Al Qaeda leadership in Syria, U.S. military says
The American military conducted an airstrike against al Qaeda in Syria (AQ-S) “leadership at a facility north of Idlib, Syria” earlier today, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). It is the second time the U.S. has struck al Qaeda operatives in Syria since late June.
The “operation targeted AQ-S leaders responsible for attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians.” CENTCOM adds that the “removal of this facility will further degrade their ability to conduct future attacks and destabilize the region.”
The U.S. military did not identify the specific individuals or organizations that were put in its crosshairs, nor did it elaborate on the threat they pose
. “Northwest Syria remains a safe haven where AQ-S leaders actively coordinate terrorist activities throughout the region and in the West,” CENTCOM’s statement reads “With our allies and partners, we will continue to target violent extremists to prevent them from using Syria as a safe haven.”
Jihadists on social media reported on the airstrike hours before the U.S acknowledged it. Some Telegram channels shared a short video allegedly showing the scene of the bombing. Screenshots of that footage can be seen above and below.
Syria. According to various al Qaeda-associated Telegram channels, the facility that was bombed belonged to Ansar al-Tawhid. The location was either a headquarters or safe house for Ansar al-Tawhid, and members of another organization, Hurras al-Din (or the Guardians of Religion), may have been visiting at the time.
Both Ansar al-Tawhid and Hurras al-Din are part of al Qaeda’s international network. However, al Qaeda’s precise hierarchy inside Syria is not publicly known after years of leadership disputes and infighting have muddied the picture.
Hurras al-Din (HAD) is led by al Qaeda veterans. Its overall leader is Abu al-Qassam (a.k.a. Khalid al-Aruri), according to a monitoring team that reports to the United Nations Security Council. Al-Qassam was once one a top deputy to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of al Qaeda in Iraq, and has myriad ties to other al Qaeda actors.
On June 30, the U.S. bombed an alleged training facility near Aleppo Province, where current or recently fired HAD members were stationed. At the time, CENTCOM issued a statement similar to the one posted today, highlighting the threat posed to the West by al Qaeda leaders living in northwestern Syria, but not providing much detail. It appears that the June 30 bombing killed several jihadists who were recently involved in a dispute with their HAD comrades. [See FDD’s Long War Journal report, US military targets al Qaeda operatives in Syria.]
Ansar al-Tawhid is thought to be the latest incarnation of a group first known as Jund al-Aqsa, which was an al Qaeda front group. Although some reports identified Jund al-Aqsa as an Islamic State-affiliated group, that wasn’t accurate. Some of the organization’s cadres defected to the so-called caliphate, but much of the group remained in al Qaeda’s orbit. Indeed, Jund al-Aqsa’s leaders signaled their loyalty to Ayman al-Zawahiri and al Qaeda’s senior leadership on multiple occasions.
Ansar al-Tawhid emerged in early 2018, after jihadi infighting caused problems for several months. According to some reports, Ansar al-Tawhid was formed after its leader, Abu Diyab al-Sarmini, met with the head of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Abu Muhammad al-Julani. HTS and Julani have been in the middle of various cantankerous disagreements over leadership and strategy in Syria.
Not long after both groups emerged in 2018, Ansar al-Tawhid and HAD formed a joint venture known as Hilf Nusrat al-Islam. That union appears to have been short lived, though various al Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria continue to cooperate with one another, as well as other insurgents.
Ansar al-Tawhid has been heavily involved in the fighting against Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its allies. In particular, the group’s members have been trying to thwart a regime offensive in southern Idlib province and the surrounding areas.
Fwiw, RT said the US “ Sent no warning to Russia or Turkey”
“The US missile attack “targeted a meeting held by the leaders of Hurras al-Deen, Ansar al-Tawhid and other allied groups inside a training camp”, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory.”
Typically when our company expects incoming ordnance, we hold our meeting by telecon. Harder to disrupt that way.
Thanks for ping.
“Turkey has successfully played the US against the Russians; or perhaps is allying with Russia.”
While the Erdogan regime rules Turkey, it’s safe to assume that the US won’t be trusting Turkey for much of anything.
They are in effect out of NATO, effectively, with their purchase of the S400 system. They won’t be trusted now and NATO will wait for a regime change instead of just booting them out.
The myriad of factions in Syria is real and there is a multi level civil war among Jihadist groups with splintering in a myriad of directions.
Of course, we know Russia’s intent is to destabilize the West, but right now the West is doing a great job of fracturing the Hadjis.
If the Russians were smart, they get out now before it gets worse. But they are not smart as the Wagner blunder proved a while back.
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