ISIS update 9/03/2017..SAA makes further advances in Deir ez-Zor

Hezbollah: US hampering ISIL evacuation deal on Syria border

The Stranded ISIS Bus Convoy That No One Knows What To Do With

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-02/stranded-isis-bus-convoy-no-one-knows-what-do

In a bizarre twist to an already unusual story, a convoy of 17 buses carrying Islamic State terrorists and their families has remained stranded since Thursday in the Syrian desert as the US, Russians, and Syrians discuss their fate: attack the convoy or allow it to pass? Regardless of what happens, emerging photos and video depicting ISIS’ retreat from Lebanon as well as their current helpless plight stuck in the middle of Syria constitutes perhaps the most significant blow to ISIS propaganda to date.

Earlier this week we reported on the unusual deal which allowed a large convoy of Islamic State fighters and their families to exit their contested stronghold along the Syrian-Lebanese border under the watch of the Lebanese and Syrian armies and Hezbollah after being defeated. As first announced by Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in a speech Monday night, the deal involved the transportation of 26 wounded and 308 ISIS fighters, along with 331 civilian family members via buses and ambulances to Syria’s eastern province. The controversial deal was struck in return for the bodies of 9 Lebanese soldiers, kidnapped by ISIS in 2014.

That convoy was allowed to enter Syria but was attacked by the US-led anti-ISIL Coalition on Wednesday as it crossed open desert on its way to the Islamic State stronghold of Deir Ezzor. Per coalition statement, the convoy wasn’t attacked directly – just outlying ISIS vehicles which were attempting to join and bolster the transport. Part of the highway in front of the convoy, including a key bridge, was further targeted in order to stop its movement.

According to the latest update (released Friday afternoon) from the US coalition (@CJTFOIR), the buses remain stranded. Apparently, deliveries of food and water have been made: After turning around and heading back west from the Abul Kamal area, the convoy of 17 buses containing hundreds of armed ISIS fighters and their families remains in the Syrian Desert between Humayma and As Sukhnah.

…In accordance with the law of armed conflict, the Coalition has struck ISIS fighters and vehicles, including a tank, armed technical vehicles, and transport vehicles seeking to facilitate the movement of ISIS fighters to the border area of our Iraqi partners. Food and water have been provided to the convoy.

The ISIS convoy had reportedly been on an indirect and lengthy route through Syria, likely in order to avoid air strike, before being halted. On Friday the Syrian and Lebanese governments extracted another concession as part of negotiations over the fate of the convoy: ISIS handed over the body of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard officer to Hezbollah.

Meanwhile Hezbollah’s Nasrallah revealed that he personally negotiated the deal with Syrian President Assad, who displayed initial reluctance. As Fox News reports:

“I went to President Assad…I went to Damascus,” he said, adding that he sought to convince Assad to let the convoy pass through government territory. “He [Assad] told me, this is embarrassing for us, but no problem,” Nasrallah told supporters gathered in eastern Lebanon for a “victory rally” to celebrate the expulsion of ISIS from the border area.

“The Syrian government has put up with the embarrassment for the sake of Lebanon,” he said

The ceasefire agreement immediately sparked controversy in the region, especially in Iraq, whose leaders see the deal as intentionally allowing more terrorists to settle at its own border. The US coalition was also quick to accuse the deal’s brokers as being soft on terrorism and said, “relocating terrorists from one place to another is not a lasting solution.”

But as we pointed out, the US and its allies have routinely allowed for ISIS retreats and transfers much larger in scale which appear purposefully designed to put pressure on the Syrian government. One of the more shocking admissions of such a strategy came in 2016, when then Secretary of State John Kerry was caught on audio telling a Syrian opposition gathering, which met on the sidelines of a U.N. General Assembly meeting, that Obama hoped to use ISIS as leverage against Assad. According to Kerry on the leaked audio (25:50):

“And we know that this was growing, we were watching, we saw that DAESH was growing in strength, and we thought Assad was threatened”… “(We) thought, however, we could probably manage that Assad might then negotiate. But instead of negotiating he got Putin to support him.”

One knowledgeable reporter on the ground has observed that the ordeal has been a huge blow to ISIS propaganda. Robert Fisk reports, “some ISIS leaders in Syria did not want members of the group who had surrendered territory to be welcomed back into the so-called caliphate, and the militants should have fought to the death instead.” Other observers of Islamic State social media accounts have noted that ISIS members have reacted in disbelief, claiming the entire brokered deal and ISIS retreat to be a fiction of Hezbollah media.

At the moment, terrorists and their families remain sitting on chartered buses in Syrian no-man’s land awaiting the decision of regional and foreign militaries controlling land and air over Syria. Will the convoy be destroyed or allowed to pass? Will the US coalition strike and kill over 300 civilian ISIS family members in the process? Simple imprisonment could prove difficult as the ISIS militants were allowed to carry small arms as part of the deal and will surely go down fighting at this point. Or there’s the remote chance that the Syrians and Hezbollah actually desire for the US to attack the convoy: the Syrian and Lebanese governments could maintain they upheld their end of the bargain (this becomes important for potential future battlefield deals brokered with other groups), while the US would claim the moral high ground of fighting terror.

Whatever scenario unfolds, this currently developing story is arguably one of the strangest to come out of recent events in the war.

Americans Selling Weapons to ISIS At Tanf base – Russian Exclusive Report from Syria

SAA Units Advance in Der Ezzor Western Countryside Chase ISIS Remnants

Syrian Army Deploys Close to Last Town before Deir Ezzur City

The Syrian Army troops continued their rapid advances against ISIL in several flanks in Western Deir Ezzur and managed to position forces at terrorists’ defense lines only 19km away from al-Shoula, the nearest town to the Southern entrance of Deir Ezzur city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday.

SOHR said that the army soldiers have captured over 3,000sq/km of land in Western Deir Ezzur in their anti-ISIL operation on Sunday.

It added that the pro-government forces have now deployed in new positions along al-Sukhnah-Deir Ezzur highway just 19km away from al-Shoula that is the nearest town to the Southern entrance of the terrorist-held city.

Reports said earlier today that the army men seized control over several heights near Mount al-Bashari, the villages of Rajm al-Hajaneh and Mount Safiyeh, deploying forces only 30km to Deir Ezzur city.

The army men and popular fighters, backed by the Russian Air Force, also liberated several square kilometers of the desert terrain over a short period in both Homs and Deir Ezzur provinces.

The army units managed to advance against ISIL from Wadi al-Zoweihak region in Eastern Homs to the village of Haribsheh near the border with Deir Ezzur, seizing control over a 12km-long chunk of the al-Sukhnah-Deir Ezzur highway.

As a result of this advance, the Syrian government forces have positioned themselves within 16 km of al-Shoula, which is the last major town located directly West of the Deir Ezzur province’s capital.

A military source said, meantime, that if the army men capture al-Shoula they will be able to win control over al-Sukhnah-Deir Ezzur highway for the first time in recent years.    

Syria: SAA makes further advances in Deir ez-Zor

The elite Tiger Forces of the Syrian Arab Army driving towards the besieged city of Deir ezzor have come to within less than 18 kilometres after another major advance in the past 12 hours… The Tiger Forces striking Southeast of their positions on Bishri Mountain chain captured Bir Qusaybah and Tar at Turayfawi, secured a vast desert space within which a number of small unnamed hills were also taken possession of… Specifically this most recent advance now puts vanguard units of the Syrian Arab Army 16 kilometres away from besieged Army’s forces within Deir ezzor…

Scenes of the advance of the Syrian Arab Army’s and their Allies in the countryside of West Deir ezzor from the Al-Sukhnah direction and the hunt for Isis groups…

A moving map shows how the Syrian Arab Army and their Allies controls parts of Southern Raqqa, South and North Homs and goes to the lift the siege of the Deir ezzor city from the so-called Islamic state Terrorist-group…

The Syrian army backed by the Russian air force is fighting intense battles with Daesh in the last enclave the terror group occupies in Central Syria. Artillery tanks have shelled targets belonging to the terror group in the eastern outskirts of Al-Salamiya city in Hama Province. Military officials say evicting the Takfiri group from the area is vital to improving security on the main road connecting the cities of Homs and Aleppo. The Russian air force has also pounded Daesh positions in the region. According to the Russian Defense Ministry jets destroyed Daesh military vehicles and ammunition depots near Uqair-abat. There are reports that that the Syrian army has liberated the village and some other villages in the area.

The unadulterated enemy is always dangerous. And such a dodgy and artful sandy gyurza, like Dasha, is doubly. The last stronghold of the terrorist pseudo-state is the province of Deir ez-Zor. Before the war, it provided the lion’s share of the country’s oil production. Those who control oil will determine the future of post-war Syria. On August 31, 17 parts of the SAA and militia units reached the outskirts of the first Harbishi village on the M-20 highway, where the administrative boundary lies with the provinces of Deir ez-Zor. On the way of advancement, the Syrian army has several more villages – the largest ones – Kabaji and Shola …

Syria in Last 24 Hours: Army Regains Control of More Areas in Hama

The Syrian army continued its advances in Hama, and captured more strategic regions in the province.

The army units drove the ISIL terrorists out of key areas and their surrounding areas in Hama province.

The Syrian troops inflicted heavy losses on the terrorists in fierce clashes over controlling of strategic regions. They also destroyed military equipment of the terrorists.

The Syrian army also continued its advances in other key provinces across Syria.

Hama

The Syrian Army forces entered Aqayrabat region in Eastern Hama after the ISIL terrorists started leaving their positions for militant-held regions in Idlib province in groups.

Local sources confirmed on Saturday that the ISIL terrorists have embarked on fleeing their positions in Aqayrabat region in groups towards Southeastern Idlib via Wadi al-Azib region following intensifying attacks by the Syrian Army men and Syrian and Russian warplanes.

The sources added that the army has entered Aqayrabat region after inflicting heavy defeats on ISIL and tightening the circle of forces around Aqayrabat.

Deir Ezzur

A number of ISIL terrorists were killed and several more were wounded in the Syrian Army troops’ attack in the Eastern city of Deir Ezzur on Saturday.

A group of the army soldiers stormed ISIL’s positions in Tal Alloush region and its surrounding areas, leaving 10 terrorists dead and several more injured.

The army men seized also a large volume of ISIL’s weapons and ammunition.

The army soldiers returned to their positions without casualties.

The Syrian Army forces managed to drive ISIL terrorists out of a large region in Badiyeh (desert) covering 3,000sq/km in area in Homs-Raqqa-Deir Ezzur triangle in the central parts of the war-hit country, military sources confirmed on Saturday.

Homs-Raqqa

The sources said that the army soldiers, backed up by the country’s Air Forces and artillery and missile units, continued to beat back ISIL in Badiyeh and imposed control over one of the largest mountains in Central Syria known as Mount al-Bashari in Homs-Raqqa-Deir Ezzur triangle that was one of the most important bastions of the ISIL.

They went on to say that Mount al-Bashari has stretched across the provinces of Homs, Raqqa and Deir Ezzur and was one of the most important supplying centers of the ISIL, adding that the army captured 3,000sq/km of land after taking control over al-Bashari and its surrounding regions.

The sources added that the army will be capable of seizing military control over a large number of villages and towns in Western Deir Ezzur after capturing Mount al-Bashari.

The sources further said that the army managed to connect two main roads in the Eastern part of Raqqa province to al-Sukhnah-Deir Ezzur highway after capturing Mount al-Bashari.

Relevant reports said that the army men captured a region 12km in length and 4km depth North of the village of Manoukh near Jubb al-Jarrah in Eastern Homs.

The ISIL suffered heavy casualties and its military hardware sustained major damage in the attack.

Meantime, it was reported that the Syrian Army has been using modernized models of T-72P and T-72P1 tanks in war on terrorists in the war-hit country, a Russian media outlet reported on Saturday.

The Arabic-language page of the Russian news agency, Sputnik, reported that the modernized tanks of T-72P and T-72P1 are being used by the army in their combat against terrorists, adding that the tanks are equipped with Contact 1 technology which has increased safety of the tanks against anti-tank shells.

Also, the military experts said that although the T-72P and T-72P1 tanks are among the advanced military vehicles but they have been updated and handed over to the Syrian army, adding these tanks are superior than T-72P3 and T-90 tanks in some cases.

Military experts reported last week that the army started using the Russia-made MT-LB armored vehicles for the safe transfer of soldiers to the frontlines in the war-hit country.

The military experts said that MT-LB armored vehicles, manufactured in Russia, could boost the Syrian Army’s strength for a safer dispatch of soldiers to the battlefields.

In the meantime, the Arabic Sputnik reported that the MT-LB vehicles were used for transfer of cannons and their crew.

Sputnik added that different weapons could be easily mounted on the MT-LB vehicles.

Farsnews

Syrian Army Captures ISIL’s Last Strategic Stronghold in Eastern Hama

Syrian Army Captures Several Strategic Regions in Push towards Deir Ezzur City

Syrian Army Imposes Control over More Checkpoints at Border with Jordan

Russian DM: ISIL Soon to Suffer Strategic Defeat in Syria

Raqqa: Syrian Army Makes Fresh Gains in War on ISIL in Push towards Deir Ezzur

US Forces Preventing Dispatch of Humanitarian Aid to Stranded Family Members of Gunmen in Central Syria

Iraqi Popular Forces Warn to Target US Forces after Defeating ISIL Terrorists