ISIS update 9/20/2017..Turkey flexes military muscles

Turkey flexes military muscles ahead of Kurdistan referendum

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Iraq PM Abadi rejects Kurdish independence referendum

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The Iraqi Army’s media wing published a brief video of its warplanes monitoring and striking Isis-held areas of Western Iraq… The footage showed a handful of sorties that literally blew suspected Isis hideouts to smithereens… The Air raids took place in the Wester part of Anbar province known to be a Jihadist hot bed since the US military toppled Saddam Hussein more than a decade ago… Despite losing most of the territory it once controlled in Iraq, the Isis still controls dozens of villages along the M-12 highway that runs adjacent to the Euphrates River… With Mosul and Tal-Afar fully restored under Government control, a large-scale offensive is expected to be launched by the Iraqi Army into West Anbar in the coming months…

60 percent of the first phase of reconstruction in Tal Afar has been completed

The Syrian Arab Army and Al-Hashd al-Sha’abi, also known as the Popular Mobilizations Units, recaptured a 100 squera kilometres area 38,6 square miles on the Syrian-Iraqi border control the stretch between the Al-Waleed and Al-Qaim forcing the so-called Islamic state in to a bottleneck between the Iraqi and Syrian Forces… _. «This is approximately our sixth day at the Al-Waleed crossing between Iraq and Syria, we are heading Northwards now to Al-Qaim in parallel to the Syrian forces who are undertaking the left flank to us, now which is still going on. We had liberated about a hundred kilometers from Al-Waleed towards Al-Qaim»…

Battle for Deir ez-Zor: Locals Celebrate Liberation

Deir ez-Zour recovering from three-year ISIS siege

Recently video footage released by the National Defense Forces media, shows their units moving from Daraa city towards the Eastern city of Deir ezzor in order to back the Syrian Arab Army and its Allies… The video emerges hundreds of fighters with multiple kinds of Armored vehicles including heavy technical and light cannons… Also units from the Ministry of Interiors Special Mission Force were sent to Deir ezzor from the central city of Homs as the Government a masses troops for final battle against the so-called Islamic state terror organisation…

ISIS Flees From Deir-ez-Zor to Iraq. What’s Next?

Russia, Turkey and Iran Separate the Opposing Sides

US role in Syria conflict

US rushes into liberated Syrian areas for access to rich oil fields – Fmr. Pentagon official

Deir Ezzur: US-Backed SDF Shelling Syrian Army Positions East of Euphrates River

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement that the Syrian Army troops have come under heavy shelling by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in their operation against ISIL terrorists on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzur province.

“According to the reports of the Syrian Army commanders, the most vicious counterattacks and massive shelling are launched from the North that is controlled by the ‘Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) and the US special forces that were deployed to the area to allegedly ‘lend medical assistance’ to these militants instead of liberating Raqqa,” the statement said.

“As the final defeat of ISIL in Syria draws near, it becomes increasingly more evident who really fights the ISIL and who just imitates a fight for three years,” he said. “Even if the US-led coalition is not willing to fight terrorism in Syria, it should at least not prevent those who really do that consistently and effectively (from fighting terrorist groups).”

A Kurdish media outlet claimed on Saturday that the Syrian and Russian fighter jets targeted positions of the SDF in the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzur province in early hours of Saturday.

The Kurdish-language Hawar news agency reported that the Russian and Syrian fighter jets hit SDF’s positons in al-Sina’ah region in the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River in Early Saturday, injuring a number of the Kurdish fighters.

Hawar news said that six SDF fighters were injured in the air raid, adding that Damascus and Moscow had not reacted to the allegation.

The US-backed SDF forces in Syria announced that they would not allow the Syrian government troops to cross the Euphrates River.

“Now we have 3 km between us and the Eastern riverbank, once our forces reach the area, any shot fired into that area will be considered an attack on the military council,” Abu Khawla, commander of the SDF-affiliated Deir Ezzur Military Council, said.

“We have notified Damascus and Moscow that we are coming to the Euphrates riverbank, and they can see our forces advancing. We do not allow the Syrian pro-government forces to cross to the Eastern riverbank,” he added.

Moscow also said Syrian government forces crossed the Euphrates River in their push to liberate the Deir Ezzur Province from ISIL, ignoring a warning by a ragtag group of militants that receives Washington backing.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova added on Friday that the Syrian army was already on the river’s Eastern side.

The Syrian army crossed the Euphrates to deploy on the Eastern bank of the river this week.

Syrian Army Dislodged Daesh From Villages

Russian Gen. Blasts SDF for Flushing Dam Reservoir to Stop Syrian Army’s River Crossing

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov slammed the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for flushing out the reservoir of the water dams they control in Northeastern Syria in a bid to rise the water levels in the Euphrates to block the Syrian army from crossing the river in Deir Ezzur.

The army units continued to liberate the Euphrates valley East of Deir Ezzur city with the help of the Russian Air Force, the statement from the ministry said, adding that the government forces had retaken more than 60 square kilometers on the left (Eastern) bank of the Euphrates from the ISIL.

The army also faced difficulties as it cut across the Euphrates River, where the water level surprisingly rose within several hours. Such water-level changes could only be the result of a deliberate flush at the dams that are also currently controlled by the militant groups backed by the US-led coalition, the major general said.

The Syrian army crossed the Euphrates to deploy on the Eastern bank of the river last week.

The first units of the army deployed on the Eastern bank of the river last week, spreading towards the regions where a number of SDF troops claimed to have deployed a day earlier.

The Syrian soldiers moved their armored units across the river few days later.

The SDF claimed on Monday that a number of its units have advanced over 250 square kilometers in their anti-ISIL operations dubbed as ‘Island’s Storm’, and are approaching the contact line with the Syrian army.

The SDF opened a new front in Eastern Syria earlier in September and moved towards Deir Ezzur from the North.

The spokesman for international coalition Ryan Dilon reported that since the beginning of the Island’s Storm military operations, the SDF has captured more than 250 square kilometers in Wadi Nahr Khabour region in Northeastern Deir Ezzur.

Meanwhile, the SDF media center announced that combat units have entered the streets of the city of al-Sanayeh in Deir Ezzur province.

Al-Sanayeh industrial region is only 10 kilometers from Deir Ezzur city, meaning that the SDF are now just 10 kilometers away from Syrian troops and their allies if their claims are proved to be true.
Russian reconnaissance drones captured sight of many Battle-tanks, Armored vehicles and Artillery belonging to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham moving in to position near Government lines in Northern Hama in the opening phase of their offensive against the Syrian Arab Army… Several H.T.S Battle-Tanks and other Armored vehicles were knocked out by the Syrian Arab Army during its repelling of the first wave of the militant offensive… At the time the military situation in Northern Hama has settled down although Jihadist may yet launched a new offensive, only Artillery duels and rear-area Airstrikes by pro-government Airpower are currently taking place…

Russian Pantsir-S Goes Hunting In Syrian Skies

Dozens of Jihadi militants have been killed and injured as the Syrian and Russian Air Forces conducted non-stop Airstrikes in central Syria… According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Syrian and Russian fighter Jets and Helicopters have conducted more than 140 sorties since yesterday, targeting positions and infrastructure for the rebel groups in Idlib and Northern Hama countryside… The fierce aerial campaign began when the rebel groups-led by the Al-Qaeda affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham-conducted a surprise offensive against Syrian Arab Army’s positions in Northern Hama countryside… The assault turned costly for the rebel groups which had lost scores of commanders as well as militants in the failed attack… A pro-rebel social media sources reported that at least 25 Jihadists from the Turkistan Islamic Party were killed in Tal-Bzam attack…

Syrian children back to school in Douma following de-escalation agreement

Civilians are beginning to return to Raqqa as situation improves post ISIS

More IDP camps are being built in Ein Issa, Raqqa, as more displaced people continue to arrive

Roundtable: The end of Daesh – What next?

Macron, “Assad is Not Our Enemy”

Farsnews

Syria: Terrorist Front One Step Closer to Full Collapse in Eastern Hama

Israeli Air Force Launches Airstrike on Positions in Syria’s Occupied Golan

Russian Gen. Blasts SDF for Flushing Dam Reservoir to Stop Syrian Army’s River Crossing

ISIL Continues Vast Withdrawal from Eastern Homs under Syrian Army Attacks

ISIL Using Female Suicide Attackers to Slow Down SDF’s Advances in Northeastern Syria

US-Backed Terrorists to Hand over Positions at Border with Jordan to Syrian Army

Deir Ezzur: US-Backed SDF Shelling Syrian Army Positions East of Euphrates River