ISIS update 10/22/2017..Israeli military hits Syrian artillery in Golan Heights

Israeli military hits Syrian artillery in Golan Heights

Syria: Tel Aviv colluding with terrorists

“US & Israel seek to hamper fight against terror”

Ghost Town: Aerial footage of ruined Raqqa

A Huge U.S. Victory Against ISIS In Raqqa

Saudi Minister’s Visit to Raqqa Aimed at Saving ISIL Members

Saudi Minister of State for Arab Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan has traveled to Raqqa in Syria to rescue 30 Saudi members of the ISIL terrorist group from Syria under the guise of reconstruction talks and partnership, an Arab media outlet disclosed on Sunday.

Informed sources in Raqqa were quoted as saying by the Arabic-language al-Arabi al-Jadid news website that al-Sabhan’s visit coincided with a trip made by Brett McGurk, the top US envoy to the anti-ISIL coalition, to the region.

“Al-Sabhan’s main objective was not helping the displaced people but it was saving nearly 30 Saudi ISIL members,” the sources said.

They added that al-Sabhan vowed to help reconstruction efforts in Syria after extradition of the Saudi ISIL members.

Al-Sabhan is minister of state for Arab Affairs. He was previously the ambassador to Iraq.

Al-Sabhan recently caused controversy in Lebanon when he called for building a coalition to fight powerful Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah resistance group which is fighting alongside the Syrian army against the terrorist groups.

Saudi Arabia has been a key backer of terrorist groups fighting in Syria.

Syrian government troops retake Al-Qaryatain in Homs

Syria Map 23/10/2017

Russian Forces Raise Flag above Major Kurdish Base in Northern Syria

The Russian forces have raised the Russian Federation standard above a major base held by Kurdish militias in Northern Aleppo province amid a recent visit to the region by a helicopter, video footages showed.

Video footage released by opposition media sources two days ago shows Russian forces raising the Russian flag above the Kurdish-held Menagh Air Base in Afrin region of Northern Aleppo province, the English-language Lebanon-based AMN reported.

In doing so, the Kurdish YPG flag which previously flew above the military airport was taken down.

The development came after Russian forces paid a visit to both Turkish and Kurdish authorities in Northern Aleppo.

The Russian, Turkish and Kurdish military heads are currently negotiating for the establishment of a de-escalation zone in the Afrin region that is aimed at ending hostilities between Turkey-led forces and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units.

What did Adam Garrie say on Martyr Issam Zahreddine?

The Iraqi Forces carried out powerful attacks on two the so-called Islamic state camps near the Syrian border this week… The attacks would prove successful for the Iraqi For as they managed to kill scores of Isis-Terrorists present at these camps…

The Sukhoi Aircraft of the Iraqi Air Force managed to strike at the so-called Islamic state Terrorist-gangs in Eastern Qaim province West of Anbar… The Airstrikes was carried out based on accurate information killing several elements of Isis organisation… The Iraqi Air Force also targeted two camps belonging to Isis and managed to destroy them completely… 25 Isis members were killed and 13 Armored vehicles were destroyed, including two Armored lorries, and burning 3 tents…

Tillerson Demands Iran “Militias” Leave Iraq As Fighting Against ISIS “Comes To A Close” | Zero Hedge

One week after we reported that the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard (which two weeks ago was designated by the US as a terrorist organization), Qassem Soleimani, was observed in Erbil last Sunday where he met with Kurdistan regional president Barzani to “discuss” the growing crisis – the latest indication of Iran’s surging influence in the region – and just days before Iraq sent in troops assisted by Iranian militia into Iraq’s Kurdish region, which promptly regained control over the oil-rich Kirkuk region, on Sunday Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Iranian “militias” need to leave Iraq as the fight against Islamic State militants was coming to an end.

“Certainly Iranian militias that are in Iraq, now that the fighting against (the Islamic State group) is coming to a close, those militias need to go home,” Tillerson said during a press conference in Riyadh, where the U.S. diplomat is holding talks with top Gulf officials. “All foreign fighters need to go home,” he added hopefully, quoted by NRT.

Tillerson’s Gulf visit came as part of concerted efforts to curb Iran’s rapidly expanding influence in the region, including boosting the clout of Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia in Shiite-majority Iraq, where Iran backs Shia militias fighting in the north – part of a wider regional battle for influence that extends from Syria to Yemen – even as there was scant hope of a breakthrough in attempts to reconcile Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

In further attempts to limit Iranian influence, Tillerson called on European governments to join a U.S.-led sanctions regime against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, saying that countries doing business with the Islamic Republic’s force do so at their own risk. The Revolutionary Guards “foment instability in the region and create destruction in the region,” Tillerson told reporters in Riyadh on Sunday quoted by Bloomberg, after talks with King Salman of Saudi Arabia and other top officials. European countries and companies that do business with the IRGC “really do so at great risk,” he said.

Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Gulf states are engaged in their own efforts to roll back Shiite-led Iran’s expanding sway in the region, including in Iraq, where Shiite parties have dominated politics since the U.S. toppled the Sunni-dominated regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003. In a reference to Shiite militias in Iraq, Tillerson said “those fighters need to go home – any foreign fighters need to go home” adding that “we are facing in our region serious challenges in the form of extremism, terrorism as well as attempts to destabilize our countries,” Saudi King Salman said at the event. “These attempts require our full attention.”

* * *

Tilleron’s visit takes place just one week after President Donald Trump refused to certify the Iran nuclear deal, leaving its fate to the US Congress, and laid out an aggressive new strategy against Tehran in a bellicose speech. As well as talks with senior Saudi officials in Riyadh including King Salman, Tillerson attended a landmark meeting between Saudi Arabia and Iraq aimed at upgrading strategic ties between the Arab neighbours.

“This event highlights the strength and breadth as well as the great potential of the relations between your countries,” Tillerson said at the first meeting of the joint Saudi-Iraqi coordination council in Riyadh.

Following years of tensions with Riyadh, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hailed the meeting as an “important step toward enhancing relations”, while King Salman warned of the dangers of “extremism, terrorism, as well as attempts to destabilise our countries.” As part of his Saudi visit, Tillerson is also seeking more money for reconstruction in Iraq, after U.S.-backed forces ousted Islamic State from its key strongholds in the country.

Meanwhile, the question of growing Iranian influence – which has been underscored by strong diplomatic relations with Russia and Turkey - has also been at the heart of the diplomatic conflict between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with Tillerson headed to Doha later Sunday for talks on defusing the crisis between two key US allies, which however looks unlikely. After initially appearing to support the effort to isolate Qatar, Trump called for mediation and recently predicted a rapid end to the crisis. But before he arrived at Riyadh’s King Salman air base on Saturday, Tillerson indicated there had been little progress.

“I do not have a lot of expectations for it being resolved anytime soon,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg. “There seems to be a real unwillingness on the part of some of the parties to want to engage.”

Aside from the Gulf dispute and Iran, the conflict in Yemen and counter-terrorism will also figure in his talks, the State Department said. On the Gulf crisis, the goal will be to try to persuade the two sides to at least open a dialogue. Simon Henderson, a veteran of the region now at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, said the disputing parties do not want to lose face.

“Tillerson will say: ‘Come on kids, grow up and wind down your absurd demands. And let’s work on a compromise on your basic differences’,” he said.

Kuwait has tried to serve as a mediator, with US support, but the parties have yet to sit down face-to-face.

During his trip, Tillerson will also visit Pakistan, India and Switzerland: in New Delhi Tillerson will try to build what he said in a recent speech could be a 100-year “strategic partnership” with India. Tillerson will stop in Islamabad to try to sooth Pakistani fears about this Indian outreach, but also pressure the government to crack down harder on Islamist militant groups.

The Battle for Kirkuk: Government forces retake areas across northern Iraq

KRG Official Lauds General Soleimani for “Sincere” Behavior towards Iraqi Kurds

Representative of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Tehran Nazim Dabagh announced that the Kurdish leaders are now ready to resolve the problems created after the independence referendum through talks, lauding efforts made by Commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Qassem Soleimani to this end.

“Mr. Soleimani is the one who has really treated the Iraqi Kurds honestly and he had issued warnings about (consequences of) holding the referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan region before it was held,” Dabbagh said.

“It seems that the Islamic Republic of Iran seeks to resolve the problems between the Kurdistan region and the central government in Iraq based on the Iraqi constitution and we assess Iran’s measures in this regard as positive,” he said.

Meantime, a senior Kurdish Iraqi legislator praised General Soleimani for his mediatory role which led to the settlement of problems after the September 25 independence referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

“Recently, after holding the referendum, a 9-article agreement was signed between Hashd al-Shaabi (Iraqi Popular forces) Commander Hadi al-Ameri and Bafel Talabani, a commander of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) (and son of late Jalal Talabani), under the supervision of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and mediated by Qassem Soleimani, the IRGC Quds Force commander, based on which the referendum results were called off until an unspecified time,” Massoud Haider wrote on his facebook, Russian news agency Sputnik reported.

Other Kurdish lawmakers were also quoted by Reuters as saying that General Soleimani met leaders from the PUK, one of the two main Kurdish political parties in Iraq and an ally of Tehran, in the city of Sulaimania the day before Premier al-Abadi ordered his forces to advance on Kirkuk.

Reuters reported that General Soleimani told the Kurdish leaders that their Peshmerga forces would not be able to beat Abadi’s troops, which had backing from the West and regional powers Iran and Turkey.

“Soleimani’s visit…was to give a last-minute chance for the decision makers not to commit a fatal mistake,” Reuters quoted one PUK lawmaker as saying.

Ala Talabani, a leading PUK official, said the Iranian General only provided what she described as “wise” counsel in his meetings with Kurdish leaders.

“Soleimani advised us … that Kirkuk should return to the law and the constitution, so let us come to an understanding,” she said on the Arabic language TV station al-Hadath.

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