With the weeklong Syrian ceasefire collapsing earlier today, airstrikes were reported in and around the northern city of Aleppo, with at least 32 people, apparently all civilians, reported slain according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The biggest single incident was in the town of Urm al-Kabra, just outside of Aleppo, where a Syrian Red Crescent aid convoy headed into the Nusra Front-held half of Aleppo was attacked. 20 of the vehicles were destroyed, and at least 14 aid workers reported killed.
UN officials expressed outrage at the strike, noting it had taken them the entire week-long ceasefire just to get everyone to give them permission to come into Aleppo, and it ended up attacked anyhow. Getting permission from every faction to deliver the aid was a huge complication, with the Syrian government among the first to agree to the shipment, but conditioning it on not involving Turkish officials.
The Syrian military is believed to have carried out the airstrikes, though as of yet this is not confirmed, and the Syrian military has not commented on the attack. The military had cited rebel attacks in and around Aleppo throughout the weekend as part of their decision to withdraw from the ceasefire, however.
Seems to me a purposeful attack on a sensitive target. A response to the US/UK strike on the Syrian troups? In that case it might show how little grip Russia/Iran has on some Syrian commanders. It’s even possible the strike on the Syrian position was not completely a mistake either, at least not from Russia since they knew about it coming. The strike might have taken care of two things: 1. open the door to the much desired cooperation 2. clean up some of the more “difficult to manage” brigades who were perhaps getting “out of control”. This might be reading too much into the bloody fog of war.
..or the terorists did it as they disagreed with the ceasefire and refused to accept UN hand-outs… the US knows it but chooses to blame the Syrian gov anyways as part of their regime-change operation.
Won’t be long before the USA has no choice but to take Assad out.In the meantime keep Russia distracted in Syria and build up NATO bases on there border modernize nuclear capabilities in Germany keep up the construction of missile defense systems along its borders with the Kallingrad yup gotta say USA gots there game plan in motion.All this going on while Russia fights to DEFEND the last scraps of it’s only naval base stationed in Syria it’s only source of influence in the middle East and you guys wonder why the Americans are running laps around the rest of the world.Tip your hard to a SUPER POWER people.
“Won’t be long before the USA has no choice but to take Assad out.”
The US has 100% as to whether or not to “take Assad out.”
Obama — who has been conducting the illegal war in Syria without congressional declaration or even fake “authorization for use of military force” for years now — can tell the troops to pack their shit and come home any time he wants to.
Or Congress could grow some testicles and reassert its authority.
Just so EVERYONE on this sight understands the USA can take out Assad anytime it decides to but why do that when we can keep Russia distracted in Syria and we build up our strategic assets on it borders…For some reason people on this sight who are so anti-American think Syria is really important to America but we already have numerous basses throughout the middle East we already have OUR nukes positioned in numerous countries in the middle East the other side Russia has one naval base in Syria nothing else why do you think Russia is there so please stop with the well Russia could shoot down a U.S hey declare a no fly zone if that were the case we wouldn’t be flying American jets on there borders in other words there’s nothing they can do.What do you think the U.S. response would be if one of our aircraft was shot down?Do you think we have all those military installations there for nothing.Realize we’re more powerful got more influence in the world and on top of that out military capabilities are superior just a fact of life
I really do not understand the pressing need to resupply terrorists in Aleppo.
They should be evacuated or stand and fight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights seems to think they some right to the territory and they do not.
War is a nasty business. Despite quaint notions to the contrary, there are no rules save one: win. The Aleppo rebels and their supporters could have peace, safety, and full bellies on the instant: just walk away. Wave a white handkerchief and surrender. It’s as simple as that. Otherwise stay there and die.
They were stupid to let the US(acting as Israel’s stooge) dupe them into helping in a failed criminal regime change enterprise. They trusted the US (!!!!!!), and now they’re screwed: ruled by fundamentalist Islamic head-choppers, bombed and starved by the government they and their Saudi and Turkish “friends” tried to destroy.
For five years Deir ez-Zor remained under Syrian government control and the Jebel Tharda hill-top military position provided protection for all of Deir ez-Zor. Five years, and the US which has for those five years wanted to destroy Assad and his govt, would have us believe the airstrike was a mistake.
Here’s my take: “Let’s bomb the Jebel Tharda position and let ISIS take Deir ez-Zor. That will, in a stroke, clear Assad’s forces from all of Eastern Syria (so we can take possession after ISIS is disposed of), and send a message to Assad that he needs to wise up. He’s certainly not going to attack us — we can only hope — because then we would have the excuse we have wanted for so long to bomb his army to dust. It’s a total win win. Let’s go for it. Then of course we’ll pour a little salt in the wound by saying ‘Whoops! We’re sorry. We made a mistake.’ (He he, wink wink.)”
It appears that Assad’s response has been to send a message of his own: “You’re right, we don’t dare bomb American forces. But the Russians will help us reinforce Deir ez-Zor, retake Jebel Tharda, and bomb the living crap out of all your terrorist proxies in Aleppo and Idlib province. Suck on that! And you thought you would screw us with your phony-ass “cease fire” scam. Riiiiiight!”
Jason needs to do some homework before posting his articles. There may have been no air or artillery strike on the aid convoy at all. Jason is basing this entirely on the notorious anti-Assad SOHR, which is getting its information from the al-Nusra embedded White Helmets. It seems the Russian Defense Ministry has released a picture of jihadi military equipment embedded in the convoy and says their surveillance indicates the convoy was set afire after it reached its destination: http://english.almanar.com.lb/36353
Here’s another article quoting officials of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russia-denies-carrying-airstrikes-humanitarian-aid-convoy-aleppo/
We don’t know what happened to the convoy except that it was attacked with loss of life. We do know that the jihadi groups resisted letting the aid convoy in, probably because it was to be inspected by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to make sure there was no contraband. In past cease fires, arms were smuggled in aid convoys under the “watchful” eyes of the UN.