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Syria – Army Cuts Off Khan Shaykhun – Russia Bombs Turkish Reinforcement
This is an update to last weeks post Syria – Frontline Breach Opens Door To A Deep Battle For Idlib.
Today the Syrian army gained fire control over the M5 highway north of Khan Shaykhun.
Map by Peto Lucem – bigger
The jihadists in the soon closed cauldron south of that point are now cut off from road bound resupplies.
For the last few nights reinforcements from north Idleb tried to reach Khan Shaykhun. The Syrian and Russian airforce prevented them (vid) from getting there.
This map shows the situation five days ago with the position of the Turkish observation point within the area.
via ISWnews – bigger
This morning Turkey sent (vid) a 29 truck convoy with five tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles, ammunition and additional personnel toward the observation post in Morek, south of Khan Shaykhun.
Before the convoy passed through Maarat al-Numan, 20 kilometers north of Khan Shaykhun, the Russian airforce bombed its path (vid). The leader of Faylq al-Sham, a 'Syrian rebel' group controlled by the Turkish intelligence service, was escorting the Turkish army convoy in a technical. He was killed. No Turkish soldiers were harmed. The convoy stopped and will have to return to Turkey. The tanks and the ammunition will not reach the jihadis in Khan Shaykhun.
The Turkish defense ministry falsely claimed that three civilians were killed in the bombing. The Syrian government condemned the Turkish invasion.
This now is the right time for the Syrian army to bring in reserves and to open the deep battle for Idleb by quickly moving northwards along the M5 highway.
willie @154–
Thanks for your reply! Putin and Peskov at the Kremlin have both stated their preference for the G-20 format as it’s a far more representative body than either G-7/8; and while it would be nice to be invited back into the G-8 format, Russia doesn’t seek one. That stance makes eminent sense since the G-7 is filled with Russiaphobes who’ve accepted the grossest of lies about Russia at face value–particularly over the Ukraine coup which is when Russia was ousted. The linked article is quite critical of Macron and France’s overall foreign policy, and I find myself mostly agreeing with it, particularly the following section:
“French-American relations seem to be deadlocked, is it out of spite or opportunism that France is turning to the old Russian ally?
“France still does not understand – and seems unable to understand – that there is a structural difference of interests between Washington and the European Union. Our political and strategic allegiance is deep, but it is based on a fantasy convergence of interests. Under Trump, who holds us “short reins” and bluntly proclaims his contempt, we feel orphans of a tutelage who until then took gloves and allowed us to obey… saving face, in military or declaratory rodomontades. But in fact, as early as 2013, with Obama and his famous “red line” in Syria, the mass was called. But then, redoubling servility, we had no upsurge of saving pride. Nothing has really changed in Paris. This is where the drama. Because the rest of the world is moving at high speed. I fear that our president, despite his lyrical flights of Fancy, has no real awareness of our history with Russia through the centuries, nor any structured strategic vision. He did not see France in his flesh or in his heart, and words were not enough to embody a will. He wants to be the self-proclaimed leader of a resurgent Europe, but he does not understand the conditions.
“To get closer to Moscow (as indeed to Teheran), Paris must once again become a credible and reliable power, on the word of which one can count, which is mentally independent, free, sovereign. In short, we simply have to stop paying for our words and leave our status as an American proxy. Again, we are far from that. Since Nicolas Sarkozy with Libya, then François Hollande with Maidan and Les Mistral, France is unfortunately no longer considered autonomous, even less independent strategically. His signature is no longer valid. His vision of the world, that of his place within it, in respect of his own interests and values, is untraceable. In Syria, its astonishing game of destabilization of a sovereign state and support for the worst terrorist group, which nevertheless strikes it on its national territory and undermines its unity, has deeply decriminalized it. Our foreign policy is a-historical, schizophrenic and suicidal.”
If Macron really wants to reassert the importance of France, the simplest thing he can do is to force an end to the EU’s sanctions on Russia, which as the writer points-out is really the big test. If Macron cannot/will not carry out this simple act, then France will remain in the Outlaw US Empire’s lock-box policy-wise to its own detriment.
Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 22 2019 17:16 utc | 155
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