Syrian Kurds make further advances helping to link cantons

[Jefferson23]

6/24/2015

Syrian Kurds and allied rebel forces made further advances against the Islamic State on Tuesday, capturing a strategic town a day after seizing a base from the militant group near their Raqqa bastion.

A spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and a Britain-based monitor said anti-IS forces took Ain Issa after capturing the nearby Brigade 93 base late on Monday.

"Ain Issa has come under our full control, along with dozens of villages in the surrounding area," YPG spokesman Redur Khalil told AFP.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said IS had withdrawn from the town and YPG and rebel forces were now checking for mines laid by IS.

Ain Issa's fall comes after IS ceded control of the town of Tal Abyad, a strategically key border town, more than a week ago.

- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syria-kurds-advance-after-seizing-base-933913200#sthash.7cuxpKXp.dpuf

[bemildred]

1. This could get interesting.

Those Kurds seem to know what they are doing, they are just about close enough to shell Raqqa, if not doing so already. Bombing is fine, but if you want to reduce a place to rubble, artillery is the way to go.

A lot of things fall apart if those Kurds just take or destroy Raqqa, and I can't think why they would stop.

And that means "Obama's strategy won", and blows ISIS' propaganda boat out of the water, and eviscerates the Saudis efforts to use terror and money to maintain control and get rid of Assad.

[Jefferson23]

3. The Kurds have been the only ones who seem to know what they're doing and also the will to do so.

It is getting interesting alright..thanks for the additional link below.

[DetlefK]

4. Agreed. This is a siege now and the Kurds need artillery to take Raqqa.

[bemildred]

5. I think ISIS will try to hold it, and that means diverting resources from elsewhere.

Yeah, mortars won't do, you want big guns with range. I don't know how much of that the Kurds have.

[DetlefK]

7. On the other hand, ISIS has some brand-new Humvees for counter-attacks on the artillery.

[bemildred]

8. That's why you want range. And for the snipers too.

And flat terrain helps.

[DetlefK]

9. Aren't we some arm-chair generals? :D

One of my bosses used to be an officer in the army. He told me that due to all the war-related video-games, young people have a better understanding for tactics nowadays.

[bemildred]

10. I used to work in "defense", big computerized wargames, used for training.

"Videogames" is not far off.

And at times I have wallowed in reading military history.

Happyslug says .50 cal machine guns work good on car bombs, they can chew up an engine at 1000 yds, but that might not work on an up-armored humvee.

[bemildred]

2. Islamic State 'boosts Raqqa defences' as Kurds advance

Islamic State (IS) militants are reported to be shoring up the defences of Raqqa, the northern Syrian city that acts as the group's headquarters.

The move follows the capture on Tuesday by Kurdish fighters of a strategically -important town and nearby military base only 50km (30 miles) to the north.

The Kurds said on Wednesday that trenches were being dug around Raqqa.

The prices of basic supplies are also said to have risen in the city because key supply routes have been cut.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-33253497

[bemildred]

6. ISIS suicide bombers attack Hassakeh, 10 killed

BEIRUT: Two suicide bombers from ISIS have killed 10 Syrian soldiers in the northeastern city of Hassakeh, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday.

Separately, at least 13 civilians were killed in a car bomb attack against a mosque in a village near the capital Damascus, the monitor said.

All three incidents occurred Tuesday night.

"Ten soldiers were killed and 16 others injured in two suicide attacks carried out by ISIS against army positions in Hassakeh," the Britain-based Observatory said.

"The first attack was carried out by three jihadis against a military barracks in the center of town, while the second was carried out by one suicide bomber against a checkpoint near a children's hospital."

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Jun-24/303543-isis-suicide-bombers-attack-hassakeh-10-killed.ashx

[bemildred]

11. Kurdish militia wants Syrian rebels to lead attack on ISIS HQ

BEIRUT: A Kurdish militia leading an attack on ISIS strongholds in Syria so far has no plan to extend the assault to the group's de facto capital of Raqqa city, and such an advance should be led by Syrian rebels, a Kurdish leader said Wednesday.

The comments by Saleh Moslem, leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), indicated there is no imminent offensive on Raqqa city by the Kurdish-led forces that have made swift gains against the extremists backed by U.S.-led airstrikes.

Backed by smaller Syrian rebel groups, the Kurdish YPG militia moved to within 50 km (30 miles) of Raqqa city Tuesday with the capture of the town of Ain Issa in northern Syria, backed by U.S.-led air strikes.

Driven from areas north of Raqqa, ISIS was reported to be reinforcing its positions near the city Wednesday, digging trenches and bringing in truck loads of weapons.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Jun-24/303612-kurdish-militia-wants-syrian-rebels-to-lead-attack-on-isis-hq.ashx

[bemildred]

12. The contest between two quasi-states: ISIL and Rojava

The recent string of victories of the Syrian-Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) against the ISIL-held town of Tal Abyad, on the Syrian-Turkish border, and the seizure of an ISIL military base outside of the so-called Islamic State's declared capital of Raqqa, demonstrate how non-state militias have achieved greater success in this war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant than the conventional militaries of Iraq and Syria.

Apparently the YPG's offensives were conducted in tandem with US air strikes, similar to the scenario in Tikrit, Iraq, where the US ultimately relented and launched air strikes along with an offensive led by the Iranian-allied Iraqi Shia militias.

In both Tikrit and Tal Abyad, it was the combination of US air power and an alliance with local militias that secured victory against well-entrenched ISIL fighters. In both cases, the US had allied with militias, not conventional militaries, that Washington had been wary of supporting.

The Syrian YPG is affiliated with the Turkish Workers Party (PKK), which is officially on the US state department's list of terrorist groups. Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shia militia, is also on the list, yet it took part in the battle to expel ISIL from Tikrit, bringing the goals of the US and this Shia group together in the birthplace of Saddam Hussein.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/06/contest-quasi-states-isil-rojava-150624054713157.html

[bemildred]

13. Islamic State attacks 2 Syrian border towns

ISIS wants to get its supply lines open again.

BEIRUT

The militants of the Islamic State carried out two new offensives in northern Syria on Thursday, entering a provincial capital and detonating large bombs in the border town of Kobani, where intensive airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition helped Kurdish forces rout the jihadis last year.

In southern Syria, rebel groups began a new campaign to push government forces from the city of Daraa.

The new attacks by the Islamic State came more than a week after its fighters lost the town of Tal Abyad, on the Turkish border, to Kurdish militias and Arab rebels in what was seen as a strategic setback for the group. In striking back, the Islamic State appeared to be trying to counter losses in one place with attacks on other sites it considers vulnerable, a tactic it has employed before.

Kurdish activists inside Kobani said Islamic State fighters disguised in the uniforms of Kurdish militiamen had sneaked into the town at dawn, when few people were awake. Then a large truck bomb exploded at the town’s border crossing with Turkey, setting off clashes between the Islamic State militants and local Kurdish forces.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/world/article25505026.html

[Jefferson23]

14. That is intense and this is so troubling:

That battle highlighted Turkey’s complicated relationship with the war just over its border: the Turkish army did not intervene against the Islamic State nor did its soldiers join the international coalition against them. While Turkish leaders have condemned the Islamic State, they have also made it clear that they consider any Kurdish advance near their border a potential threat to national security.

Great links, bemildred..as usual.

[Jefferson23]

15. Erdogan denies IS launched Kobane attack from Turkey -

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday denied Islamic State militants had entered the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane from Turkey to launch a series of deadly attacks on civilians and Kurdish fighters.

IS militants attacked Kobane during a surprise offensive on Thursday, which left nearly two dozen people dead and injured over 130 others. The Syrian-Kurdish town was the scene of a prolonged battle earlier this year, where US-led coalition airstrikes pummelled IS, aiding what was seen as a key Kurdish victory.

Speaking at an iftar (fast breaking) meal late on Thursday, Erdogan said claims that IS entered Kobane from Turkish territory were false and he accused the outlawed Kurdish PKK group of running a “smear campaign” against his country.

“I want to clearly and transparently express it again: no one has the right to align Turkey with extremism,” he said. “Those who became an instrument for international lobbies that are Turkey’s enemies and for Bashar al-Assad’s manipulations should firstly question themselves.”

The Turkish president condemned what he described as a “heinous” attack on Kobane and reiterated that his country’s hospitals will absorb the weight of dealing with those injured and displaced by Syria’s brutal civil war.

- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/erdogan-decries-smear-campaign-launched-kobane-attack-turkey-38302020#sthash.5Yvl1mK8.dpuf

[bemildred]

16. He seemed eager to get out in front of that story.

I'm not surprised that ISIS counter-attacked, they really cannot wait, and it would not surprise me of Erdogan moved heaven and earth to help them do it.

[Jefferson23]

17. Considering his conduct through this mess, I don't see how anyone can

disagree with that.

[bemildred]

18. HDP claims high probability that Kobani attackers entered from Turkey

Turkey's pro-Kurdish party described an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attack on the Syrian border town of Kobani as a massacre and blamed it on Turkish state support for the militants, comments which will fuel tension in Ankara amid attempts to form a government.

ISIL fighters launched simultaneous attacks against the Syrian government and Kurdish militia overnight, with at least one car bomb in an area near the border crossing with Turkey. Hospital officials said at least 15 people were killed and 70 wounded.

"The Turkish government has supported ISIL for years. Today's massacre is a part of this support," said Figen Yüksekdağ, the co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), referring to ISIL.

The pro-Kurdish HDP entered parliament for the first time after clearing a 10 percent threshold in the June 7 elections.

http://national.bgnnews.com/hdp-claims-high-probability-that-kobani-attackers-entered-from-turkey-haberi/7145

[Jefferson23]

20. Well there ya go. Forming a government is going to be peachy. n/t

[bemildred]

19. Turkish army dismisses soldier 'abducted by ISIS': report

ANKARA: The Turkish military has ordered the dishonorable discharge of a soldier who was briefly abducted in January by ISIS militants after he went missing on the border with Syria, media reported Friday.

Ozgur Ors, a non-commissioned officer, went missing during an army operation against smugglers but then was rescued by a mission coordinated by Turkey's spy agency.

A probe was then opened against the soldier over his conduct. But the full details of the case have been kept tightly under wraps and it has never been made fully clear how he violated military rules with his behavior.

Ors was dismissed for "failure to resist ISIS, being an instrument for the organization's propaganda in the media and harming the reputation of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK)," the Hurriyet newspaper reported, using a variant abbreviation for ISIS.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2015/Jun-26/303926-turkish-army-dismisses-soldier-abducted-by-isis-report.ashx

[Jefferson23]

21. That is disgusting...details kept under wraps indeed. n/t

[bemildred]

22. Syrian Kurds Claim Capturing 3 Turkish Special Forces in Kobani

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian Kurdish forces claimed that they have captured three Turkish special forces during the ISIL attack on the town of Kobani, media reports said.

The Turkish forces were captured by the Kurdish fighters while they were accompanying the ISIL terrorists in their attacks on Kobani, the Salmani Times news website reported.

The Syrian TV reported on Thursday that the ISIL managed to return to the border town of Kobani through Turkey.

The report said that the terrorists reentered the Kurdish city through coordination with the Turkish intelligence-security apparatus.

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940405000591

[bemildred]

23. Turkey accused of allowing ISIL fighters to cross its border to attack a Kurdish town only recently

LONDON — Turkey was accused Thursday of allowing Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters to cross its border to attack the Kurdish town of Kobane, months after the jihadists were driven out.

Twin car bombs were detonated close to the border crossing at the Turkish town of Mursitpinar, and Kurdish activists and residents claimed the bombers had crossed from the Turkish, despite a heavy police presence.

A convoy of cars carrying up to 40 Isil fighters – reportedly using the uniform of Kurdish YPG militia as a disguise – then attacked Kobane from three sides in the early hours of yesterday.

Kobane became an important symbol in the battle against Isil after the group launched an offensive against the town last year. Kurdish forces backed by US-led air strikes waged a four-month battle to repel the group, finally securing the town in January.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/world/Turkey+accused+allowing+ISIL+fighters+cross+border+attack/11169334/story.html

[bemildred]

24. Prime Minister’s order to intervene in Syria challenged by Turkish army, claims columnist

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) asked Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu for written orders when he ordered them to intervene in Jarabulus, a Syrian city near the Turkish border, but Davutoğlu argued that the existing authority of the TSK would be sufficient, which resulted in inaction on the plan, a columnist has claimed.

Yeniçağ daily columnist Ahmet Takan wrote on Friday that an intervention in Jarabulus was brought to the agenda by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Davutoğlu during the recent security meeting, called the “Crisis in Syria” meeting, but Foreign Ministry diplomats, as well the TSK, stood against Erdoğan and Davutoğlu on the grounds that such a military operation should be carried out in collaboration with the US and Syrian opposition forces. The diplomats also raised concerns that Russia and Iran should be consulted prior to the launch of a military operation, as well as the Syrian regime.

Takan claimed that the TSK said they would not hesitate to enter Jarabulus if the government ordered it, but any military operation should be planned properly, while the diplomats suggested that a new government, which will be formed in the coming days by the political parties in Parliament in line with the results of the June 7 general election, should make such a decision.

http://www.todayszaman.com/national_prime-ministers-order-to-intervene-in-syria-challenged-by-turkish-army-claims-columnist_392035.html