Syria

[Ryan Ruck]

NOTE: This report has not been verified.

Report: Russian Ground Troops Arrive In Syria In Unprecedented Military Action

The Kuwaiti report adds that Russian forces have already taken over multiple strategic positions and have forced numerous rebel battalions to retreat.

November 23, 2015

In an unprecedented move, Russia has sent ground-troops into the Syrian battlefield in support of Bashar Assad as the dictator struggles to maintain his power in the continuous four-year-long civil war, according to a report by Kuwaiti daily al-Rai.

The report, which has not been substantiated by other sources, claims Russian military forces have been providing cover for T-90 tanks along with military air support which have attacked multiple strategic targets held by rebel forces in Idlib and Latakia.

In September, multiple US officials claimed that Russia had positioned about a half dozen tanks at a Syrian airfield at the center of a military buildup.

One US official said seven Russian T-90 tanks were observed at the airfield near Latakia, a stronghold of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Kuwaiti report adds that Russian forces have already taken over multiple strategic positions and have forced numerous rebel battalions to retreat. The report did not disclose whether there were Russian army casualties.

Over the last three months, Russia has steadily increased its participation in the Syrian domestic conflict, launching airstrikes from its bases in western Syria as it drops thousands of sorties on enemy targets.

Along with airstrikes, Russia has also increased its naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea along the Syrian coast while it coordinates with Iranian military forces and Hezbollah.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on several past occasions that his country had no intention of sending boots on the ground to participate in the Syrian civil war.

If the report is correct, it could signify a dramatic shift in Russian policy, or merely be a one-time specific action.

[American Patriot]

Wow. Putin isn't putin on, is he? LOL

[Ryan Ruck]

Now Germany is getting involved...

German Air Force To Support France In Fight Against ‘Murderous Gang’ In Syria

November 27, 2015

Germany has agreed to lend military assistance to France and support its expanded aerial campaign against the “murderous gang” after the French President asked Berlin to step up efforts against the Islamic State terrorist group in the wake of the mid-November Paris attacks.

Germany’s participation in the anti-ISIS campaign will include sending between four and six Tornado reconnaissance planes equipped with special infrared cameras to detect enemy positions, as well as a frigate to protect France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier stationed in the Mediterranean. Germany will also provide aerial refueling planes for French jets, Henning Otte, defense spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party told journalists.

“We won’t just strengthen the training mission [for Kurdish Peshmerga fighters] in northern Iraq, but also push forward our engagement in the battle against Isis terror in Syria with reconnaissance Tornados,” Otte said as quoted by the German branch of The Local.

“Germany will be a more active contributor [to the anti-ISIS campaign] than it has been until now,” he added.

Germany also plans to share its satellite intelligence data on Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) positions with France. The announcement comes as the French president visits Moscow. During the visit he agreed with the Russian leader that the two countries would unite their efforts against the “common enemy” and will share data on terrorist positions in Syria.

The German mission in Syria however is expected to focus primarily on reconnaissance and will not involve participation in direct air strikes against Islamic State, German media reported citing the country’s officials.

The decision to support France in its battle against IS was made during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday.

“The government today decided on difficult, but important and necessary steps,” German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen told journalists after the meeting. “We all joined together in the awareness that we’re firmly at France’s side,” she said as quoted by Bloomberg.

“We know that this inhumane rage can hit us or other societies at any time too,” von der Leyen said referring to IS and explaining the reasons for the government’s decision, AFP reported.

‘Germany not at war, but battle against murderous gang’

The move follows a promise which Angela Merkel’s made during a visit to Paris on Wednesday in response to French President Francois Hollande’s plea for Germany to do more in the fight against IS terrorists in the view of the Paris attacks which claimed the lives of 130 people.

“If the French president asks me to think about what we can do beyond that, then it’s our task to consider it – and we will react very quickly,” Merkel said at that time. “Islamic State won’t be persuaded by words; Islamic State must be fought with military means.”

“Terrorism is our common enemy,” she added stressing that “we are stronger than any terrorism. Nevertheless, terrorism must be fought with all possible force.”

The proposed measures, which involve the deployment of German armed forces abroad, will be further discussed by the cabinet with the government seeking to prepare a draft of the mandate and put it before parliament by Tuesday. The Bundestag is expected to vote on the document by the end of the year, Reuters reported, citing German officials.

However, some politicians do not share government’s enthusiasm concerning this decision. The leader of the opposition Left Party, Sarah Wagenknecht, denounced that move by saying that it would provoke terrorists to carry out terrorist attacks in Germany.

“If you send German Tornadoes to Syria, you only create more terrorists and increase the danger of an attack in Germany,” she said as quoted by Reuters.

“There are risks. It is a dangerous operation, no doubt. But there are also defense mechanisms set up by the coalition, which has been conducting attacks for a year and we know that not a single aircraft has been downed,” Ursula von der Leyen responded to the Wagenknecht’s statements adding that Germany was not at war as it was going to fight not a state but a “murderous gang.”

Germany has already promised to send up to 650 soldiers to Mali to aid France in its peace-keeping operation there as well as promising to send additional specialists to northern Iraq, who will join about 100 army trainers already on the ground. Germans there teach Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to use German weapons.

[American Patriot]

World War III

[vector7]

Tu-160 with Su-30SM escort over the Mediterranean: Cruise missile launch against targets in Syria

[Ryan Ruck]

So, is anyone still wondering if Russia is using Syria as a proving ground?

Russia Says It Hit Islamic State With Submarine-Launched Missile For First Time

December 8, 2015

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Russia had for the first time struck Islamic State targets in Syria with missiles fired from a submarine in the Mediterranean.

"The targets were two large terrorist positions in the territory of Raqqa," Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting, adding that the Calibre missiles had been fired from the submarine Rostov-on-Don.

"We can say with complete confidence that fairly serious damage was done to weapons stores and a factory for preparing mines and, naturally, oil infrastructure."

Shoigu said Russia had informed Israel and the United States in advance of its plan to launch missiles from a submarine.

He said that, over the previous three days, Russia's air force had flown more than 300 sorties over Syria and struck more than 600 targets of various types.

Russian bombers flying over Syria were being accompanied by fighter jets, as Putin had ordered, he added.

Russia began intervening directly in Syria's civil war at the end of September with air strikes in support of its ally, President Bashar al-Assad.

But the intervention has had unintended consequences, notably when Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet that it said had strayed into Turkish airspace, an allegation that Russia denies.

Shoigu presented the flight recorder of the downed jet to Putin at the meeting.

Putin thanked Russian special services and Syrian government troops for recovering it, and said it would allow experts to determine where exactly the Russian plane was located when it was hit. He said it should be opened only in the presence of international experts, "to carefully document everything".

[vector7]

Fine tuning their first strike capabilities.

[vector7]

Putin orders military to be ‘extremely tough’ to protect Russian forces in Syria

Fri Dec 11, 2015 5:00pm EST

MOSCOW | By Dmitry Solovyov and Jack Stubbs



President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia is supporting the opposition Free Syrian Army, providing it with air cover, arms and ammunition in joint operations with Syrian troops against Islamist militants.

His statement appeared to be the first time Moscow said it was actually supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's opponents in the fight against Islamic State forces. Putin said last month the Russian air force had hit several "terrorist" targets identified by the Free Syrian Army.

A few hours later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin had been talking about weapons supplies to the armed forces loyal to Assad.

But Peskov did not say Putin had been mistaken or misquoted about supplies to the Free Syrian Army and did not deny weapons were going to the opposition force.

Western and Arab states carrying out air strikes against Islamic State for more than a year say that Russian jets have mainly hit other rebel forces in the west of Syria.

Asked about Putin's remarks at a briefing, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said it was "unclear to us ... whether these claims of support to the FSA are true" and noted that "the vast majority" of Russian air strikes had targeted groups opposed to Assad.

British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, speaking at a Pentagon news conference after talks with his U.S. counterpart, said Russia "began by bombing the Free Syrian Army" and it was "welcome" news if they were now supporting them.

"What they've got to do is stop propping up the Assad regime, stop bombing opposition groups who are opposed to the Assad regime ... and get behind the political process that is now under way of leading that country to a more pluralist government and a future without Assad," he said.

Putin told an annual meeting at the Russian defense ministry that on Friday Russian planes were assisting "in uniting the efforts of government troops and the Free Syrian Army".

"Now several of its units numbering over 5,000 troops are engaged in offensive actions against terrorists, alongside regular forces, in the provinces of Homs, Hama, Aleppo and Raqqa," he said, referring to the Free Syrian Army.

"We support it from the air, as well as the Syrian army, we assist them with weapons, ammunition and provide material support."

When asked if Putin had been speaking about the Free Syrian Army, Peskov replied: "Please do not cling to meanings in this case. Such an interpretation is possible."

"Russia supplies weapons to the legitimate authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic," he said.

Putin said strikes by Russia's air force and navy had inflicted heavy damage on the infrastructure of Islamic State, which controls large areas of eastern Syria and western Iraq.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, however, that the influence of Islamic State was increasing in Syria, where militants control roughly 70 percent of the country.

The number of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria is about 60,000, Shoigu said, and there is a threat of violence spilling over into post-Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Talking to his generals, Putin issued a veiled warning to Turkey, whose downing of a Russian bomber jet near the Syrian-Turkish border last month sent bilateral relations to a freezing point and led Moscow to impose economic sanctions to Istanbul.

"I want to warn those who may again try to stage provocations against our troops," he said.

"I order you to act in an extremely tough way. Any targets threatening Russia's (military) group or our land infrastructure must be immediately destroyed," Putin told the generals.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday called on Russia for calm, but said Turkey's patience is not unlimited.

[Ryan Ruck]

Russian Air-Defence Targeting US Jets Over Syria, Grounding Them

December 18, 2015

There is a new crisis for the international effort to destroy Islamic State, created by the Kremlin. The United States has stopped flying manned air-support missions for rebels in a key part of northern Syria due to Russia's expansion of air-defence systems there, and the Obama administration is scrambling to figure out what to do about it.

Russia's military operations inside Syria have been expanding in recent weeks, and the latest Russian deployments, made without any advance notice to the US, have disrupted the US-led coalition's efforts to support Syrian rebel forces fighting against IS near the Turkey-Syria border, just west of the Euphrates River, several Obama administration and US defence officials said. This crucial part of the battlefield, known inside the military as Box 4, is where a number of groups have been fighting IS for control, until recently with overhead support from US fighter jets.

But this month, Moscow deployed an SA-17 advanced air defence system near the area and began "painting" US planes, targeting them with radar in what US officials said was a direct and dangerous provocation. The Pentagon halted all manned flights, although US drones are still flying in the area. Russia then began bombing the rebels the US had been supporting.

Inside the top levels of the administration, officials are debating what to do next. The issue is serious enough that Secretary of State John Kerry raised it with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they met on Tuesday, and US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General John Dunford has discussed it with his Russian counterpart as well, a spokesman for US Air Force Central Command said.

"The increasing number of Russian-supplied advanced air defence systems in Syria, including SA-17s, is another example that Russia and the regime seek to complicate the global counter-Daesh coalition's air campaign," said Major Tim Smith, using another term for IS.

The increasing number of Russian air-defence systems further complicate an already difficult situation over the skies in Syria, and do nothing to advance the fight against IS, which has no air force, Major Smith said.

He added that Russia could instead be using its influence with the regime to press Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to cease attacking civilians. "Unhelpful actions by Russia and the Syrian regime will not stop coalition counter-Daesh operations in Syria, nor will such actions push the coalition away from specific regions in Syria where Daesh is operating," Major Smith said.

In Washington, top officials are debating how to respond to Russia's expanded air defences, said another administration official who was not authorised to discuss internal deliberations. The administration could decide to resume flights in support of the rebels fighting IS, but that could risk a deadly incident with the Russian military.

For now, the US seems to be acquiescing to Russia's effort to keep American manned planes out of the sky there and "agree to their rules of the game", the administration official said.

With US planes out of the way, Russia has stepped up its own air strikes along the Turkey-Syria border, and the Obama administration has accused it of targeting the rebel groups the US was supporting, not IS.

The Russian strikes are also targeting commercial vehicles passing from Turkey into Syria, the administration official said. The Washington Post reported that the Russian strikes have resulted in a halt of humanitarian aid from Turkey as well.

These heightened tensions between the US and Russia on the ground run counter to the public outreach Mr Kerry has been pursuing as part of his effort to kick-start a peace process between the Syrian regime and the opposition.

In remarks at the Kremlin on Tuesday, Mr Kerry said he was "grateful for President Putin" and looked forward to co-operating with Russia on the fight against IS. Mr Kerry will meet Russian leaders again on Friday in New York.

Mr Kerry also said the US is not pursuing "regime change" in Syria, comments that were seen by many as another step away from the long-held US call for Mr Assad to step down. The latest US-Russia talks didn't focus on Mr Assad's status, Mr Kerry said, adding that he was working to establish a political process that would allow Syrians to choose their own leadership.

While the diplomacy drags on, the Russian military continues to place Mr Assad in a stronger position and constrain the coalitions' operations, said Matthew McInnis, a former Iran analyst for US Central Command and now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "The Russians are trying to create zones where they would have to give permission for US flights," he said. "The Russians are increasingly defining the military landscape by their actions."

Mr McInnis said he has heard other Western diplomats express concern about how much the US may give in to the Russian and Syrian position to get a ceasefire. "There is definitely some nervousness about how far the administration is willing to go to accommodate the Russian position on Assad," he said.

Robert Ford, Mr Obama's former ambassador to Syria, said the Russians may have another motive in expanding their military operations in northern Syria: to put pressure on Turkey. Russian-Turkish relations have turned ugly since Turkey shot down a Russian plane near its border last month. Turkey is keenly interested in the Box 4 region in Syria because it supports the Sunni Arab groups fighting there, working covertly with the US.

"The Russians are doing this to squeeze the Turks," Mr Ford said. "It's going to cause problems for the CIA program."

The actual number of US flights that were supporting Syrian groups in this area was not large. Officials said that Defence Secretary Ash Carter had been resisting a more comprehensive air campaign in the area for two reasons: Some of the groups fighting there are not vetted and include Islamist brigades, including the al-Nusrah Front. Also, Mr Carter prefers a strategy of supporting Syrian Kurds with weapons and having them take over the border territory.

But the Syrian Arabs and the Turks don't want Kurdish troops to control Box 4, Mr Ford said, because then the Kurds would then have a proto-state reaching all the way from the Mediterranean Sea to the Iran-Iraq border.

The success of any US-led effort to bring Mr Assad to the negotiating table will depend on squeezing the Syrian regime. Yet at this crucial moment, the US is not only decreasing pressure, but acquiescing to Russian pressure. This benefits not only Mr Assad and Russia, but also IS.

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia Deploys Frontline Fighter Jets To Syria Amid Turkish Tension

U.S. defense officials are quite impressed

February 1, 2016

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Monday that Su-35 fighters have been deployed to Hemeimeem air base in Syria. The Su-35 is Russia’s most advanced fighter that is fielded in significant numbers. NATO designates the aircraft as the SU-35S Flanker-E.

“Starting from last week, super-maneuverable Su-35S fighter jets started performing combat missions at Khmeimim airbase,” Maj. Gen. Konashenkov told the Russian state news agency, TASS.

Overall, U.S. defense officials are quite impressed with this latest Flanker variant. “It’s a great airplane and very dangerous, especially if they make a lot of them,” one senior U.S. military official with extensive experience on fifth-generation fighters told me some time ago. “I think even an AESA [active electronically scanned array-radar equipped F-15C] Eagle and [Boeing F/A-18E/F] Super Hornet would both have their hands full,” reported National Interest.

In addition to providing hi-tech protection for its ground attack aircraft in theater, the Syrian conflict will allow Moscow to test the new weapon system in combat conditions. Currently at least four of the new aircraft are in theater and will also allow Moscow to market the system to China and other militaries as a combat proven weapon system.

The deployment also sends a message to Turkey that, in combination with the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, Russia can defend its aircraft anywhere in theater with weapon systems equal to or even more capable than NATO can field.

[vector7]

Russia hit 1,888 targets in Syria in a week; U.S. count? Just 16

With a cease-fire contemplated in perhaps a week, a look at Russia’s campaign

Russian Defense Ministry provides a weekly assessment of airstrikes

Huge difference in pace of military assault as Russia clears way for Syrian army





1 of 3

The Russian Defense Ministry posted this image on its website showing a column of heavy trucks carrying ammunition being hit by a Russian airstrike near Aleppo, Syria. Russia reported striking 100 times as many targets as the U.S.-led coalition in Syria over the past week. Russian Defense Ministry AP

By Matthew Schofield
mschofield@mcclatchydc.com

BERLIN In the seven days before the announcement early Friday that a cease-fire might go into effect in Syria in another week, Russian forces hit more than 100 times as many targets within the embattled nation as a military coalition that includes the United States.

Exactly how the cease-fire proposed at an international conference in Munich would work is still being decided. The agreement announced by Russian and U.S. officials said “a nationwide cessation of hostilities . . . should apply to any party currently engaged in military or paramilitary hostilities” except the Islamic State, al Qaida’s Syrian affiliate – Jabhat al Nusra – “or other groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United Nations Security Council.”

Since Russia considers any organization attacking the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad a terrorist group, the question arises of just how its efforts might change.
And those efforts are substantial, as a weekly report by the Russian Ministry of Defense makes clear. In a report posted Thursday on its website, the ministry noted that its jets flew 510 combat sorties and hit 1,888 “terrorist objects” in Syria. The previous week’s report claimed 464 sorties that hit a total of 1,354 “terrorist objects.”

Coalition nations which have conducted strikes in Syria include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. U.S. Central Command

Daily reports from the U.S. military for the same period indicate a much lower level of activity: 16 targets struck in Syria. The reports also said those forces hit 91 targets in Iraq.
The reports suggest Russia has been far more aggressive than the United States has leading up to the cease-fire proposal.

The most recent Russian report, for instance, notes, “During air duty mission, Su-25 attack aircraft detected three hardware columns transporting militants, armament and munitions along the highway al Qaryatayn-Homs. The strike resulted in elimination of nine heavy trucks with munitions and more than 40 militants.”

A Feb. 9 report from U.S. Central Command gave that day’s actions this way: “Near Kobani, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit. Near Manbij, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit. Near Mar’a, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.”

Terrorists are suffering significant losses caused by aviation strikes of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Russian Ministry of Defense

The reports also note, “Coalition nations which have conducted strikes in Syria include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.”

The Russian reports refer to “aircraft of the Russian aviation group in the Syrian Arab Republic.” The Russian Ministry of Defense, in a statement on its website, noted, “Terrorists are suffering significant losses caused by aviation strikes of the Russian Aerospace Forces.”

The pace of the Russian air campaign is thought to have changed the course of battle near Aleppo, once Syria’s business hub and largest city. The British newspaper The Guardian on Friday quoted Bahar al Halabi, described as a member of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army who was inside Aleppo, saying, “The regime is advancing quite quickly. . . . We have very little left. Nothing can change things now. I can’t lie and say that the position of the FSA is strong.”

Matthew Schofield: @mattschodcnews

[Ryan Ruck]

Some video has come out of Syria of rebels getting a shot at a Russian T-90 with a TOW.

The TOW is an older missile however some of the TOWs being given to the rebels are the TOW-2B which are equipped with tandem warheads to deal with ERA but they've also been given a lot of old gear so no telling what it is for sure.

No word on if this is a Russian or Syrian crewed T-90 and if Syrian crewed, if it is a less capable "monkey model" (going to guess it is not a "monkey model" though because I'm pretty sure those two white circles are the Shtora system emitters).

U.S.-Made Missile Goes Up Against One Of Russia’s Most Advanced Tanks

February 26, 2016



In a video posted to YouTube Friday, Syrian rebels appear to have filmed themselves firing for the first time a U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missile at a Russian T-90 tank.

According to the video’s caption, the TOW strike occurred in the Syrian town of Sheikh Aqil, a suburb just northwest of Aleppo.

The BGM-71 TOW is an aging wire-guided anti-tank missile system that the United States has been supplying to CIA-vetted Syrian rebels. Since their first appearance in 2014, the missiles have popped up throughout the war-torn country, often in videos showing rebels attacking Syrian troops and government-backed militias.

Friday’s video is significant because there is very little footage, if any, of a U.S. TOW going up against one of Russia’s most modern battle tanks. In this case, it is unclear if the T-90 in the video was crewed by Russian or Syrian troops. When Russia first began pumping equipment and personnel into northern Syria in September 2015, there were confirmed reports of the T-90s at Russia’s airfield in Latakia, though they were likely only there to defend the airfield. Russia has supplied various other types of tanks to Syrian President Bashir al-Assad’s military. However, the arrival of the T-90s in September was the first shipment of its kind in the almost five year-old war.

#Russian T-90 A in #Aleppo, first Russian ground operations have just began ���� pic.twitter.com/TfDSj0wFeq

— SAA Reporter (@Syria_Protector) November 23, 2015

In November 2015, the tanks appeared well to the east of Latakia, near Aleppo. Around the same time, a report from Al-Masdar Al-‘Arabi news indicated that a small detachment of T-90s was given to a Syrian Army mechanized unit to help with current offensive operations in the region. In recent weeks, the advanced battle tanks were filmed during a CNN segment on the outskirts of Raqqa.

Video shows a T-90 getting hit by a TOW #missile in #Syria. Hit seems to glance turret roof https://t.co/GyljO6Jijm pic.twitter.com/upnc1qmVRD

— Nick de Larrinaga (@NickJDWEurope) February 26, 2016

In the video, the missile appears to strike the turret of the tank. As mentioned on other blogs, the T-90 appears to be equipped with a Shtora–a device designed to disrupt incoming wired-guided and infrared guided missiles, much like the TOW. In this case, it appears the system failed or wasn’t active. Though the video shows the tank’s crew member bailing out, it looks like the strike did not penetrate the turret and potentially glanced off. T-90 tanks are covered in what is called “reactive armor.” The armor serves an outer shell to the tank’s hull that, when struck, counter-detonates to disrupt the flight of the incoming enemy missile. Reactive armor can be mounted on various other tanks and is not unique to the T-90. However, the T-90’s reactive armor is likely a more advanced version of the types found on older Russian and Syrian tanks.

From my layman's perspective, it looks like the ERA did it's job and took out the missile with no/minimal damage to the tank. Guessing that the person getting out at the end is either the gunner or TC and just got their bell rung pretty good with all the high explosives going off next to them.

Again, my untrained opinion, I'm going to say there wasn't any active defense system that took out the missile or else it would have shot it down further out.

It does make one curious how a more advanced missile like the Javelin may have fared.

[Ryan Ruck]

Hmmm...

Syria Conflict: Russia's Putin Orders 'Main Part' Of Forces Out

March 14, 2016

In a surprise move, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to start withdrawing the "main part" of its forces in Syria from Tuesday.

He said the Russian intervention had largely achieved its objectives.

The comments come amid fresh peace talks in Geneva aimed at resolving the five-year Syrian conflict.

Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose office said in a statement he had agreed to the move.

The pullout was "in accordance with the situation on the ground", the statement said.

Russia began its campaign of air strikes in Syria last September, tipping the balance in favour of the Syrian government and allowing it to recapture territory from rebels.

"I consider the mission set for the defence ministry and the armed forces on the whole has been accomplished," Mr Putin said in a meeting at the Kremlin.

"I am therefore ordering the defence ministry to begin the withdrawal of the main part of our military force from the Syrian Arab Republic from tomorrow."

When Russian air strikes began in Syria, President Assad's regime was on the brink of collapse. Less than six months later, Russia says its action allowed Syrian government troops to retake 10,000 sq km (3,860 sq miles) of territory.

By intervening, Vladimir Putin made clear that Russia was prepared to assert its interests. The results ensure Moscow a bigger say in what happens at the peace talks.

The decision to scale down Russian operations may partly be fuelled by cost, given falling oil prices; it could also be driven by a desire to end Russia's isolation and Western sanctions.

But whilst Vladimir Putin has ordered his foreign minister to focus efforts on the political front in Syria, he appears to be hedging his bets.

Critically, sophisticated air defence systems seem set to stay. And as we have never been told officially how many troops were ever sent to Syria, we are unlikely to know how many will remain.

Mr Putin said that Russia's Hmeimim air base in Latakia province and its Mediterranean naval base at Tartus would continue to operate as normal. He said both must be protected "from land, air and sea".

Syria's opposition cautiously welcomed the Russian announcement.

"If there is seriousness in implementing the withdrawal, it will give the [peace] talks a positive push," said Salim al-Muslat, spokesman for the opposition umbrella group, the High Negotiations Committee.

The US also gave a guarded response.

"We will have to see exactly what Russia's intentions are," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

President Obama has discussed the development with Mr Putin in a phone call, the White House and the Kremlin said, giving few details.

Separately, US officials said Washington had received no advance warning of Mr Putin's statement.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says Russia has achieved its main goals in the intervention - consolidating President Assad's position, enabling his forces to re-take key pieces of strategic territory and ensuring that Mr Assad remains a factor in any future Syrian settlement.

Russia has long insisted its bombing campaign only targets terrorist groups but Western powers have complained the raids hit political opponents of President Assad.

The UN's envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura has meanwhile described the latest peace talks as a "moment of truth".

He said there was no "plan B" should the talks fail, with the only alternative a return to war.

A cessation of hostilities agreed by most participants in the conflict began late last month - but there have been reports of some violations on all sides.

In the latest fighting, Syrian government forces are reported to have advanced on so-called Islamic State's (IS) positions near the world heritage site of Palmyra.

[American Patriot]

His objective was to prove beyond a doubt Obama hasn't the balls to stand up to him.
He's done that.

The next move? EMP the US.

[Ryan Ruck]

US And Russian Fighters In Dramatic Showdown Over Syria: American Pilots Scramble To Confront Putin's Jets As They Bomb Pentagon-Backed Syrian Rebels

June 20, 2016

US and Russian warplanes were involved in a dramatic showdown over Syria after the Russian fighters bombed US-backed Syrian opposition forces.

The mid-air confrontation occurred between F/A-18 fighters scrambled by the Pentagon and several SU-34s, Moscow's most advanced bombers.

The Russian jets had struck a 200-strong garrison of Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State in At-Tanf, near the Jordanian border.

When the F/A-18s approached the Russians moved out of the area, but when the US fighters paused to refuel they returned and struck the base again, killing paramedics tending to those wounded in the first attack.

The Russians had been ordered to back off by the US pilots directly using a special communications channel set up to prevent air accidents, according to The Daily Beast.

A US official told The Los Angeles Times: 'It's an egregious act that must be explained. The Russian government either doesn't have control of its own forces or it was a deliberate, provocative act. Either way, we're looking for answers.'

However, the Russian military on Sunday rejected accusations that it had deliberately targeted US-backed Syrian opposition forces, arguing the US had failed to warn about their locations.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the area targeted in the strike was more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) away from locations earlier designated by the US as controlled by legitimate opposition forces.

The Pentagon said it held a video conference on Saturday with the Russian military to discuss Russian air strikes.

'Russia's continued strikes at At-Tanf, even after US attempts to inform Russian forces through proper channels of ongoing coalition air support to the counter-ISIL forces, created safety concerns for US and coalition forces,' it said in a statement.

Konashenkov retorted that the Russian military had warned the US in advance about the planned strike, but the Pentagon had failed to provide coordinates of legitimate opposition forces, 'making it impossible to take measures to adjust the Russian air force action.'

He added that the Russian military had proposed months ago to share information about locations of various forces involved in military action in Syria to create a comprehensive map, but the Pentagon hasn't been forthcoming.

On a conciliatory note, he added that Saturday's video conference with the Pentagon was 'constructive,' reflecting a shared desire 'to improve coordination in fighting terrorist organizations in Syria and avoid incidents while conducting military operations there.'

The video conference was held as part of bilateral communication channels intended to prevent incidents in the crowded skies over Syria.

Russia has conducted an air campaign in Syria since last September, helping Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces win back some ground.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pulled back some of Russia's warplanes in March in what he described as a move to help encourage peace talks, but the military has maintained a strong presence at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Lattakia, Assad's Alawite heartland.

[Ryan Ruck]

Iran Acknowledges Russia Using Its Air Base To Strike Syria

August 17, 2016

In a move that could reverberate across the Middle East, Iran confirmed Wednesday that Russia is using its territory to launch airstrikes in Syria even as a second wave of Moscow's bombers flew out of the Islamic Republic to hit targets in the war-ravaged country.

The development represents a historical rapprochement with Russia that could rile U.S.-allied Gulf neighbors, strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad and impact the war against the Islamic State group

Russia first announced the strikes on Tuesday from near the Iranian city of Hamedan, 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. On Wednesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said another wave of warplanes had departed from Iran, striking targets in eastern Syria.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, then gave the first government acknowledgement of the Russian operation. He said the Russians were using Iran's Shahid Nojeh air base some 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Hamedan, a secluded base where Russian warplanes were detected landing late last year.

Boroujerdi said the Russian Tu-22M3 bombers landed inside Iran only to refuel under the permission of the country's Supreme National Security Council, a move that allowed them to carry a larger bomb load of more than 20 metric tons.

"There is no stationing of Russian forces in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Boroujerdi added.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov defended the use of Iranian military bases for airstrikes in Syria, rejecting allegations that it could be a violation of U.N. resolutions prohibiting the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran.

"In the case we're discussing there has been no supply, sale or transfer of warplanes to Iran," Lavrov told a news conference. "The Russian air force uses these warplanes with Iran's approval in order to take part in the counter-terrorism operation" in Syria.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Russia was "exacerbating what is already a very dangerous situation ... by using Iranian air bases as a way to carry out more intensive bombing runs that continue to hit civilian populations."

On Wednesday, presumed Russian or Syrian government airstrikes on the rebel-held city of Idlib in the northwest killed 17 people and wounded at least 30 others, the Civil Defense branch for the province reported. A video posted on the group's website showed rescue workers pulling bodies from wreckage along a heavily damaged street. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the strikes, saying dozens of civilians were killed and wounded.

Also Wednesday, rebel rocket rounds killed 10 civilians and wounded nine in a government-controlled district of the city of Aleppo, Syria's state-run SANA news agency said.

For Iran, allowing Russia to launch strikes from inside the country is likely to prove unpopular. Many still remember how Russia, alongside Britain, invaded and occupied Iran during World War II to secure oil fields and Allied supply lines.

But while Britain withdrew, Russia refused to leave, sparking the first international rebuke by the nascent U.N. Security Council in 1946. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Iran allowed refugees into the country and backed mujahedeen rebel fighters - as did the U.S.

That history will likely make any long-term Russian use of Iranian military bases unpalatable to the Iranian public, said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official who is now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He suggested Russia must have made Iran "an offer it could not refuse" - perhaps involving military equipment like the Russian S-300 air defense missile systems that are being deployed in Iran.

"It surprised me greatly," Rubin said. "The basing of foreign troops in Iran has always been a red line."

Iran's constitution bars foreign militaries from having bases in the country, and Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran's parliament, was quick Wednesday to say Russia does not have a permanent presence in the country, likely to try to assuage such domestic concerns.

Hossein Kanani Moghadam, a former commander in Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, also echoed that point.

"It doesn't mean that Nojeh is a Russian air base," he told The Associated Press. "Iran just let them land there and refuel their aircraft, and everything is under the control of Iranians there."

The move also will not go unnoticed by Iran's Sunni-ruled neighbors, which fall in the U.S. sphere of influence in the Middle East and host American military personnel. Relations have been strained since the beginning of the year, following Saudi Arabia's execution of a Shiite cleric and the subsequent storming by Iranian protesters of the kingdom's diplomatic posts in Iran.

Russia's move follows recent visits to Moscow by several Sunni Gulf leaders, who will likely pointedly question President Vladmir Putin's decision, said Theodore Karasik, a senior adviser for the Washington-based group Gulf State Analytics.

"It is quite surprising for the (Gulf) states because here we have the Kremlin and the Iranian leadership agreeing on allowing Moscow to use Iran as a forward-operating base," Karasik said. "That has potential consequences down the road."

Russia's decision to launch raids from Iran puts it firmly in the camp of Shiite forces in the Mideast, Rubin said, something Moscow may not realize carries long-term consequences.

"The Middle East is a hornet's nest and it's not clear that Russia is going to be able to steer clear of some of the internal rivalries inside of the Middle East," he said. "Certainly, to get in this deep with Iran is going to reverberate."

[Ryan Ruck]

'38 Feared Dead And 50 Injured' After Twin Explosions Rock Major Russian Naval Base

September 5, 2016



The massive explosions destroyed vehicles on a highway just outside the base at the Syrian port-city of Tartus, northwestern Syria.

It is understood the first blast was a car bomb planetout outside the base.

The second explosion was a sucicde bomber who detonated his belt as people rushed to help those injured, AFP reported.

Dramatic pictures show plumes of black smoke billowing from under the al-Arzunah Bridge on the Safita highway, where the blasts took place.

"Information has been received regarding a double explosion at the entrance to the city of Tartus, at a government road under the Arzuna bridge," a spokesperson told RIA Novosti.

The blasts comes on the same day North Korea fired three ballistic missiles off its east coast in a show of agression amid the G20 Summit.



There are also reports of explosions at a checkpoint in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

According to local media reports, up to 38 people have been killed and some 50 injured in the blasts.



Tartus, the second-largest port city in Syria, has been used by the Russian navy since the Soviet era.

it is a key base in the fight against ISIS as it supplies military supplies to Russia forces.

Although Russia officially withdrew troops from Syria in March this year, a large military presence remains.

[American Patriot]

This is the first I heard of this. NOTHING on television about it.

[vector7]

Iran’s Secret War in Syria

By P. David Hornik September 3, 2016
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Since the signing of the nuclear deal on July 14, 2015—now, it turns out, with major secret exemptions for Iran—Iran’s brazenness has only grown. The Obama administration, in its ongoing efforts to coddle and appease, has gone so far as to offer to buy Iran’s heavy water and sell Iran Boeings.

But the reason appeasement doesn’t work is that Iran harbors an intense enmity toward the West and particularly its (still) reigning superpower, America, which it wants to destroy. Anyone still not convinced of that should watch this propaganda video of young Iranians sinking American aircraft carriers.

Lately, with the lame-duck President Obama headed for the finish line as he tightly clutches his “legacy”—the nuclear deal—Iran has further stepped up the brazenness. It has harassed U.S. ships in international waters of the Persian Gulf, forcing one of them to fire warning shots. It has deployed the Russian-made S-300 missile-defense system—one of the most advanced in the world—at its Fordo uranium-enrichment site.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an address to Defense Ministry staff in Tehran, has said Iran must continue its offensive military buildup and “avoid negotiating with the U.S., [as] experience has proven that instead of understanding, the Americans are seeking to impose their will in negotiations.”

The Obama administration, for which the nuclear deal plays a role like the speed of light in Einsteinian relativity—an absolute, immutable principle—reacts to all this solely by expressing “concern.”

A major exposé in the Daily Mail now reveals that, for years, Iran’s military involvement in Syria has been much more extensive and dangerous than many believed.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled opposition group, has passed information to MailOnline that was apparently leaked by senior figures in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. Among other things, the activists say Iran now commands about 60,000 Shiite troops in Syria—vastly more than the 16,000 that Western analysts had estimated.

The NCRI, which in 2002 exposed Iran’s then-secret nuclear facilities at Natanz and Arak, also says Iran operates a major headquarters near Damascus airport, nicknamed the Glasshouse. About a thousand people work there including Iran’s feared intelligence agencies, and there is also a basement for holding millions of dollars in cash.

The NCRI claims that the total amount Iran has spent on the Syrian war comes to an astounding $100 billion, much of it during years when Tehran was complaining loudly about the ravages of economic sanctions. Western analysts had gauged the sum at only $15 billion.
Most ominously, the activists say Iran is putting down military roots in 18 locations from northern to southern Syria…, showing how it intends to control large swathes of the country even if Assad is defeated.

Iranian military planners…are said to have divided Syria into “five fronts,” comprising the Northern Front, Eastern Front, Southern Front, Central Command Front and Coastal Front, the NCRI claims.

Revolutionary Guard bases have been established in each of the sectors, which the NCRI says can accommodate up to 6,000 troops, as well as heavy weapons, air power and anti-aircraft missiles.

A situation where, even if the Assad regime falls, Iran would retain effective military control of the country, bristling with offensive and defensive capabilities, would be—as a security source told the Daily Mail—“exactly what many of the region are afraid of. It’s their biggest nightmare.”

All this does not mean Iran is having an easy time in Syria. Of the 60,000-strong Shiite force it is apparently deploying there, only about one-fourth seem to be Iranians. The rest are Shiite mercenaries from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Lebanon (in addition to about 10,000 Hizballah troops with a separate command structure).

One reason there are relatively few Iranians is “growing levels of public unease in Iran at the level of casualties sustained.” As historian Michael Burleigh comments, “[T]he Iranian public has had a bellyful of costly wars, with hundreds of thousands of dead from the 1980-88 war against Iraq.”

Throughout his tenure, however, President Obama has passed up opportunities—starting, most egregiously, with the 2009 Green Revolution that he adamantly refused to support—to leverage domestic discontent to put pressure on Tehran. Even his grudging imposition of sanctions led eventually to the nuclear deal—according to which Iran pockets concessions and cash, at most postpones some aspects of its nuclear development, and continues building a military dominion that could become Obama’s true “legacy,” namely, a 21^st-century nightmare fostering conflict on a much more massive scale than what we already see.


Inside 'the Glasshouse': Iran 'is running covert war in Syria costing BILLIONS from top secret spymaster HQ near Damascus airport'

• Sources within Iran's Revolutionary Guards leaked intelligence to activists who passed it to MailOnline
• Tehran 'runs operations in Syria from an HQ near Damascus airport', said to be nicknamed 'The Glasshouse'
• The intelligence says there are 60,000 fighters under Iranian command in Syria, not 16,000 as was thought
• Claims said to be 'credible' by intelligence experts, suggesting West has underestimated Iran's influence
• Iran 'has spent billions - possibly as much as $100billion on hardware and support for Assad since 2011'
• It comes a year after Western powers signed a controversial nuclear deal with Iran

By Jake Wallis Simons, Associate Global Editor, For Mailonline
Published: 10:01 EST, 30 August 2016 | Updated: 16:33 EST, 6 September 2016

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Iran is shoring up the Syrian regime from a secret HQ in Damascus nicknamed ‘the Glasshouse’ - and commanding a huge covert army in support of Assad, according to leaked intelligence passed by activists to MailOnline.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) claims that the theocratic state's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has spent billions in hardware for its ally Bashar al-Assad in the last five years - and runs operations on the ground from a five-floor monolith near Damascus airport.

The Iranian HQ, which plays a pivotal role in supporting Assad's regime alongside Russia, contains intelligence and counterintelligence operations, and has vaults packed with millions of dollars in cash flown in from Tehran, claims the NCRI.

The allegations are contained in a dossier of reports apparently leaked by senior sources inside Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and collated by the dissident activists who oppose the Iranian regime.

The dossier – which could not be independently verified but was described as 'credible' by intelligence experts – makes the bold claims that Iran controls the biggest fighting force in Syria; has military bases throughout the splintered state; and has amassed a war-chest far greater than feared in support of the Syrian president.

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Opposition activists have claimed that Iran is waging a secret war in Syria from a giant HQ nicknamed 'the Glasshouse'






Support: Syrian president Bashar al Assad is being supported by the Iranian regime of Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader, who has invested heavily to shore up the splintering state


REVEALED: HOW 'THE GLASSHOUSE' WORKS

The third and fourth floors are apparently occupied by the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence unit, which is in overall command of the HQ. These areas are off-limits to even the most senior army officers.

On the ground floor there is reportedly a cafe and a 20-bed private clinic for wounded senior military personnel, while the first floor houses the Revolutionary Guards’ propaganda department, rest area and prayer rooms, the leaked intelligence says.

The basement contains the counterintelligence and logistics departments and is said to hold millions of dollars in cash.

When Revolutionary Guard soldiers arrive in Syria, the HQ apparently issues them a white card containing a special code, which is handed back when they leave.

If the activists' claims are accurate, this would mean that the fundamentalist Tehran regime and its Shia proxies are far more powerful than has been estimated. Western analysts have so far placed the total Iranian-led Shia force at just 16,000.

The dissidents make the claim that Iran now commands about 60,000 Shia troops in Syria – 15,000 more men than Britain took into the 2003 Iraq war – while Assad's army has been reduced to just 50,000 soldiers.

In addition, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has an independent command structure but operates in close coordination with Iran, has about 10,000 troops in the country, they say.

The NCRI is the exiled Iranian opposition movement committed to the overthrow of the Shia regime in Tehran. It has leaked intelligence about the regime in the past, not all of which has proved accurate.

In 2002, it sensationally exposed the existence of secret nuclear facilities at Natanz and Arak, in central Iran, which made Western powers more cautious in negotiations. There was some controversy over which parts of the intelligence were new, however, and which had already been revealed by American officials.

Experts are divided on the NCRI's reliability. All agree that the group is motivated by a strong, anti-Tehran agenda, but assessments differ regarding the impact this has on the information it leaks.

If true, the suggestion that Iran has so many soldiers on the battlefield – 16,000 Iranian troops commanding 45,000 Shia mercenaries from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon as well as Palestinians and Baluchis, a minority group from Afghanistan – is likely to cause anxiety in the region and in the West, which is lifting sanctions on the regime after signing a controversial nuclear deal.

Kamal Alam, a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said that the leaked intelligence was 'entirely plausible'.

'I go quite regularly to Syria and visit the battlefields, and I've seen how the Iranians try to keep their operations as secret as possible,' he said.

'Their troops tend to speak Arabic rather than Farsi in public, and generally don't wear Iranian uniforms. This makes it very hard for observers to know how many are in the country.'

Analysts have been forced to use conservative estimates of troop numbers, Alam said, because Tehran – which is wary of causing alarm both at home and abroad – does not release reliable figures.

In addition, Syria's President Assad, who leads a secular administration, downplays Iran's support to avoid the impression that he is a puppet of the Islamist regime, he said.

The key claim by the activists is that Iran operates a major HQ close to Damascus airport, which the NCRI say is nicknamed The Glasshouse (Maqar-e Shishe'i in Farsi).



Activists have claimed that Iran now leads 10,000 more troops in Syria than Assad himself. If true, that would mean that it is at least 15,000 higher than the force Britain led into the 2003 Iraq war

The 180-room building is said to be positioned very close to an airstrip that the NCRI say is nicknamed ‘Muhammad Ali’, making it easy for Iranian military chiefs to receive deliveries of troops, cash and equipment – and to escape should Damascus fall.

Anti-blast walls form a square around the perimeter, which is guarded by heavily armed troops. According to the NCRI, up to 1,000 personnel work at the secret base, and all must undergo an intensive security screening.

A number of departments are based inside, including counterintelligence, logistics, propaganda and foreign mercenary command (see box). The feared Iranian intelligence services, who are in charge of the base, are said to occupy the top two floors.

The building is also said to contain prayer rooms, a 20-bed private clinic for wounded senior officers, and facilities for holding millions of dollars in cash, which are reportedly kept in the basement.



Iranian Revolutionary Guards at the funeral of General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, a commander killed in southern Syria



Activists claim Tehran has divided Syria into five 'fronts' with bases in 18 locations from the north to the south - but this information could not be verified



Hezbollah fighters in Qalamoun, western Syria. Iranian opposition activists say they now have about 10,000 troops in the country



Syria's President Bashar al-Assad visits Syrian army soldiers fighting in eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria, in June 2016



Survivors are pulled from a raging fire after Assad's aircraft bomb the Ansari neighborhood of Aleppo in July

WHY IS IRAN FIGHTING TO DEFEND ASSAD IN SYRIA?

Syria has long been considered an important ally of Iran, having been the only Arab country to have explicitly supported it during the Iran–Iraq War in the Eighties.

For Tehran, the main objective is to maintain its supply lines through Syria to its proxy Hezbollah in south Lebanon, which it funds and arms in its fight against Israel.

It is also says it wants to confront rebels and jihadis in Syria to prevent further destabilisation in the region.
-Ali Ansari and Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, Understanding Iran’s Role in the Syrian Conflict, RUSI 2016

The intelligence passed to MailOnline claims that Tehran has spent a staggering $100billion on the conflict since 2011, including hardware and support for Assad's regime.

The figure claimed by the NCRI has surprised Western analysts, who have so far estimated that Iran has spent just $15billion on the war in Syria.
Millions of dollars in cash is regularly delivered at the Iranian airstrip before being transferred to the HQ nicknamed 'the Glasshouse', the dissidents claim.

There it is allegedly stored in the basement under the auspices of head of logistics, Brigadier General Seyyed Razi Mousavi, formerly commander of the elite Quds Force in Syria, and is principally used to pay fighters’ salaries.

The revelations come after Tehran took the extraordinary step of allowing Russia to use its airbases to launch attacks in Syria, demonstrating its expanding role.

It also follows reports that Iran has deployed a Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missile defence system at its uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, northwestern Iran.

Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, an Iran specialist at RUSI, said: 'It is very difficult to know about numbers because Iran is so secretive. It's something we struggled with throughout our research.

‘It’s no secret that Iran has a heavy presence on the ground that is not based exclusively on advisers and consultants. This data reinforces our assumptions and suspicions about Iranian involvement in Syria, but takes it much further in terms of numbers.

‘It amplifies our view that because of the heavy political, financial and military investment in Syria, Iran is unlikely to withdraw its presence on the ground without a major shift in the power balance.'

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia’s Foreign Ministry Blames United States For Shelling Of Russian Embassy In Damascus

October 4, 2016

Russia's Foreign Ministry has declared that the shelling the Russian Embassy in Damascus, Syria was the result of "those who, like the US and some of its allies, continue to provoke bloody conflict in Syria [and] flirt with militants and extremists of various types," read a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry website on Tuesday.

The building of Russia's diplomatic mission in Syria, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, fell under attack on Monday. The fire came from the suburbs of Jobar, which is controlled by terrorist groups Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra) and Failak ar-Rahman.

The terrorists, read the Ministry's statement, posed "a serious danger to the life and activity of the Russian diplomats in Syria". The Ministry also expressed its "conviction that the answer to the provocative actions of criminals should [come in the form of] coordinated counter-terrorism efforts from the international community."

On Monday, the United States announced the suspension of bilateral contacts with Russia in regards to the situation in Syria. In justifying its decision, the United States maintained that the Russian Federation had not fulfilled the conditions of a truce and failed to provide uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid.
Commenting on the American statement, Russia's Foreign Ministry said that the United States was willing to "make a deal with the devil" in order to change the Syrian regime and form alliances with terrorists.