News from Syria and Lebanon - Middle Eastern sources - 12/20/2015

I have taken these stories exlusively from regional sources - the zionist Jerusalem Post, the Lebanese Daily Star, el-Manar and al-Masdar - but also South Front.

Western sources are not to be relied on in any shape or form, except as a form of disinfo or to get a sense of thinking in the Pentagon and White House

Firstly, from the zionist Jerusalem Post

Hezbollah vows revenge, says attack on Israel 'is inevitable'

One pro-Hezbollah source told the Lebanese daily A-Safir that the group “will not rush to decide what steps should be taken” in retaliation to the assassination of Jihad Mughniyeh

on Monday to avenge the latest Israeli attack on its high-level officials, sources close to the Lebanese Shi’ite organization are quoted as saying in various Arab-language media outlets north of the border.

One pro-Hezbollah source told the Lebanese daily A-Safir that the group “will not rush to decide what steps should be taken” in retaliation to the assassination of Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of slain arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh.

Hezbollah officials told the newspaper that retaliation against Israel “is inevitable,” though they added that “we will not act out of emotion.”

The Shi'ite group is reeling one day after Israel Air Force helicopters allegedly fired missiles at a target in the Syrian Golan, killing at least five operatives.

Mughniyeh, the son of former Hezbollah operations chief Imad Mughniyeh, was among those killed in the strike, according to reports. Western intelligence sources said Jihad Mughniyeh headed a large-scale terrorist cell that enjoyed direct Iranian sponsorship and a direct link to Hezbollah. The cell had already targeted Israel in the past, launching attacks on the Golan Heights.

In an official statement, the organization said the attack “was a very harsh blow to process.”

Ibrahim al-Amin, the editor of Al-Akhbar, a pro-Hezbollah newspaper, wrote in Monday editions that the Shi’ite group “will launch between 4,000-5,000 rockets at Israel and will destroy hundreds of targets per day.”

“The enemy’s leadership made a decision to carry out a crime,” Al-Akhbar wrote. “They did this in a direct manner, eying a specific target that was engaged in fighting in the Quneitra region. This is more proof that Israel is involved in the fighting in Syria. This is work that is not based on emotion or petty score-settling.”

“A few days ago, [Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan] Nasrallah said that fighting Israel is at the top of his list of priorities despite [the organization’s involvement] in Syria and its deployment of forces there. Mr. Nasrallah is known as an eloquent man and an expert in psychological warfare, but God knows if he means every word he says, or the way he presents his facts is designed to build up the threat for the day in which he actualizes it.”

“In any event, the weapons at Hezbollah’s disposal are there to be used, and not to be stored,” the newspaper wrote. “The response needs to match what it is that the enemy wanted to achieve.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, told state media that Israel’s reported attack in the Golan Heights was “an act of terror.”

“We condemn all actions of the Zionist regime as well as all acts of terror,” Zarif told Press TV on Monday. “[Israeli attacks on Hezbollah] has been a practice followed for a very long time. The policy of state terrorism is a known policy of the Zionist regime.”

Iran is Hezbollah's primary financial and military supporter. Both countries are aiding Syrian President Bashar Assad in his struggle to keep power against a coalition of Sunni opposition militias and Islamist radicals.

Iran's semi-official Tabnak news site said several of its Revolutionary Guards had also been killed in the attack, but did not give further details. State-run Iranian television said the identity of the "martyrs" could not be confirmed, though an Iranian affiliated Twitter account reported that an Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander, General Allahdadi was "martyred" by the strike.

 

H.Soleimani‏@MashreghNews_ir

#Iran #IRGC Gen. Allahdadi martyred in tonight's Israeli attack in #Syria along w/ #Hezbollah commanders

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12:11 PM - 19 Jan 2015

The Daily Star

Hezbollah vows to avenge Kuntar

Tit-for-tat development could ignite hostilities in volatile southern border region

al-Manar

Sayyed Nasrallah Appears Via Al-Manar Monday Local Editor Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is to appear in a live televised speech via al-Manar TV on Monday 8:30 pm local time, the party’s Media Relations announced on Sunday. The speech comes as the Zionist entity is wary after it struck a residential building in the Syrian city of JaraMana in Damascus countryside late Saturday, killing the Dean of the freed detainees in the Israeli prisons, Samir Kuntar. Kuntar is seen by the Israelis as a senior Hezbollah figure who after being freed in the 2008 swap deal, between the Lebanese resistance and the Zionist entity, was operating in the Golan front against the Zionist occupiers. the Lebanese Daily Star Syrian army makes strategic gains in north DAMASCUS/BEIRUT: The Syrian army, backed by Russian airstrikes, captured a rebel stronghold in the northern province of Aleppo Sunday, as rescue workers and residents said suspect Russian warplanes killed scores of people in the center of rebel-held city of Idlib. State news agency SANA said that army units and other pro-regime forces had seized control of Khan Tuman and neighboring farms. Khan Tuman was the scene of fierce clashes between loyalist forces, including fighters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, and Islamist rebels, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Syrian and Russian aircraft carried out at least 40 strikes, it said. The Observatory said 16 Islamists were killed but it did not have details of casualties on the pro-government sides. The advances brought the army only a few kilometers from the major rebel-controlled Aleppo-Damascus highway, whose capture would be a big boost to the Syrian army. The Syrian military has since mid-October recaptured several areas in the north of the country from Islamist forces, including Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, the Nusra Front. Elsewhere, airstrikes believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes killed 43 of people in Idlib, northwest Syria, according to rescue workers and residents. They said at least six strikes had hit a busy market place in the heart of the city, several government buildings and residential areas. Over 150 people were wounded with some serious cases sent to hospitals in Turkey. Footage on social media and the pro-opposition Orient TV station showed ambulances rushing with injured civilians through an area where people searched for survivors in debris of collapsed buildings. One local resident, Sameh al-Muazin, said he had seen mangled bodies in the main Jalaa street of the city, adding that people feared a further round of intensive bombing. “Everyone is afraid that this is just the beginning,” he said. Idlib, the capital of a northwestern province of the same name, became an important center for rebel-controlled northwest Syria after it was captured earlier this year by a coalition of Islamist insurgent groups known as the Army of Conquest, which includes the Nusra Front. Residents say they distinguish Russian planes that fly at high altitudes in sorties from Syrian helicopters that mainly drop indiscriminate barrel bombs at much lower heights. Human Rights Watch charged Sunday that government forces and their Russian allies have been making “extensive” use of cluster munitions.The New York-based rights watchdog said that it had documented the use of cluster munitions against rebels on 20 occasions since Sept. 30. HRW “collected detailed information about attacks in nine locations that have killed at least 35 civilians, including five women and 17 children, and injured dozens,” the report said. Idlib city was spared the intensified aerial bombing campaign in rural areas after a United Nations-brokered cease-fire deal was reached in September. The deal allowed for the withdrawal of rebel fighters holed up in a border village near Lebanon in return for the evacuation of civilians from two Shiite towns of Kufraya and al-Foua under rebel siege in Idlib province. The deal included a tacit understanding under which Idlib city also fell under the cease-fire arrangements, allowing thousands of displaced from northern Syria to shelter there. In a sign the cease-fire had broken, one source said rebels had begun to shell the two towns again. Residents reported tens of families fleeing with some of their belongings to the safety of makeshift camps along the Turkish border. On the political front, the Arab League welcomed the roadmap to end the Syrian war and vowed to support efforts to implement a cease-fire. The roadmap, approved unanimously by the U.N. Security Council Friday, foresees talks between the rebels and the regime, and a rapid true. al-Masdar

KHAN TUMAN TO BE CAPTURED

The Syrian Army backed by Hezbollah and Russian air strikes has captured a terrorist stronghold in the Mount Simeon District of Aleppo Governorate during the major offensive.

The army forces seized control of the town of Khan Tuman, 20 minutes south-west of the city of Aleppo, and neighbouring farms as well as Qarassi village and the surrounding warehouses following heavy clashes with terrorists.

Khan Tuman was one of the largest strongholds of the Jaish al-Fateh, or the Conquer Army, an alliance of several jihadi groups, mainly the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

The town is built on a hill located just east of the Queiq River. It is known for its historical caravanserai which dates back to 1189. According to the 2004 census Khan Tuman  had a population of 2,781.

T-90 tanks help propel Hezbollah and the Syrian Army in Southern Aleppo

Over the last 2 months in the Aleppo Governorate’s southern countryside, the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division and Hezbollah have attempted to capture the strategic town of Khan Touman from the Islamist rebels of Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group).

On Sunday morning; this long battle for Khan Touman finally came to an end after the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division – in coordination with Hezbollah, Harakat Al-Nujaba (Iraqi paramilitary), and the National Defense Forces (NDF) – imposed full control over the town and its surrounding farms.

Prior to capturing the town of Khan Touman, the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies seized the imperative village of Al-Qarassi following a series of intense firefights with the Islamist rebels of Faylaq Al-Sham, Jabhat Al-Nusra, Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, and Harakat Nouriddeen Al-Zinki.

The capture of this aforementioned village paved the way for the pro-government forces to strike Khan Touman’s eastern perimeter and ultimately impose full control over it two hours later.

In addition to the capture of Al-Qarassi and Khan Touman, the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies seized the small hilltop village of Tal Al-‘Amarrah, which is located directly west of Khan Touman.

The Syrian Arab Army’s use of the Russian manufactured T-90 tank played an integral role during this battle, as its protective armor and durability made it difficult for the enemy combatants to halt their advance.

Syrian Army rolls past the Islamists in northern Latakia after seizing 6 sites near the Turkish border

Syrian Army rolls past the Islamists in northern Latakia after seizing 6 sites near the Turkish border

The Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade of the Republican Guard – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) of Qurdaha, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), and Muqawama Souri (Syrian Resistance) – imposed full control over several sites in the Latakia Governorate’s northeastern countryside on Sunday after a series of intense firefights with the Free Syrian Army’s “Liwaa Suqour Al-Ghaab”, Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group), and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham.

On Sunday morning in the Latakia Governorate’s northeastern countryside, the Syrian Armed Forces began their assault at Ruweisat Addou, Katf Al-Harami, and Yaqouber, seizing these three hilltop villages near the strategic town of Kabani in Jabal Al-Akrad (Kurdish Mountains) after they overran Jabhat Al-Nusra’s defensive positions.

Following the capture of these three aforementioned hilltop villages, the Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade – backed by the Syrian Social Nationalist Party – imposed full control over Points 435.5, 535.5, and 539.5 in Jabal Al-Turkmen (Turkmen Mountains), leaving over 20 enemy combatants from Jabhat Al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army’s “1st Coastal Brigade”.

With the capture of these sites in northern Latakia, the Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade and their allies have expanded their control over 63 hilltops, points, mountaintops, villages, towns, and cities in only 70 days.

Meanwhile western media’s sole story from the region are allegations of Russian airstrikes killing civilians that, no doubt come from the one-man “Syrian Observatory for Human Rights”

Suspected Russian strikes kill dozens in Syria

At least 43 people have been killed in a series of air strikes believed to have been carried out by Russian planes in the Syrian city of Idlib, according to activists and residents.

A marketplace, homes and official buildings were all hit, reports say. Bodies were still being pulled from the rubble, a civil defence worker said.

Russia has not confirmed whether it carried out strikes in the area.

Four Russian Fighter Jets to Escort President Assad's Plane in Visit to Tehran

"Four strategic Russian fighter jets will accompany the plane carrying the Syrian president during the visit to and from Iran," the Lebanese al-Diyar daily reported on Sunday.

The newspaper also added that the Syrian president is due to travel to Tehran via the Iraqi airspace.

"The US-led international coalition's air command has been warned not to approach Bashar Assad's plane to avoid engagement," it said.

Informed sources said on Friday that President Assad is slated to visit Iran in late December or early January.

"Assad's visit to Tehran will be his second trip abroad in the past four years after his last month's visit to Moscow," an informed source said.

The source noted that President Assad's visit will take place in late December and early January, and said that the details of his visit will be announced later.

President Assad's visits to allied nations takes place after the recent victories of the Syrian army against the Takfiri terrorist groups.

On October 20, Assad arrived in Moscow for an official visit to the country.

The Syrian and Russian presidents conducted lengthy negotiations, which then continued in the presence of Russia’s top policymakers.

Iran has always supported the Syrian government and nation in their ongoing fight against the terrorist groups.

65,000 jihadists in Syria ready to replace ISIS if it's defeated – report

© Ammar Abdullah / Reuters

The West is making a strategic mistake by focusing its anti-terrorist effort on Islamic State (IS. previously ISIS/ISIL) and overlooking other groups, an upcoming report claims. Sixty percent of fighters in the country can be classified as Islamists and have goals similar to IS.

Those fighters belong to at least 15 other militant groups, which are mostly being ignored by the West, British media cited the Centre on Religion & Geopolitics, a think-tank run by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, as saying.

Fewer than one quarter of the groups surveyed by the center had no ideological agenda, but many of them were willing to fight alongside the Islamists and accept their leadership in a post-war Syria.

READ MORE: US ‘adjusts’ aid program to supply new rebel group in Syria

“The West risks making a strategic failure by focusing only on IS. Defeating it militarily will not end global jihadism. We cannot bomb an ideology, but our war is ideological,” said the report, due to be published Monday, as cited by the Guardian.

The report comes days after the UN Security Council passed a roadmap to a political transition in Syria. The resolution adopted on Friday lists only two militant groups in Syria, IS and the Al Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda branch, as banned from negotiating the future of the country under UN aкgis.

The report warned that if IS is defeated, it may give impetus for terrorist attacks outside of Syria under a rallying cry that "the West destroyed the caliphate."

If says that if the government of President Bashar Assad stepped down, as many foreign players and rebel groups have been demanding for years, it would likely fuel the war in Syria rather than quench it.

The conclusions of the report are not unlike those voiced by Russia. Moscow has been repeatedly calling on the opponents of Damascus to provide a clear list of militant groups that they consider “moderate” and rejected the calls for Assad’s departure before peace can be restored in Syria.

Zionist Entity Wary after Jaramana Strike, Waiting for Sayyed Nasrallah Response

Local Editor

al- Manar TV It’s clear that the Zionist entity can’t bear to officially claim responsibility for the strike which killed the Dean of the freed detainees from the Israeli prisons, Samir Kuntar late on Saturday. However, the Israeli media didn’t hesitate to praise the strike, in an obvious admission that Tel Aviv had carried out the raid. Hasan Hijazi, the editor of the Israeli affairs at al-Manar, said that Tel Aviv declined to officially comment on the strike in order to avoid a harsh retaliation by the resistance, noting that the Israeli eye now is on Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s response. "The Israeli commentators said that Tel Aviv is will pass through days os strain, waiting for the stance of (Sayyed) Nasrallah over the nature of Hezbollah's retaliation." “The Israeli authorities are avoiding the direct claim of responsibility, in a bid to give the other side (the resistance) a chance to mull its retaliation choices and in order for this retaliation to be deliberate and well-calculated,” Hijazi said during a live coverage on al-Manar. “According to Israeli commentators, Israel now is denying any involvement because the direct claim of responsibility would lead to strong and justified retaliation (by the resistance).” “According to the Zionists, Kuntar represents the Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian struggle against Israel. He is well-recognized for his participation in Nahariya operation in 1979. He is well known because he was freed despite the 33-day Israeli war on Lebanon which took place after the resistance captured two Israeli soldiers and killed other eight. He is well recognized for his alleged role in opening a new front in Golan against the Zionist entity. Samir Kuntar represents the path of resistance.” Israeli Media ‘Praising’ Kuntar Assassination “Israeli officials praised the reported killing of Lebanese militant leader Samir Kuntar,” Israeli daily, Jerusalem Post said on Sunday. It quoted Israeli Construction and Housing Minister Yoav Gallant as talking to Israel Radio that "It is good that people like Samir Qantar will not be part of our world." Asked if Tel Aviv carried out the strike, Gallant said: "I am not confirming or denying anything to do with this matter." Other Israeli officials, including military spokesmen, declined comment. Meanwhile on Sunday, Israeli justice minister Ayelet Shaked welcomed the assassination of Kuntar but did not claim credit for the air strike.