Al
Baghdadi Killed In Russian Airstrike
From Russian Vesti
AL-BAGHDADIREPORTEDLY KILLED BY RUSSIANS: THE END OF THE CALIPH
In
Syria, in the southern suburb of Raqqa, the leader of the "Islamic
State" terrorist group Ibrahim Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was
destroyed. He participated in a meeting of leaders of a terrorist
group that discussed the release of militants from Raqqa through the
so-called "southern corridor." The leader of the militants
had been earlier in Iraqi Mosul, but was able to leave the city after
the beginning of the offensive by the Iraqi army.
Russian
air strike killed the participants of the military council of ISIS,
as well as about 30 field commanders of the middle level and up to
300 militants of their personal protection. The attack on terrorists
was inflicted on May 28, 2017, but it was announced only now, after
re-checking the data. Washington was informed in advance of the
strike.
Raqqa
raid suggests Russian intelligence has sources inside ISIS
US-backed Kurdish forces recapture key base in east Raqqa
Thousands
of Syrian refugees happily return home to #Syria.
Had
it not been for the daily bombs and terrorism, they never would have
left
.
SYRIA: British and American Presence Directly Escalating Conflict Near Al-Tanf
In
southeastern Syria, the region around al-Tanf has quickly become
a focal point for the ongoing conflict in the region. Near to both
the Iraqi and Jordanian borders, al-Tanf is currently the location of
a contingent of US-led coalition forces, supposedly there for the
purpose of providing training to ‘anti-ISIS’ militias, but
also anti-Assad militias
too – the fabled ‘moderate rebels’. Not surprisingly, the
US-led coalition has unilaterally imposed a self-styled
‘deconfliction
zone‘
around their camp in al-Tanf and claim to be defending their
position from ‘pro-Syrian forces’, otherwise known as the Syrian
Arab Army (SAA) and allied militias. It has been reported
by mainstream media outlets that coalition members represented
at al-Tanf include not only the United States but also the British
SAS, and also possibly Norway too.
Although
coalition forces are also present in other parts of Syria, including
the area around Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold, the last few weeks
have seen coalition forces striking Syrian military targets on at
least three occasions near the coalition training camp close to
al-Tanf – including incidents onMay
18th, June
6th and June
8th. It
is now being reported that
the US is supplying “truck-mounted long range missiles” to its
forces near al-Tanf, in a move that risks immediate escalation
in the already-tense situation, and despite diplomatic efforts
by Russia to calm the situation. All this comes as the US and
its Kurdish proxy militia, the SDF, mount their attack on the ISIS
stronghold Raqqa in Northeast Syria. The US has also seized the
opportunity to invade more Syrian territory after an alleged
sarin gas attack on
April 4th that prompted President Trump to launch a missile strike on
a Syrian airbase in retaliation.
In
the following segment filmed two weeks ago, 21WIRE editor
Patrick Henningsen speaks to RT International about the recent US
strike on Syrian forces near al-Tanf. Henningsen explains how the US
are taking advantage of the tension to secure its own territory
inside of Syria:
US
and Britain: A Policy of Deception
One
could easily be confused by the narrative that is being spun by the
US, Britain, and compliant mainstream media in both countries.
Less than two years ago, in 2015, then British Prime Minister
David Cameron ruled
out sending British ground troops into
Syria. In mid-2016, however, itemerged that
British special forces were engaged in combat in the country. Between
2013 and 2015, former US President Barack Obama said on at least 16
occasions that
there would be ‘no boots on the ground’ in Syria, but
then changed
his mind in
late 2015 when US Special Forces were deployed into Syria.
President
Trump’s statements are no less contradictory. On April 11th 2017,
soon after his initial missile strikes on the Syrian airbase,
Trump said that
the US was “not going into Syria”; the current situation at
al-Tanf simply contradicts that statement.
Since
that time, both Britain and the US have been slowly ramping up their
presence in Syria, ostensibly to fight ISIS. But by repeatedly
striking at Syrian government forces – the
single most effective fighting force against ISIS – the
US and Britain are
actually helping ISIS to
achieve its objectives.
Note
the mismatch between the US-led coalition’s presence in Syria and
how it’s presented to the public. Not only do they claim to be
fighting ISIS while at the same time indirectly helping
them,
but they also call their attacks on Syrian army targets ‘defensive’
– even though the Syrian military has never attempted to
attack any coalition forces. And it is similarly ironic that these
strikes against the Syrian military have occurred in what the
coalition calls a ‘deconfliction zone’, where supposedly no
conflict is allowed. According to security analyst Charles
Shoebridge:
“These are self-declared [US occupied] zones of ‘deconfliction.’ What they really mean there is that they are not allowing other people to enter these zones, notwithstanding that this is part of a sovereign country, Syria… What they mean is that actually conflict is allowed, and military forces, as long as they are American, British and their ‘rebel’ allies. They are not agreed deconfliction zones. Syria doesn’t agree to them. Russia, which of course has established de-escalation zones elsewhere in the country, hasn’t agreed to this. Consequently they really are, as [Russian Foreign Minister] Lavrov or his spokesman said, effectively unilateral zones.”
And
not only is the narrative confusing, it is also not given the highest
priority among mainstream headlines, with many other prominent
stories conveniently serving to occupy the public while the situation
in al-Tanf escalates. In a week that saw Congressmen
shot at and injured at
a baseball practice, a massive tower
block fire in London taking
at least 17 lives, and the UK election aftermath continuing to be
unresolved, one could easily remain unaware of the escalating
situation around al-Tanf in Syria. With the US-led coalition now
directly and deliberately attacking Syrian forces, what has been a
proxy war is suddenly growing more dangerous, and the prospect
of a direct conflict between nuclear-armed powers looms ever loser.
As
former British Ambassador to Syria Peter
Ford remarked
during a recent
conversation with21WIRE,
the British military has neither Syrian approval to be in Syria,
nor international approval from the UN, nor even legislative approval
from its own Parliament. The same applies to the United States;
although the US Constitution gives the power to declare war
exclusively to Congress, the US now has quite a long history of
entering wars or using deadly military forcewithout Congressional
approval under the flexible guise of an ‘Authorization of Force.’
More
on this story from Newsweek…
Two Syrian army tanks destroyed in a battle against ‘moderate rebels’, Azaz, Syria (Photo: Christiaan Triebert. Source: Wikicommons)
Tom
O’Connor
Russia
has demanded that the U.S. stop attacking forces that support the
Syrian government as they overtake positions held by the Islamic
State militant group (ISIS) on the country’s border with Iraq.
Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly made the comments Saturday
on a phone call with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, responding to
three U.S. air strikes in the past few weeks against forces battling
ISIS and other insurgent groups on behalf of Russian-backed Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad. The Pentagon has argued that the
pro-Syrian government coalition, which it describes as Iran-backed
militias, has breached a “deconfliction zone” declared by the
U.S.-led international coalition in southern Syria but not recognized
by Moscow or Damascus. Lavrov criticized the U.S.’s moves, and the
pair reportedly agreed to cooperate more closely in the future.
“Lavrov
expressed his categorical disagreement with the U.S. strikes on
pro-government forces and called on him to take concrete measures to
prevent similar incidents in future,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry
said in a statement, according to Reuters.
While
the Syrian army and its allies, which include Russia, Iran and
various pro-government militias, advance toward the besieged eastern
city of Deir Al-Zour, held by ISIS since 2014, the U.S. has deployed
Special Forces to train anti-Assad rebels near the southern region of
al-Tanf. Both factions are involved in the battle against ISIS but
differ on Syria’s political future, with the former insisting that
Assad remains in power and the latter mostly advocating for his
removal.
Russia has warned that the U.S.’ recent deployment of an artillery rocket system will be used to cut off Syrian government forces from their allies in Iraq. The U.S. has attacked government soldiers on several occasions in the past near the base where the system is deployed
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