WAR Erdogan's Syria Invasion Begins: Turkish Jets Filmed Bombing Kurdish Targets

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Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane
I'm not even sure which thread to put stuff anymore!

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Russian, Syrian air strikes kill 17 in rebel-held northwest: rescuers

Syrian government and Russian air strikes killed at least 17 people on Tuesday in rebel-held northwestern Syria in a spike in casualties from relentless daily strikes in recent months, witnesses and rescuers said.
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NEWS
DECEMBER 17, 2019 / 11:23 AM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO
Russian, Syrian air strikes kill 17 in rebel-held northwest: rescuers

3 MIN READ

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government and Russian air strikes killed at least 17 people on Tuesday in rebel-held northwestern Syria in a spike in casualties from relentless daily strikes in recent months, witnesses and rescuers said.

The northwest corner of the country, including the Idlib region, is the last significant swathe of Syrian territory still in insurgent hands after eight and a half years of war.
Russia, which has backed President Bashar al-Assad against rebels and Islamist militants, and Turkey, long a supporter of rebels, co-sponsored a conflict “de-escalation” deal for the area earlier this year that has since faltered.
Two members of local rescue services said at least four people were killed and scores hurt when aerial bombs fell on a major market in the rural town of Maasran. Another six civilians lost their lives when the town of Bdama was hit, they said.

Videos posted on social media and confirmed by residents showed emergency crews pulling charred bodies along the debris-strewn streets of Maasran as ambulances were arriving.

A further five people were killed in the nearby town of Telmanas in the southeastern part of Idlib province, according to Abdullah al-Halabi of the local rescue service.
Air strikes on several villages in the area had killed another two dead two people and injured scores, he added.
Syrian state media carried no reports of military operations by the Syrian army or its Russian ally in those areas.
The Idlib region is home to hundreds of thousands of people who fled other parts of Syria as government forces wrested back large areas of the country following Russian intervention on Assad’s side in early 2015 that tipped the war in his favor.
There has been no major ground offensive since Turkish-backed rebel forces retook territory seized by Moscow and its Syrian allies in rural parts of east Idlib province last month, rebels and diplomats say.

Russian-backed forces have kept up air strikes on populated areas to wear down rebel forces that have so far repelled government attempts to seize back terrain.
Islamist militant groups have also foiled repeated attempts by Russian-backed forces to advance into rural, inland parts of coastal Latakia province where they have dug in for years.
While the Damascus government has vowed to recover all of Idlib, its immediate priority is to retake key pre-war highways that pass through the province to shore up Syria’s sanctions-battered economy, Western diplomatic sources say.
Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Mark Heinrich
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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danielboon

danielboon

TB Fanatic
Plain Jane said:
I'm not even sure which thread to put stuff anymore!

www.reuters.com

Russian, Syrian air strikes kill 17 in rebel-held northwest: rescuers

Syrian government and Russian air strikes killed at least 17 people on Tuesday in rebel-held northwestern Syria in a spike in casualties from relentless daily strikes in recent months, witnesses and rescuers said.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com

NEWS
DECEMBER 17, 2019 / 11:23 AM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO
Russian, Syrian air strikes kill 17 in rebel-held northwest: rescuers

3 MIN READ

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government and Russian air strikes killed at least 17 people on Tuesday in rebel-held northwestern Syria in a spike in casualties from relentless daily strikes in recent months, witnesses and rescuers said.

The northwest corner of the country, including the Idlib region, is the last significant swathe of Syrian territory still in insurgent hands after eight and a half years of war.
Russia, which has backed President Bashar al-Assad against rebels and Islamist militants, and Turkey, long a supporter of rebels, co-sponsored a conflict “de-escalation” deal for the area earlier this year that has since faltered.
Two members of local rescue services said at least four people were killed and scores hurt when aerial bombs fell on a major market in the rural town of Maasran. Another six civilians lost their lives when the town of Bdama was hit, they said.

Videos posted on social media and confirmed by residents showed emergency crews pulling charred bodies along the debris-strewn streets of Maasran as ambulances were arriving.

A further five people were killed in the nearby town of Telmanas in the southeastern part of Idlib province, according to Abdullah al-Halabi of the local rescue service.
Air strikes on several villages in the area had killed another two dead two people and injured scores, he added.
Syrian state media carried no reports of military operations by the Syrian army or its Russian ally in those areas.
The Idlib region is home to hundreds of thousands of people who fled other parts of Syria as government forces wrested back large areas of the country following Russian intervention on Assad’s side in early 2015 that tipped the war in his favor.
There has been no major ground offensive since Turkish-backed rebel forces retook territory seized by Moscow and its Syrian allies in rural parts of east Idlib province last month, rebels and diplomats say.

Russian-backed forces have kept up air strikes on populated areas to wear down rebel forces that have so far repelled government attempts to seize back terrain.
Islamist militant groups have also foiled repeated attempts by Russian-backed forces to advance into rural, inland parts of coastal Latakia province where they have dug in for years.
While the Damascus government has vowed to recover all of Idlib, its immediate priority is to retake key pre-war highways that pass through the province to shore up Syria’s sanctions-battered economy, Western diplomatic sources say.
Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Mark Heinrich
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Putting it here is fine there are now many hotspots in the world beginning to go off
 
danielboon

danielboon

TB Fanatic
danielboon

danielboon

TB Fanatic
and add this to the fire as well
Are Israel and Iran preparing for war?
While much of the international and domestic US media focuses on the Trump impeachment scandal, there are many signs that a major conflict could break out in the Middle East. Will Christmas go off with a monumental bang?
Iran can move in and out of the media focus as other stories and scandals begin to steal the spotlight, but in the background the pressure being mounted against Tehran is heating up on multiple fronts.
For example, the US recently rolled out a fresh load of sanctions against Iranian companies, including its largest airline, accusing it of “weapons of mass destruction proliferation,” as well as the transportation of lethal aid to Yemen. The move seems to be squeezing Iran’s economy ever closer to a total state of collapse, as the airline will likely be prohibited from using airports in countries fearful of facing the wrath of the Trump administration.

While the US has proven somewhat reluctant to directly strike Iran or its forces, there is another power in the Middle East that appears to be increasingly willing and able to do so on Washington’s behalf: Israel.Congress is also set to pass a bill introduced three years ago which would provide for US sanctions against “the Syrian regime, Russia and Iran for past and ongoing war crimes” allegedly committed in the Syrian war. Despite the allegations that Trump is a Russian stooge elected to serve Vladimir Putin, reports say that the Trump administration supports the bill and is likely to enforce it (unlike the Obama administration).
Just last month, Israel made a rare admission that its military had carried out a “very intense” attack against Iranian forces and Syrian Army targets in Syria, killing at least 21 fighters and two civilians in the process.Earlier, the IDF destroyed a weapons depot for Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and allegedly undertook drone strikes on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also accused Iran of planning to attack Israel, vowing to do everything possible to prevent that from happening. Of course, it is convenient for a leader struggling to retain his leadership to formulate a scapegoat from which the rest of the country needs you to protect it.
I also can’t help but notice the amount of meetings between US officials and Israeli officials, particularly where Iran appears to be the major theme. At the time of Netanyahu’s most recent warning, US General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had visited Israel to meet his Israeli counterpart, Aviv Kohavi, to discuss “operational questions and regional developments.” A week prior, the US Air Force chief of staff also visited Israel to participate in the Blue Flag joint military exercise. Not long before that, the commander of the American military forces in the Middle East arrived in Israel for meetings with top IDF officials.
Furthermore, Trump and his Israeli counterpart held a phone call which focused squarely on Iran. Netanyahu asked Trump to continue ramping up pressure on Iran following the recent protests which rocked the Islamic Republic, seen by Israel as a major opportunity (which makes sense when you consider Israel’s recent military activity against Iranian-aligned forces).
And the warnings continue. Israel has just stated that Iran will face its “own Vietnam in Syria” and vowed to prevent Tehran from cementing itself in the war-torn country, threatening it with pre-emptive action.

Of course, one should bear in mind that just last month, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced he had charged Netanyahu with bribery, fraud and breach of trust. At the end of the day, Netanyahu’s statements and Israeli military activity could purely be an attempt for Bibi to posture himself domestically and flex his muscles internationally in the face of a damning investigation against his seemingly corrupt practices. If this is the case, the threat of a war with Iran is merely a distraction.Iran has likewise responded with threats of its own, namely that it will flatten Tel Aviv by launching a barrage of rockets from Lebanon. Fox News released a report arguing that Iran has begun building tunnels in Syria near the Iraqi border, which is sure to further irk Israel (if the allegations are true, that is).
Furthermore, in 2017 a top Israeli general tasked with writing his country’s new defense policy said Israel could not fight Iran alone and stated this was a “fact of life.” According to a new Pentagon Iran Military Power Report published at the end of November, Iran has become a significant military player in the region. The report alleges that Iran has focused on three broad areas of activity to enable its current capabilities, being its ballistic missiles, naval forces and its use of proxy forces in places such as Lebanon and Iraq. This report only further supports the idea that Israel could not fight a direct war with Iran and hope to win without relying on major American assistance.
ALSO ON RT.COMIsrael claims it hit ‘dozens’ of Iranian & Syrian military targets in response to rocket fire
The problem for Israel is that determining whether or not the US truly wants to find itself in this position is really not as clear-cut as one would think. Consider, for example, this paragraph from a recent Haaretz article: “US policy in the Middle East under Trump continues to be confusing, unstable and impossible to predict… These constant changes create a continuing challenge for Middle East governments, including Israel, as they try to understand in which direction the administration is heading.”
Then again, one senior intelligence expert recently told the Hill that if Iran is about to become a nuclear power, Israel will act unilaterally. At the end of the day, this cannot be ruled out (and could ultimately force the US to fight a major war out of necessity).
Whether you believe a war is likely or not, or that the US should do more to counter Iran, the fact that the Trump administration is punishing Tehran as much as possible cannot be denied. As one Israeli official put, right now, “it feels like every week the Americans hit Iran with a new hammer.” Allegations from the corporate media that the US is hanging Israel out to dry while failing to apply its “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran are fancifully untrue.
Most importantly, the recent announcement of a joint naval drill between Iran, China and Russia only appears to confirm my initial suspicions that any war involving Iran will be ultimately catastrophic and irreparably change the world as we currently know it.
www.rt.com

Are Israel and Iran preparing for war?

While much of the international and domestic US media focuses on the Trump impeachment scandal, there are many signs that a major conflict could break out in the Middle East. Will Christmas go off with a monumental bang?
www.rt.com www.rt.com
 
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Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane
This is what comes of NGO'S being used for intel and cover for military.


www.reuters.com

Russia, backed by China, casts 14th U.N. veto on Syria to block cross-border aid

Russia, backed by China, on Friday cast its 14th U.N. Security Council veto since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011 to block cross-border aid deliveries from Turkey and Iraq to millions of Syrian civilians.
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NEWS
DECEMBER 20, 2019 / 1:02 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Russia, backed by China, casts 14th U.N. veto on Syria to block cross-border aid

Michelle Nichols
4 MIN READ

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia, backed by China, on Friday cast its 14th U.N. Security Council veto since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011 to block cross-border aid deliveries from Turkey and Iraq to millions of Syrian civilians.

The resolution drafted by Belgium, Kuwait and Germany would have allowed cross-border humanitarian deliveries for a further 12 months from two points in Turkey and one in Iraq. But Syrian ally Russia only wanted to approve the two Turkish crossings for six months and had proposed its own draft text.
Russia and China vetoed the text drafted by Belgium, Kuwait and Germany. The remaining 13 members of the Security Council voted in favor. A resolution needs a minimum nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, Britain or France to pass.
U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft told the council after Russia and China’s vetoes that she was in a state of shock as the consequences “will be disastrous.” She described Russia and China’s opposition as “reckless, irresponsible and cruel.”

The council then voted on the rival Russian draft resolution that would have approved the two Turkish crossing points for six months, but it failed with only five votes in favor, six against and four abstentions.
“Who won today? Nobody. Who lost? The Syrian people,” Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council. He had argued that the humanitarian situation in Syria has improved dramatically and that the council had to recognize that change.
“Do not attempt to shift blame for this on us,” he said.

Deputy U.N. aid chief Ursula Mueller had warned the council on Thursday that without the cross border operations “we would see an immediate end of aid supporting millions of civilians.”
“That would cause a rapid increase in hunger and disease, resulting in death, suffering and further displacement - including across-borders - for a vulnerable population who have already suffered unspeakable tragedy as a result of almost nine years of conflict,” Mueller said.
Since 2014 the United Nations and aid groups have crossed into Syria from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan at four places annually authorized by the Security Council. In a bid to compromise with Russia, the Jordanian crossing point was dropped by Belgium, Kuwait and Germany from their draft.
The current authorization for the four border crossings in Turkey, Iraq and Jordan ends on Jan. 10, so the Security Council could still attempt to reach an agreement, though some diplomats acknowledged this could now be difficult.

Russia has vetoed 14 council resolutions on Syria since a crackdown by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on pro-democracy protesters in 2011 led to civil war. Islamic State militants then used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq.
Indonesia’s U.N. Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani told the council on Thursday: “The world is watching. The international community is watching. But we are not here to just watch ... we are here to help and take action ... It is not about us. It is all about saving Syrian people on the ground.”
Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Grant McCool
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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