PHOTO: State TV image of regime forces mobilizing in Aleppo Province


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“Great Weather for Bombing” — Russia’s High-Powered Propaganda Machine


While showing limited progress in their five-front offensive against rebels elsewhere in western Syria, the Syrian military — backed by Russian airstrikes — is moving into Islamic State areas east of Aleppo city.

Regime forces said they captured two more villages, al-Muflisah and Sab‘īn, on Sunday, although one pro-regime account pulled back the claim:

[The Islamic State has now put out a video showing that they are still in control of al-Muflisah.]

The advance would put President Assad’s troops within 6 km (4 miles) of Kweires Airbase, which has been under constant siege by December 2012 and surrounded by the Islamic State for more than a year.

Despite the siege, Kweires has remained operational, albeit at the lowest level of the regime’s remaining airbases. The relief of the siege by the Syrian military would be a significant victory for morale, as well as opening up possibilities for further regime operations in the divided Aleppo Province.

REGIME OFFENSIVE ALEPPO

(Map: Syria Direct)

The advance would be valuable publicity for the regime-Russian offensive launched on October 7, after a week of Russian airstrikes, in Hama, Latakia, Homs, and Aleppo Province against the rebels. So far, operations have taken some villages and hilltops but have failed to make a significant breakthrough. The success has also come at a heavy cost of regime armored vehicles destroyed by rebel anti-tank guided missiles.

A tour of Kafr Naboudeh in northern Hama Province, which Syrian troops failed to take despite intense Russian bombardment:

And Latameneh, also in northern Hama Province:

See Syria Daily: The 5-Front Regime-Russian-Iranian-Hezbollah Offensive Against the Rebels

In contrast, the Syrian military has advanced for more than a week into Islamic State areas east of Aleppo city, some of which had been taken only days earlier by ISIS from rebels trying to cope with the Russian bombing.

Activists have accused the Islamic State of deliberately withdrawing to allow in the Syrian military; however, if true, the battle near Kweires could test that theory.

Russia: “51 Islamic State Targets” Hit on Sunday

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that its warplanes hit 51 “Islamic State targets” in 24 hours, including four command posts, six arms depots, a mortar battery, two underground bunkers, 32 field camps, and six outposts.

As usual, few specific details were given with the locations — “Latakia, Aleppo, and Hama Provinces” — indicating that at least some of the attacks were on rebels, rather than ISIS.

However, in an interesting development, Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov indicated that at least position — “a frontline supply junction for transporting fuel, arms and food” — was hit in Damascus Province, one of the first Russian operations near the Syrian capital.


Lebanon Army Attacks “Militants” Near Refugee Camp on Border

The Lebanese Army has reportedly attacked “militants”, killing at least four people and injuring 10, at a refugee camp near the border town of Arsal.

Lebanon’s state National News Agency said on Monday that the explosion was in the camp in Wadi Hmeid near an amusement park.

The NNA did not give a cause, but local media outlets quickly reported that the explosion was a Lebanese Armed Forces missile strike on a vehicle with Islamist militants.

“Security sources” said eight people were killed by a missile fired from a helicopter. However, activists said the attacking aircraft was a Cessna, armed with a Hellfire missile.

There has been periodic fighting between the Lebanese military and members of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, the most serious in August 2014 when the militant groups briefly held part of Arsal and kidnapped dozens of Lebanese security personnel.


Kerry: US Plans to Meet Russia, Saudi, and Turkey in Coming Days

Secretary of State John Kerry says the US plans a meeting in coming days with Russian, Saudi, and Turkish leaders to “avoid the complete and total destruction of Syria”.

Kerry told journalists during a stop in Madrid, “We have a moral interest to try and stop this unfolding catastrophe. The threat of many more (refugees) coming if the violence continues and Syria absolutely implodes is real.”

Kerry also expressed the fear that “Russia is simply there to prop up Assad” with bombing that might “attract more jihadists to the fight”.

However, he said that if Moscow is willing to “help us find a political solution as well as…fight Daesh [the Islamic State], then there is a possibility to try to find a way to another path”.

An official in the Russian Foreign Ministry said, “We’re aware of the proposal and we’re thrashing it out.”


Iraqi Militia Announces Major Escalation Alongside Regime-Russian-Iranian Offensive

The Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah has declared a significant escalation of its forces alongside the Syrian military:

Supported by Iran’s military, Kataib Hezbollah has been involved in the conflict since spring 2013. However, signs of a step-up in its intervention have grown since August 2014, along the preparations by Russia and Iran for this month’s multi-front offensive.

One pro-regime account claims up to 4,000 fighters in two brigades have moved into Aleppo Province, overseen by General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Qods Force.


Pentagon Announces Death of 5th “Khorasan Group” Leader in US Airstrike

The Pentagon has said that a US airstrike in northwest Syria killed a leader of the “Khorasan Group”, the unit within the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra accused of plotting attacks against America and Europe.

Sanafi al-Nasr, a Saudi citizen, is the fifth senior member of the group killed in the past four months, according to US authorities. The Pentagon said he died in a drone strike last Thursday.

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said Nasr, also known as Abdul Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al Charekh, was a long=time militant who moved money and fighters for Al Qa’eda, including from Pakistan to Syria through Turkey. He was based in Iran before moving to Syria in 2013.

In early July, the group’s founding leader, the Kuwaiti-born Muhsin al-Fadhli, was reportedly killed while traveling in a vehicle near Sarmada,in northwestern Syria. David Drugeon, a French citizen and an explosives expert, was also killed in July in an allied airstrike near Aleppo.