ISIS update 5/06/2016..John Kerry Draws New Red Line For Assad In Syria
Assad: Syria wants final victory against terrorists
John Kerry Draws New Red Line For Assad In Syria
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44585.htm
The new deadline for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s transition out of power: August 1, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a news conference at the State Department on Tuesday. “The target date for the transition is the first of August,” Kerry told reporters. “So we’re now coming up to May. So either something happens in these next few months, or they are asking for a very different track.” The ultimatum was reminiscent of Kerry’s warning in 2011 that Assad’s days were “numbered,” as well as President Barack Obama’s “red line” speech in 2012 outlining the conditions — namely, the use of chemical weapons — that would prompt the US to take action against the embattled president. But then, as now, Kerry did not specify which “track” Washington would take to force Assad’s ouster. “That is for the future,” Kerry said.
Kerry responded to questions about Assad’s departure after announcing a new plan to end the latest wave of violence in Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, where more than 250 civilians have been killed in less than a week by government airstrikes and rebel shelling. Under a new cease-fire arrangement, US and Russian military officials “will be sitting at the same table” at a coordination center in Geneva to monitor and document any violations of the truce, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday in a news conference from Moscow with the UN’s envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura. The truce will include Aleppo moving forward. Russia — a staunch ally of Assad — had initially refused to include Aleppo in the cessation of hostilities agreement because of Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra’s presence in parts of the city. It used the group to justify the continued airstrikes.
As a result, joint US-Russian efforts to end regime bombardments there have largely been made on Moscow’s terms, and Kerry acknowledged that negotiators were still trying to figure out how to target Nusra — which is not party to the cessation of hostilities agreement — without hitting rebel groups who have agreed to abide by the cease-fire. “Are they somehow commingled? Are they fair game? These are the kinds of things that have to be worked out so that there’s no misunderstanding” about “who is doing what, where, when, and how,” Kerry said. “We don’t control the terrorists.” In any case, Kerry insisted the US would not allow Aleppo to fall to the government. He said there would be “repercussions” if forces loyal to Assad did not abide by the new terms.
“If Assad does not adhere to this [cease-fire], there will clearly be repercussions, and one of them may be the total destruction of the cease-fire and then go back to war,” Kerry said. “I don’t think Russia wants that. I don’t think Assad is going to benefit from that. There may be even other repercussions being discussed.” Again, however, Kerry did not specify the consequences the Assad regime or Russia would face if it violated the cease-fire agreement. “If Assad’s strategy is to somehow think he’s going to just carve out Aleppo and carve out a section of the country, I got news for you and for him: This war doesn’t end,” Kerry said. “As long as Assad is there, the opposition is not going to stop fighting.”
Attack on refugee camp near Aleppo, at least 30 killed, dozens injured
Who Bombed This Refugee Camp In Syria?
Evidence hints Al-Nusra Front behind Aleppo refugee camp attack, no signs of airstrike – Russian MOD
https://www.rt.com/news/342065-aleppo-nusra-attack-airstrike/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Thursday’s attack on an Aleppo refugee camp could have been carried out by Al-Nusra Front militants, Russia’s Defense Ministry says. The damage pattern suggests rocket artillery use, and air control data show no sorties in the area at the time.
“Considering the fracture pattern, seen in the pictures and videos taken at the site, the camp could have been shelled, either intentionally or by mistake, by rocket artillery, which is in active use in the area by militants from the terror group Al-Nusra Front,” Major-General Igor Konashenkov, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, said on Friday.
He added that after analyzing photographs and video footage from the devastated camp available online, it became evident that “there are no airstrike shell craters or other signs of an airstrike.”
The Russian Defense Ministry states there were no air sorties over the area of the refugee camp on the day of the attack or on the day prior to it.
“We have analyzed airspace objective control data for the area as of May 4 and 5, 2016. There were no flights of Russian or any other aircraft over the camp area,” Konashenkov stressed.
“Since [Thursday] many international media outlets, citing the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, have been reporting an airstrike that hit the refugee camp in Northern Idlib province, near the town of Sarmada.
“I want to draw attention to the fact that the initial report oddly coincided with Thursday’s concert of the Russian Mariinsky theatre musicians in Palmyra, conducted by Valery Gergiev.
State Dept: Syria uses al-Nusra as an excuse
Air strikes hit camp in Syria, U.S. condemns Assad statement
https://www.yahoo.com/news/syrias-aleppo-relatively-calm-truce-takes-effect-residents-055821424.html
Air strikes on a camp housing Syrians uprooted by war killed at least 28 people near the Turkish border on Thursday, a monitoring group said, and fighting raged in parts of northern Syria despite a deal to cease hostilities in the city of Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the dead included women and children and the death toll from the air strikes, which hit a camp for internally displaced people near the town of Sarmada, was likely to rise. Footage shared on social media showed rescue workers putting out fires which still burned among charred tent frames, pitched in a muddy field. White smoke billowed from smoldering ashes, and a burned and bloodied torso could be seen in the footage. “There were two aerial strikes that hit this makeshift camp for refugees who have taken refuge from fighting in southern Aleppo and Palmyra,” said Abu Ibrahim al-Sarmadi, an activist from the nearby town of Atmeh who spoke to people near the camp.
Nidal Abdul Qader, an opposition civilian aid official who lives about 1 km (half a mile) from the camp, said around 50 tents and a school had burned down. United Nations aid chief Stephen O’Brien said he was horrified and sickened by what had happened and called for an investigation. “If this obscene attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of a civilian structure, it could amount to a war crime,” O’Brien said in a statement. “I call for an immediate, impartial and independent investigation into this deadly incident.”
The White House said the victims were innocent civilians who had fled their homes to escape violence. Sarmada lies about 30 km (20 miles) west of Aleppo, where a cessation of hostilities brokered by Russia and the United States had brought a measure of relief on Thursday.
But fighting continued nearby and President Bashar al-Assad said in a telegram to Russian President Vladimir Putin his army would not accept anything less than “attaining final victory” and “crushing the aggression” by rebels in Aleppo, according to state media. “We call on Russia to urgently address this totally unacceptable statement,” U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a briefing. “It’s clearly an effort by Assad to push his agenda, but it is incumbent on Russia to assert influence on that regime to maintain the cessation of hostilities.” Toner sought to address confusion over the timeline for the cessation of hostilities, with Syrian state media saying the army would abide by a “regime of calm” in Aleppo for 48 hours and the State Department emphasizing it was open-ended.
Matt Lee: Syria acts in its own self-preservation
International Military Review – Syria, May 6, 2016
U.S Coalition airstrike on ISIS tactical unit near Manbij, Syria
Jihadist rebels capture Khan Touman, Al-Khalidiyah in southern Aleppo
Syrian airstrikes target ISIS positions in Deir ez-Zor
Syria: Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar backing terrorists
Syria in Last 24 Hours: ISIL Terrorists Sustain Heavy Losses in Army’s Ambush Operations in Aleppo
The Syrian army and popular forces continued their military operations against the terrorist groups in Aleppo province, and killed scores of militants over the past 24 hours.
The army units seized a large amount of explosives and weapons from the terrorists in Aleppo province.
The Syrian army also inflicted heavy losses on the terrorist groups in other key province across Syria.
Aleppo
Syrian army soldiers ambushed a truck fully laden with explosives and assault rifles on a road in Aleppo province and seized its cargo that was destined for terrorist-held territories, military sources said on Thursday.
“The seizure was made along the Khanasser-Aleppo Highway in the Southeastern parts of Aleppo province as the vehicle was carrying the ammunition for the militants, however the Syrian army forces, tipped off by intelligence reports, tracked and stopped it,” the military sources said
The sources added that the truck’s driver was arrested by Syrian soldiers and turned in to the authorities in the city of Aleppo after the operation to seize the consignment went on smoothly without any significant incident.
The development comes as the Syrian army and popular forces on Thursday pushed back terrorists in the Western districts of Aleppo city after purging another neighborhood of foreign-backed militants.
The terrorists left behind scores of the dead and wounded members as they fled the scene of battle.
Many sources confirmed that the Syrian army recaptured several key building blocks in Western Aleppo on Thursday.
Homs
Syrian and Russian strikers continued pounding the Takfiri terrorists’ positions in key areas in the Eastern part of Homs province on Thursday.
The ISIL’s positions in Jabal al-Sha’er, Arak gas field and Al-Sukhneh were hit hard by the Syrian and Russian fighter jets.
The Syrian and Russian warplanes conducted 25 airstrikes against ISIL’s military positions on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, the Syrian army sent a large number of reinforcement forces to the strategic al-Sha’er Gas Field in the Northeastern part of Homs province.
The army’s Desert Hawks units are slated to drive out the ISIL terrorists from Al-Sha’er gas field.
The ISIL captured several wells of Al-Sha’er gas field in tough battle with the Syrian army.
Since losing the Al-Sha’er gas fields, the Syrian army’s Tiger Forces and their allies regained all of the hills surrounding the gas field, including large hilltop of Tal SyriaTel.
In addition to capturing the hills, the Syrian Armed Forces have liberated Well 102 from the ISIL terrorists after launching a counter-offensive on Wednesday night.
Raqqa
11 Syrian prisoners managed to escape an ISIL prison in Tabaqa city which is controlled by the terrorist group, informed sources said on Thursday.
All 11 prisoners that managed to escape Sadd al-Furat jail in the city of Tabaqa were among the people detained by ISIL when the terrorist group seized Raqqa province in 2014, the sources said.
The sources said all the prisoners, who were among opposition fighters, had reached non-ISIL areas, however it remains unclear how they were able to do so, as there are no rebel areas nearby.
The people reportedly escaped after a guard in the ISIL’s religious police jail forgot to lock the cell’s door where the detainees were locked in.
It is currently unknown if ISIL will crackdown on civilians of Tabaqa city for the incident, nevertheless they are expected to tighten security as to avoid more escapees. No further details are available.
The development comes as ISIL terrorists continue their mass killing of civilians in the stronghold city of Raqqa, specially after the Takfiri terrorist group’s defeats and withdrawals from more areas in Syria, specially after they lost the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur) in Homs province.
The ISIL is executing civilians on different baseless and irrelevant charges as the terrorist group has had to resort to more brutal ways to instill more fear inside or outside its occupied territories, as government forces have been retaking major cities and slowly pushing the terrorists back to a diminished territories.
Turkey PM Davutoglu confirms resignation on May 22
Iraqi Army liberate villages south of Mosul showing ISIS tunnels
Iraqi Air Force Hellfire strikes kill 15 ISIS fighters and 3 vehicles
Iraqi forces battle Daesh on edge of Fallujah
Muqtada al-Sadr’s Revolution The Shiite cleric’s supporters stormed the Green Zone and are calling for the demise of the corrupt status quo. But can they accomplish their goals without plunging Iraq into chaos?
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/05/muqtada-al-sadrs-revolution/
Muqtada al-Sadr has long served as the spark in a volatile Iraq. When the Shiite cleric ordered his followers to fight U.S. forces in 2004, it was the gravest challenge to the United States in Iraq since Saddam Hussein was toppled. More than a decade later, the mercurial leader has taken on Iraq’s entire political establishment in a crisis that some fear could tip the country over the edge. The miles of concrete blast walls that protect Baghdad’s Green Zone are the most enduring symbol of the U.S. occupation in Iraq. Last week, a wave of protesters, most of them loyal to Sadr, pulled down the walls and stormed the Parliament building. Some protesters beat up members of Parliament, broke furniture, and sent legislators fleeing for their lives.
Iraq’s largely Shiite security forces, with no orders to use force, didn’t stop the storming of the gates. The political crisis is shaking the foundations of a system where government ministries have been carved up among Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish political blocs, and corruption has run rampant. The rivalries it has exposed among rival armed Shiite groups have raised alarm even in neighboring Iran.
Iraqi PM warns about terrorists’ infiltration
US Seeking To Hinder Iraq Political Reforms
Turkey Opens Secret Border-Crossing to Dispatch more Arms, Recruits to Terrorists in Syria
Syria: Terrorists’ Offensives Repulsed by Pro-Gov’t Troops South of Aleppo
Syrian Army Wins Back More Key Regions Near Al-Sha’er in Homs Province
Over 60 Terrorists Killed across Syria’s Battlefields in One Day
Syria: Two More Terrorist Commanders Killed in Southern Battlefields of Aleppo
ISIL Terrorists Execute Kid in Syria’s Raqqa
Syria: Scores of Terrorists Killed, Wounded in Battle with Gov’t Forces in Aleppo
Source: http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2016/05/isis-update-5062016john-kerry-draws-new.html
