Gagrule.net

Gagrule.net News, Views, Interviews worldwide

Syria al-Bab: Turkish airstrikes killed 110 civilians in 2 weeks

By

A UK-based monitoring group says at least 110 civilians have been killed by Turkish airstrikes in the Daesh-held Syrian city of al-bab over the past two weeks.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights noted that on Monday alone eleven members of one family were killed as their home was destroyed by Turkish airstrikes and shelling aimed at paving the way for advancing Turkey-backed militants.

“There is fierce bombardment from Turkish forces on Daesh positions in al-Bab,” added the group.

It added that a large number of civilians are forced to flee their homes every day as Turkish-backed militants make advances in the city.

“I saw destruction — the artillery and the airplanes shelling. There’s destruction everywhere,” said one fleeing civilian. “We got out safe and sound, thank God, and the town is now encircled,” he added.

Al-Bab is Daesh’s final bastion in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo — second only in significance to the terrorists group’s de facto capital in adjacent Raqqah.

In August 2016, Turkey began a major military intervention in Syria, dubbed “Euphrates Shield,” sending tanks and warplanes across the border.

Ankara claimed that its military campaign was aimed at pushing Daesh from Turkey’s border with Syria and stopping the advance of Kurdish forces, but Damascus denounced the operation as a breach of its sovereignty.

“Euphrates Shield fighters gathered last night and divided up the town into three axes to facilitate the storming of al-Bab,” said a local militant field commander, Abu Jaafar.

He added that his forces were able to seize control of a medical complex, a key roundabout, and a school building in the town’s west side in operations that began on midnight.

“We’ve faced some difficulty with Daesh snipers — there were more than 10 snipers last night that surprised our troops,” Abu Jaafar added. “More than 10 of our forces were killed (Monday), and dozens wounded, because of the mines planted by this treacherous organization,” he noted.

Syrian army besieges Daesh-held town of Al-Bab, Meanwhile, Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield have failed

By

Syrian government troops and their allied forces have laid siege to the town of al-Bab, the largest stronghold of Daesh terrorists in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, according to a pro-opposition monitoring group.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Monday that Syrian forces had completely surrounded the town.

The Britain-based group added that the advance followed the army’s capture of Awishyah hill, which is several hundred meters away from a road that links al-Bab to Raqqah and Dayr al-Zawr provinces.

The capture of the hill came hours after Syrian troops took control of the village of Awishyah, it said.

The latest advance means government forces have now encircled the terrorists in the towns of al-Bab, Bizaah, Qabasin and Tedif.

In January, the monitoring group reported that Daesh terrorists had transferred their families out of al-Bab to other areas under their control ahead of the Syrian army’s imminent advance on the town.

As a landmark victory against the invading terrorist groups, the Syrian army liberated the strategic city of Aleppo in 2016.

Meanwhile, Turkish forces fighting as part of Operation Euphrates Shield have failed to keep their control over Bizaah. Daesh terrorists are said to have recaptured the town after multiple ambushes that left an unconfirmed number of Turkish soldiers dead.

In August last year, the Turkish air force and special ground forces launched Operation Euphrates Shield inside Syria in a declared bid to aid the Free Syrian Army militants against Daesh terrorists.

Turkey is also accused of using the fight against Daesh as a cover to repel Kurdish forces, who themselves have been battling against the terrorist group.

Ankara has already made it clear that it will not tolerate Kurdish territorial gains close to its frontiers.

Paper Tiger Turkish military Stack in al-Bab Syria, Russian jets went for help

By

For the first time since launching its anti-terror aerial campaign in Syria, Russian warplanes have reportedly hit Daesh targets around the city of al-Bab, where Turkey and its allied militants are allegedly fighting the terrorist group.

On Thursday, Turkey’s Dogan news agency quoted military sources as saying that the Russian air raids took place on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the “strikes suspected to be Russian” had been hitting al-Bab for the last two days “in support of the Turkish operation.”

However, there was no official confirmation of the strikes.

Moscow launched its campaign against Daesh and other terror outfits in Syria at the Damascus government’s request in September 2015. Wednesday’s air raids were the first such strikes targeting al-Bab.

Turkey also began a major military intervention in Syria in August, sending tanks and warplanes across the border, in a move denounced by Damascus as a breach of its sovereignty.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the operation, dubbed “Euphrates Shield,” was aimed at “terror groups” such as Daesh and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a US-backed Kurdish group based in Syria.

However, the Turksih offensive has left a large number of civilian fatalities in al-Bab and elsewhere in Syria, without scoring any major victory against Daesh terrorists.

Ankara and Moscow have long been at odds over the conflict in Syria, where Russia supports the government of President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey backs anti-Damascus militants.

Syrian army makes gains

In another development on Thursday, the Syrian army managed to advance on the village of Hazrama in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta.

Syrian forces killed and wounded several Jaysh al-Islam militants who are in control of the village.

Elsewhere in Dara’a province, the Syrian troops killed a number of terrorist ringleaders and downed a radio-controlled airplane operated by Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.

Another Syrian army unit also destroyed a vehicle belonging to Daesh terrorists in the suburbs of the Qaryatayn town in Homs Province, leaving six terrorists dead.