Russia: Aleppo militants lay down arms

February 11, 2016 By administrator

Russia says some opposition groups in the Syrian city of Aleppo are breaking ranks with militants and cooperating with the government.

In Dara’a Province, several groups have agreed to lay down their arms, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters in Moscow on Thursday.

“Syrian opposition groups have been productively sharing intelligence with us. Many are shifting to cooperation with the Syrian government,” he said.

Aided by Russian airstrikes, the Syrian army is closing in on the last pockets of militant positions in Aleppo which borders Turkey.

Konashenkov said terrorists are trying to flee to Turkey, “blending into” civilians as they know Russian jets won’t attack peaceful population, the Tass news agency reported.

“Mass desertion is fixed among gunmen groups operating in the area of Aleppo. Terrorists intimidate local population and use force to drive people to the Turkish border,” he said.

He said terrorists were dropping their weapons and trying to hide among the civilians.

The spokesman also turned the tables on the US over allegations that two hospitals had been targeted in Russian airstrikes in Aleppo.

US warplanes, he said, had flown from Turkey to hit targets inside Aleppo on Wednesday.

“Only, aviation of the anti-ISIS [Daesh] coalition flew over the city yesterday,” Konashenkov said in a statement.

“At 13:55 Moscow time, two US Air Force A-10 attack aircraft entered Syrian airspace from Turkish territory. Reaching Aleppo by the most direct path, they made strikes against objects in the city,” he added.

The statement came after the Pentagon accused Russian and Syrian government forces of destroying two main hospitals in Aleppo in air raids.

Konashenkov said Russian warplanes only hit targets some 20 km (12 miles) from the city on Wednesday.

He said Russian armed forces and their partners “have deployed a multi-layered intelligence system that ensures reliable detection of targets.”

“Only after multiple checks of the obtained data and ruling out any risks for peaceful civilians, airstrikes are delivered at those targets,” he told reporters.

The US has been carrying out airstrikes inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Syrian government or a UN mandate.

Brett McGurk, special envoy of US President Barack Obama, said Wednesday Russian airstrikes around Aleppo “directly promote” the rise of Daesh.

Syria’s government advances and militant losses have unleashed a chorus of warnings by the West and its regional allies about a new wave of refugee influx.

On Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that the humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating in Aleppo, saying the surge in fighting has displaced about 50,000 people.

SYRIA The Aleppo rebels threatened to be totally besieged

February 5, 2016 By administrator

arton121762-480x322 The troops of the Syrian regime is now threatening to totally besieged rebel neighborhoods in Aleppo, the second largest city, after having managed to cut their main supply route.

This advance was the largest since the outbreak of fighting in Aleppo in 2012 and also is the main victory of the regime of Bashar al-Assad since Russia launched its air campaign in Syria in September.

These developments coincide with the military fiasco of diplomatic efforts as new peace talks in Geneva were suspended until February 25. They threaten parallel exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Nearly 40,000 civilians have fled since the beginning of the offensive on Aleppo earlier this week, reported Thursday the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

Government forces are now closer than ever to fully besiege the rebels who control the eastern neighborhoods of the former economic capital of the country since 2012.

Three days after starting their major offensive, they have managed to break the siege imposed Wednesday by the rebels since 2012 in two Shiite towns in the province, and Nebbol Zahra. This victory allows them to cut the main supply route insurgents with Turkey.

Aleppo rebels and risk being completely besieged, said the director of OSDH, which has a wide network of sources across Syria. “Unless they receive emergency aid from the Gulf and Turkey, it could mark the beginning of the end for them,” he told AFP Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the OSDH. “With the loss of this axis, the only remaining supply route is long and complicated and will be the next target” of the plan, he added, in reference to the road called Castello, northwest of the city. “If the rebels lose, the seat will be total,” said Abdel Rahman.

‘Major breakthrough’

He said at least 5,000 Nebbol of Shiite militiamen and Zahra could join the Syrian army, which now has good morale after Wednesday’s win. “The regime has been in 72 hours a victory that eluded him over the last three years,” stressed Mr. Abdel Rahman. He received it for hundreds of strikes carried out by Russian planes against rebel positions.

A Nebbol Zahra and his troops were welcomed by a cheering crowd threw rice and flowers in celebration, according to Syrian state media. The chain of Hezbollah Al-Manar also showed the crowd and soldiers waving the Syrian flag and that of the Lebanese Shiite movement which fights alongside the army of Bashar al-Assad. “God, Syria, Bashar, that’s all,” they chanted.

Nearly 100 rebels and 64 pro-regime fighters have been killed since the offensive began Monday after the OSDH. The insurgents, including Islamists and fighters of the Al-Nusra Front (branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria) “suffer from a lack of weapons and ammunition.”

For experts Faysal Itani and Hossam AbouZahr the Atlantic Council, the progress of the plan is a “hard blow” to the rebels and shows how the Russian intervention has changed the game for power in Damascus. “Compared with its setbacks there just five months, the regime is now well placed to divide, isolate and move on opposition positions in several key areas,” they wrote on the website of the Atlantic Council.

This is a “major breakthrough” for the regime, added Karim Bitar, from the Institute of International and Strategic Relations. It “could be the final stage of a plan that began with the Russian intervention. Control of Assad on Syria helpful + the + is no longer threatened, “said the expert.

In London, US Secretary of State John Kerry has again claimed Thursday arrest of Russian bombing in Syria, accusing Moscow implicitly to have torpedoed the Geneva peace talks.

Friday, February 5, 2016,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Syria: Terrorists shell Armenian districts of Aleppo

February 4, 2016 By administrator

ALEPPO. – Terrorists have shelled the Armenian districts of Aleppo, Syria, on Wednesday evening.

The National Prelacy of Aleppo of the Armenian Apostolic Church informed the above-said.

One of the shells exploded in the area between the St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church and the Sahagian Armenian School, in the densely Armenian-populated Nor Kiugh (New Village, in Armenian) district of the city.

The second shell exploded nearby the Armenian nursing home. As a result, the electrical wiring of the building caught fire.

The blasts caused injuries while numerous apartments, stores, vehicles, and state property were damaged.

Armenian church in Aleppo hit by rocket attack

January 18, 2016 By administrator

f569cb45d29463_569cb45d294a0.thumb Armed terrorist groups launched rocket attacks on December 17 on Aleppo’s districts Munshie, Aziziye and Saadallah Al-Jabiri, Kantsasar paper said in a Facebook statement .

The Armenian Evangelical Emmanuel Church also came under fire a few hours after the morning Liturgy. No victims were reported, but the church building suffered considerable damage.

The roof and benches of the 100-year-old church were damaged, according to arevik.am.
Source Panorama.am

Syria: Scores reported injured in Aleppo rocket attack

December 4, 2015 By administrator

Aleppo insurgent groups on Friday evening launched a fresh serious of attacks, releasing rockets in the vicinities of a public kindergarten.
One of the rockets hit a residential area in the Aziziye neighborhood, leaving one person injured, the Aleppo-based newspaper Gandzasar says in a Facebook post. Other sources report that scores of people were hit in the attacks.
The insurgent operation also caused serious damages.
No details about the survivors’ identities are reported, however, Aziziye is known to be home to a big community of Armenians.

Syrian Army Takes Control of Huge Area in Aleppo Province

November 5, 2015 By administrator

With the support of Russian airstrikes, the Syrian Army has taken control of approximately 250 square kilometers in Aleppo province.

“Operation Army ATS continues in the south-eastern province of Aleppo,” said Latakia representative of the Syrian Army, Brigadier General Ali Mayhoub, according to RIA Novosti. “In cooperation with civil defense groups we control more than 250 square kilometers, and returned stability in dozens of villages and towns in the region.”
“The army in collaboration with the civil defense forces managed to open the way to Aleppo…to ensure the safe passage of this important route,” Mayhoub added.
The general also said that terrorists sustained a large number of casualties and loss of equipment.

“The survivors fled toward Raqqa,” Mayhoub said, referring to the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State terrorist group.

“Also, our army has strengthened control over the strategic height of Mraga and working to expand its control of the area. In addition, the air force is delivering pinpoint strikes against concentrates of IS and al-Nusra terrorist groups in the vicinity of the airport and near Kueres military air school in the village of Umm Arkile,” Mayhoub said.
Also on Thursday, Syrian government forces gained a key hill in a northern suburb of the capital of Damascus. The Syrian Army has captured al-Mashtal Heights, as well as a number of buildings in the suburb of Harast.

“Many terrorists have been killed and their weaponry and fortifications destroyed,” Mayhoub said.

A large number of foreign fighters have also been killed in Damascus’ southwestern suburb of Darayya.
The Syrian Army is now making a “serious advance” toward the ancient city of Palmyra.
“Our armed forces have taken control over two heights in the Homs Province. We have also made serious advance toward the city of Pal myra near al-Barayat,” Mayhoub added. “Islamic State terrirst sustained heavy losses. Six vehicles and over 25 terrorists have been killed in the western outskirts of the Mheen village.”

Source: sputniknews.com

Syria army recapture Aleppo supply route

November 4, 2015 By administrator

The Syrian army regained control of a road southeast of Aleppo on Wednesday, state television said, taking back the government’s only supply route into the city from ISIS fighters who had seized it last month.
Army forces took full control of the road which runs from Aleppo through the towns of Khanaser and Ithriya and links up with the cities of Hama and Homs further south, the channel flashed in a news bulletin. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group confirmed the report, according to Al Arabiya.
The road is the army’s supply route to government-held western parts of Aleppo, home to around 2 million people.
Rebels are mainly in the eastern sector of the city, which was Syria’s most populous before the conflict broke out in 2011.
ISIS said late last month it had taken control of most of the Syrian army checkpoints on the road and seized large caches of ammunition from army outposts in the area.
Areas around Aleppo have seen weeks of heavy fighting after Syrian troops backed by Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters launched an offensive to retake territory around Aleppo from rebels and jihadist fighters.
The offensive has concentrated so far on clearing insurgent-held areas south of Aleppo rather than the city itself.
It is one of several assaults carried out by pro-government ground forces since Russian jets began carrying out air strikes on Sept. 30 in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian troops are also trying to advance to the east of Aleppo towards Kweires military airport, aiming to break a siege of the base by ISIS and other insurgents.

Syria 80% of Aleppo liberated with Russia’s help, official says

October 22, 2015 By administrator

Syrian troops backed by Russian air strikes have advanced in Aleppo, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Armenia’s Social Democrat Hunchakian Party told reporters Thursday, October 22, Tert.am reports.

“80% of Aleppo is near liberated, with the remaining part to be hopefully freed soon,” Vazgen Mesropyan said.

According to him, the U.S. and European airstrikes were unsuccessful.

“Unable to fight the 1500-member terrorist front, the Syrian army turned to Russia for help. We think Aleppo will thoroughly be liberated in 4-6 months,” Mesropyan noted.

He also said some 7000-8000 Armenian currently live in Aleppo against the over 40.000 Armenians that resided there before the war.

According to him, only some 1000 out of some 10.000 Syrian Armenians have jobs in Armenia.

More than 100 Armenians have been killed in the course of the four-year civil war in Syria, he said, with many more wounded.

Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, Russian Jets Destroy 49 Terrorist Targets in Syria

October 19, 2015 By administrator

The Russian Air Force has conducted 33 sorties hitting 49 ISIL targets in the Syria’s provinces of Idlib, Latakia, Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

Russian strikes in Syria destroyed 2 terrorist command centers, 3 arms depots, 2 underground bunkers, 32 fighting positions in alpine terraine, 9 fortified firing positions and a plant producing firing platforms and reactive warheads, the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman said.

Russian Su-24 Fencer bomber has destroyed a command center of Nusra Front terrorist group in Syria’s Idlib, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
“During aerial reconnaissance in the Idlib province, Russian drones uncovered one of the command centers of Jabhat al-Nusra [Nusra Front] group. As a result of using an aerial bomb, the terrorists’ command center and two cargo vehicles carrying ZU-23 missile launchers next to it were destroyed.”

Two Russian Su-25 jets have destroyed a major ISIL training camp in the Latakia province.
“Near Duwayr al-Akrad, Latakia province, two Su-25 attack aircraft conducted two successive strikes with high-explosive bombs on a large ISIL training camp detected by means of Russian reconnaissance. The strikes caused the complete destruction of the camp and all the training facilities.”

In the Aleppo province, Russian combat aircraft hit an ISIL plant, which was producing home-made missiles. The plant also produced platforms to launch ramps and rockets against positions of the Syrian Armed Forces and populated areas.

“Su-25 strike in the province of Aleppo destroyed a plant producing home-made rockets. As a result of a direct strike by an aerial bomb and the detonation of explosives, the facility was completely destroyed.”
Russian bombers have destroyed Islamic State terrorists’ underground reconnaissance facilities in the province of Hama.
“In the Hama province, a Su-34 bomber launched guided aerial bombs on hidden underground reconnaissance facilities with a network of exits into different parts of a populous area,” Konashenkov said.
According to Konashenkov, the Islamic State is fleeing the Damascus region following Russian airstrikes.
“Pinpoint strikes by Russian jets in the province of Damascus have crucially changed the operational situation in this region. ISIL militants are suffering a severe lack of ammunition and are leaving their positions en masse.”
“Last night, reconnaissance means registered retreating of several large detachments, about 100-man-strong each, in direction of Marj al-Sultan,” he added.
Since September 30, Russia has been delivering airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Syria at the request of the country’s President, Bashar al-Assad.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151019/1028738076/russia-syria-isil-airstrikes.html#ixzz3p1OddoW9

Syria: 2 Armenians killed in Aleppo rocket attack

October 17, 2015 By administrator

Two Armenians have been killed in a rocket attack in Aleppo, Arevelk website reported.

Vera Kentimian and her son Harut Kentimyan have been killed.

Overall, 60-70 thousands Armenians were residing in Syria before the bloody events. More than half of them lived in Aleppo and the other half was scattered in the cities of Latakia, Homs, Qamishli, Hasaka, Raqqah, Kessab and, of course, the capital – Damascus.