Turkish terrorist ISIS “Daesh” Militants Flee Liberated Manbij to Seek Bloody Revenge on Kurds in Turkey

August 23, 2016 By administrator

Daesh militants who fled Manbij after its liberation last week, were able to enter Turkey and strengthen the terrorist presence in the province of Gaziantep, Turkish MP Mahmut Togrul told Sputnik.

On Saturday 54 people were killed and more than 100 injured after a suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding party in Turkey’s southeastern city of Gaziantep. The Turkish government has said that the attack was carried out by a Daesh terrorist.

Local politicians told Sputnik Türkiye that several terror cells are operating in Gaziantep, where the local people now fear another attack.

Mahmut Togrul, a Turkish MP who represents Gaziantep on behalf of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, linked the attack to the recent liberation of Manbij in northern Syria from Daesh.

Last week the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces drove out Daesh from Manbij after more than two months of fierce fighting. Daesh fighters were pictured escaping from Manbij towards the Turkish border, taking human shields with them.

“The date of this attack was no coincidence. This explosion is the terrorists’ revenge for the liberation of Manbij. This action was planned and targeted. It is significant that everybody who died in the explosion were Kurds, related to our party one way or another. This act of terrorism should be considered an attack on the Kurdish population,” Togrul said.

Togrul said that his party has made repeated calls for tighter control of Turkey’s border with Syria, but that the appropriate measures have not been taken.

“The region between Azaz and Jarabulus (in northern Syria) is the gate through which Daesh jihadists travel. Closing the border there would mean closing the airspace for Daesh completely.”

“According to our information, a lot of Daesh militants entered Turkish territory after the liberation of Manbij, and they have mixed in with the local population,” Togrul said.

On Monday the Turkish military began shelling Daesh positions in northern Syria close to Jarablus, as well as shelling positions of the Kurdish YPG. Turkey said the shelling of Daesh-controlled areas was in response to mortar fire from Jarablus, which landed in the town of Karkamis in Gaziantep Province.

Akif Ekici, a Turkish MP who represents Gaziantep on behalf of the Kemalist Republican People’s Party, told Sputnik that, “Unfortunately, the attack in Gaziantep is the result of the Turkish leadership’s Syrian policy.”

“The country should pursue a policy based on the principle of ‘peace at home, peace in the world,'” Ekici said.

Report: German officials say Erdogan supports militants “ideological affinity” with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood

August 16, 2016 By administrator

Erdogan-islamic-connection Members of Germany’s government have accused Turkey’s regime of supporting militant groups in the Middle East public media report. ARD cited a classified document sent from the Interior Ministry to the Left party.

Citing a classified document from the Interior Ministry to representatives of the Left party on Tuesday the German public broadcaster ARD reported, that members of the government consider Turkey’s regime a supporter of militant groups in the Middle East.

German officials appear to have publicly acknowledged, if in a classified document, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s weapons support for militants fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, which Turkish journalists have reported in the past. “Especially since the year 2011 as a result of its incrementally Islamized internal and foreign policy, Turkey has become a central platform for action for Islamist groups in the Middle East,” the German officials said, according to ARD.

German security officials also said Erdogan had an “ideological affinity” with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, ARD reported. Suppressed under Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship, the movement went on to produce Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi.

Despite the “affinity,” Erdogan has been publicly at odds with the Muslim Brotherhood in the past though he has since also criticized current Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who overthrew Morsi in a 2013 coup. Neither the United States nor the EU considers the Muslim Brotherhood a terror organization.

The German officials also said Erdogan supported Hamas, the democratically elected governing party in the Gaza Strip. Turkey’s president has said as much in the past, having told the US news host Charlie Rose, that “I don’t see Hamas as a terror organization.” Though the United States and EU do list Hamas as a prohibited group, nations such as Norway, Switzerland and Brazil do not.

“It is a resistance movement, trying to protect its country under occupation,” Erdogan added in the 2011 interview, referring to the Israeli state, with which Turkey also enjoys diplomatic ties.

mkg/rc (Reuters, KNA, dpa)

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/report-german-officials-say-erdogan-supports-militants/a-19477846

Iraq killed 1,300 Daesh militants in Mosul operations: Defense chief

June 26, 2016 By administrator

Iraqi forces inspect a building formerly used by Daesh terrorists as a home-made bomb making factory as they patrol the liberated city of Fallujah on June 23, 2016. ©AFP

(Presstv) Iraq’s defense minister says at least 1,300 Takfiri terrorists have been killed in the military operations to liberate the southern parts of Mosul, the main Daesh stronghold in the country.

Speaking at a Saturday press conference, Khaled al-Obeidi also said estimates by senior Iraqi officials show Mosul and other militant-held regions will be liberated “within a year.”

Mosul, located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad, fell into the hands of Daesh terrorists in June 2014 in the first stage of terrorists’ advance through Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has promised that the liberation of Mosul is very close as it is the Iraqi forces’ “next destination” after the liberation of Fallujah, a strategic western city.

On June 18, Iraqi forces launched an offensive against Daesh terrorists to retake the southern part of Mosul and the town of Qayyarah, one day after they retook Fallujah.

Iraqi forces managed to raise their national flag on the main government complex of Fallujah on June 17. Later in the day, Abadi congratulated the nation on the liberation of the city.

The commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization forces, Hadi al-Ameri, said Friday that Fallujah is days away from being fully cleared from Daesh militants.

Tens of thousands of people have fled Fallujah amid heavy fighting in the city. Before being driven out, Daesh militants were using civilians as human shields to slow down army advances in the areas.

The Iraqi army is now screening 20,000 people that have left Fallujah, located roughly 69 kilometers (43 miles) west of Baghdad, to prevent the remaining terrorists from escaping among the civilians.

An unnamed spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said on Saturday that a total of 2,185 Daesh suspects have been detained on the basis of testimonies or other information, noting that 11,605 were released and about 7,000 are still undergoing checks.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh terrorists mounted an offensive in the country in June 2014.

Iraqi government forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units, have been pushing the militants out of the country’s territory.

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 Full Throttle: From Aleppo to Daraa, Syrian Army Advances on Militants

January 28, 2016 By administrator

1029116210 Scores of Daesh and al-Nusra Front terrorists have reportedly been killed after the Syrian Army launched major offensives in the key provinces of Aleppo, Damascus, Daraa, Deir ez-Zor, Hama, Homs and Idlib.

The Syrian Army and the National Defense Forces (NDF) have staged a spate of major military operations all across Syria over the past twenty-four hours, in which dozens of Daesh and Al-Nusra Front militants were killed and many more wounded, according to media reports.

In particular, militants’ strongholds were destroyed in the key provinces of Aleppo, Damascus, Daraa, Deir ez-Zor, Hama, Homs and Idlib.

In the city of Daraa, the Syrian troops obliterated the militants’ fortifications, hideouts and vehicles in the neighborhoods of al-Mahatta and al-Balad, also striking the towns of Rakham and al-Karak in Daraa Province’s northeast.

“The Syrian Army and the NDF continued to advance against the militants in Sheikh Meskeen and took full control over the strategic city after killing and wounding scores of terrorists,” an army source said.

In the city of Aleppo, Syrian Air Force fighter jets destroyed positions held by Daesh militants in the neighborhoods of al-Rashedin, al-Lairamoun, Bustan al-Bacha, Bani Zaid, Karem al-Maysar and al-Sheikh Said, as well as a number of strategic areas in the eastern part of the province.

Dozens of Daesh terrorists were also killed in Deir ez-Ezor, where the Syrian forces clashed with militants in the village of Baqaliyeh and the al-Rushdiye neighborhood in the city of Deir ez-Zor.

In Damascus, the Syrian Army and the NDF launched an attack on the checkpoints of Al-Nusra Front militants, seizing back one of their main supply lines in Western Ghouta. Additionally, the army cracked down on al-Nusra Front terrorists along a road linking the two strategic cities of al-Moadhamiyah and Darayya.

In a separate development earlier this week, the militants’ strongholds based near the town of Tamanna in the south of Idlib Province and in Kafr Zita in the northern part of Hama Province were reportedly massively bombed by Syrian warplanes.

As for Russia’s ongoing air campaign in Syria, it was launched on September 30, when more than fifty Russian warplanes, including Su-24M, Su-25 and Su-34 jets, commenced precision airstrikes on Daesh targets in the country at the behest of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Russian General Staff said on Monday that combat aircraft from the Russian air group in Syria had carried out 169 sorties in the previous three days, hitting more than 480 terrorist targets.

source: sputniknews.com

Demoralized militants fleeing Daesh ranks en masse: Russia general

October 16, 2015 By administrator

Russia’s General Staff Deputy Chief Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov (© AFP)

A senior Russian general says there has been growing discontent among Daesh militants with their command in Syria, with many of them deserting the terror group’s ranks as Moscow presses ahead with its air raids against terrorist positions in the Arab state.

On Friday, Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov, who heads operations in the Russian general staff, said “demoralized” Daesh Takfiris are now abandoning the extremist terror group “en masse” amid Moscow’s ongoing anti-terror air strikes in Syria.

“The majority of armed gangs are demoralized. Discontent with field commanders is growing amid the fighters, and there are instances of disobeying orders,” he told a media briefing.

The Russian military official also said earlier in the day that Moscow may use its warships deployed in the Mediterranean Sea to launch missile attacks against Daesh positions in Syria

A key task of the Russian Navy’s Mediterranean flotilla is to deliver supplies, and in order to accomplish such an objective, a group of warships has been deployed there that also includes amphibious assault ships, he told the Russian language Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

He added that the naval flotilla also provides reliable air defense for the Russian base in the Syrian port city of Tartus, located 220 kilometers (136 miles) northwest of the capital, Damascus.

Kartapolov also emphasized that there are no Russian officers within the ranks of the Syrian army.

“Our group is operating on its own. We have a small operations group from the Syrian Armed Forces at our headquarters in Syria that provides coordination of flights with the Syrian Air Force, and gives us exact information of where the front line of the government troops is,” he commented.

The senior Russian military figure further noted that Russian fighter jets have struck more than 380 Daesh positions since the beginning of the anti-terror aerial campaign in Syria on September 30.

“Since the start of the operation we conducted more than 600 sorties and bombed more than 380 Daesh targets,” Kartapolov stated.

Russia began its own military campaign against terrorists in Syria upon a request from the Damascus government, shortly after the upper house of the Russian parliament gave President Vladimir Putin the mandate to use military force in Syria.

Syrian Army Kills, Wounds 77 More Militants in Hama Operations

October 9, 2015 By administrator

The sources said that 5 terrorists were killed and 12 others were injured in the Syrian army troops’ operations in Kafr Zeita town, one of al-Nusra Fronts’ important strongholds in the province.

The sources said that over 30 terrorists, including on the militant commander.were also injured in the army’s operations in the outskirts of Kafr Nabbouda. Report farsnews.com

An army unit also killed 30 terrorists and destroyed 3 vehicles to the North of Tallet al-Sayad.

On Wednesday, the Syrian army forces, supported by the Russian fighter jets and helicopters, advanced 70km inside the province of Hama.

Some 50km deep into the freed areas were under the occupation of Jeish al-Fateh terrorist group which is supported by Saudi Arabia.

The Syrian forces managed to advance in the Northern countryside of Hama with the support of the Russian airstrikes against the terrorists’ positions.

They could retake control of Kafr Nabouda town, Markabat, Atshan, and al-Moghayr villages and Sakik, al-Havir, al-Sakhar and Tal Othman hills.

Syria: Head for the Hills: 3,000 Islamist Militants Flee Advancing Syrian Army

October 5, 2015 By administrator

Scores of Islamic State militants have reportedly fled Syria in fear of an upcoming large-scale Syrian Army offensive.
More than three thousand militants from the Islamic State, Jabhat Al-Nusra and Jaish al-Yarmouk jihadist groups have left Syria for Jordan, fearing the forthcoming Syrian Army offensive, Russia’s news agency Ria Novosti quoted a military source as saying.
“At least three thousand militants from the Islamic State, the Al-Nusra and the Jaish Al-Yarmouk fled to Jordan. They are afraid of the army’s advance on all fronts and the Russian aircraft airstrikes,” the source said.
According to the source, the Syrian army on Sunday attacked militants from the Islamic State and the Jabhat Al-Nusra” in the suburbs of the capital Damascus and the provinces of Deir Ezzor and Homs, as well as near the city of Palmyra.

In Deir Ezzor, about 160 militants were reportedly killed during the fighting, while the army’s assault on Holms and Palmyra left at least seventeen militants dead.

Earlier on Monday, Syrian air force helicopters dropped leaflets in the south of Hama province, inviting terrorists to surrender and warning civilians about the beginning of a major military operation.

Agitational leaflets were dropped on the territories of Rastan and Talbiseh settlements, currently controlled by Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra militants, RIA Novosti reported.
On September 30, more than fifty Russian aircraft and helicopters, including the Su-24M, the Su-25 and the Su-34, started precision airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria upon Syrian President Bashar Assad’s request. Earlier that day, the Russian upper house of parliament unanimously supported the country’s President Vladimir Putin’s request to deploy the Russian Aerospace Forces abroad.
Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad confirmed that Syrian Army airstrikes, supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces, were carried out against armed terrorist organizations, not political opposition factions or civilians.

Source: sputniknews.com

Syrian Militants Surrender in Droves to Daraa Governorate

October 3, 2015 By administrator

Over 450 Syrian militants and 250 criminals wanted by government have laid down their arms and return to peaceful life in the south-west of war-torn country.

Roughly seven hundred armed militants and criminals surrendered themselves to the local authorities in the Syrian Daraa Governorate that is situated next to the border with Jordan in the last two days, national Syrian Arab News Agency Sana reported.Hundreds of militants and other law offenders decided to hand themselves over to authorities under the terms of a national reconciliation program.

According to media reports, militants have surrendered their arms to law enforcement, including large numbers of machine guns, automatic weapons and sniper rifles.

The brightest example of the reconciliation program’s success, which was started by the Syrian government, occurred in the city of Homs in the west of the country in 2014. Over 1,500 militants, who had seized the city center, yielded themselves to authorities that time.

The program provides citizens with the opportunity to go through rehabilitation to start a peaceful life if they lay down their arms and stop fighting.A full scale war has been waging in Syria since 2011. According to UN statistical data, the conflict has claimed the lives of more than 220,000 people. Various militant groups declared war on the legitimate Syrian government, the most notorious being the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra jihadist groups.

Source:sputniknews.com

Russia admits to targeting a ‘list’ of militants in Syria, not just IS

October 1, 2015 By administrator

Reacting to criticism that it is targeting opponents of the Syrian government, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted on Thursday, October 1, that Russia’s airstrikes in Syria are targeting not only Islamic State militants but also other groups, the Associated Press reports.

Russia on Wednesday carried out its first airstrikes in Syria in what President Vladimir Putin called a pre-emptive strike against the militants. Twenty airstrikes destroyed a command center of Islamic State militants as well as ammunition depots, the defense ministry said.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that Russia was going after IS militants as well as a “list” of other groups.

“These organizations are well known and the targets are chosen in coordination with the armed forces of Syria,” he said, without giving specific names.

Sergei Ivanov, Putin’s chief of staff, said on Wednesday that “the operation’s target is solely air support for the Syrian government forces in their fight against the ISIS.”

Speaking later in the day, Putin said Russia would be fighting “gangs of international terrorists” and then went on to talk about IS.

Asked Thursday whether Putin was satisfied with the way the Russian campaign was going, Peskov said it was “too early” to say.

In Paris, Russian Ambassador Alexander Orlov insisted that Russian warplanes in Syria were hitting at the same extremists targeted by the United States and denied American claims that its military failed to coordinate the airstrikes, describing the allegations as a “war of disinformation.”

Photo: AFP