BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
Syrian Revolution News & Discussions
- Thread starter Lieutenant
- Start date
-
- Tags
- kurdish
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
World News | Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:56am EDT
Kurdish militia launches assault to evict Syrian army from key city of Hasaka
Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) greet each other in the northeastern city of Hasaka, Syria, August 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said
Smoke rises from the northeastern city of Hasaka, Syria, August 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said
Syrian national flags flutter at the governorate building in the northeastern city of Hasaka, Syria, August 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said
A Kurdish fighter from the People's Protection Units (YPG) carries his weapons as he walks along a street in the northeastern city of Hasaka, Syria, August 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said
People queue for bread in the northeastern city of Hasaka, Syria, August 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said
By Rodi Said | HASAKA, Syria
The Kurdish YPG militia launched a major assault on Monday to seize the last government-controlled parts of the northeastern Syrian city of Hasaka after calling on pro-government militias to surrender, Kurdish forces and residents said.
They said Kurdish forces began the offensive after midnight to take the southern district of East Nashwa, close to where a security compound is located, near the governor's office.
The fighting this week in Hasaka, divided into zones of Kurdish and Syrian government control, marks the most violent confrontation between the Kurdish YPG militia and Damascus in more than five years of civil war. It forms part of a broader battle for control of the long border area abutting Turkey.
After a morning lull in fighting, fierce clashes broke out again across the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The powerful YPG militia has captured almost all of east Ghwairan, the only major Arab neighborhood still in government hands.
The YPG is at the heart of a U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State militant group in Syria and controls swaths of the north, where Kurdish groups associated with the militia have set up their own government since the Syrian war began in 2011.
NATO member Turkey, facing a Kurdish insurgency of its own, is concerned about attempts to extend Syrian Kurdish control westward along its border. Turkey is currently allowing a rebel Syrian force under the banner of the Free Syrian Army to assemble on its soil for an attack on an Islamic State-held town, seeking to deny control to the YPG.
The Syrian army deployed warplanes against the main armed Kurdish group for the first time during the war last week, prompting a U.S.-led coalition to scramble aircraft to protect American special operations ground forces.
War planes were seen in the skies above Hasaka again on Monday, but did not drop bombs, the Observatory said.
Syrian state media accused the YPG-affiliated security force known as the Asayish of violating a ceasefire and said its members had torched government buildings in Hasaka.
It accused the Asayish of igniting the violence through escalating "provocations", including the bombing of army positions in Hasaka, and said the Asayish aimed to take control of the city.
"WE WILL NOT RETREAT"
The YPG denied it had entered into a truce. It distributed leaflets and made loudspeaker calls across the city urging army personnel and pro-government militias to hand over their weapons.
"To all the elements of the regime and its militias who are besieged in the city, you are targeted by our units," leaflets distributed by the YPG said.
"This battle is decided and we will not retreat ... We call on you to give up your weapons or count yourselves dead."
The YPG, known as the People's Protection Units and linked to Kurdish rebels who fight the Turkish state, appeared intent on leaving a nominal Syrian government presence confined to within a security zone in the heart of the city, where several key government buildings are located, Kurdish sources said.
The complete loss of Hasaka would be a big blow to President Bashar al-Assad's government and would also dent efforts by Moscow, which had sought through a major military intervention last year to help Damascus regain lost territory and prevent new rebel gains.
Kurdish forces have expanded their control of the city despite the bombing of several locations by Syrian jets.
Thousands of civilians in the ethnically mixed city, including members of the Christian community, have fled to villages in the countryside as the fighting intensified, residents said.
The confrontation appears to have undone tacit understandings between the YPG and the Syrian army that had kept the city relatively calm.
Hasaka's governor told state media after the flare-up of violence the military had armed the YPG with weapons and tanks to fight jihadist elements but had not expected them to turn against them.
Hasaka's population, swelled by displaced Syrians fleeing areas that fell under Islamic State control, is broadly divided along ethnic lines, with Kurds mainly in the city's eastern neighborhoods and Arabs in the southern parts.
(Writing by Suleiman Al-Khalidi. Additional reporting by Lisa Barrington.; Editing by Paul Tait)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-hasaka-idUSKCN10X09O
Kurdish militia launches assault to evict Syrian army from key city of Hasaka
Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) greet each other in the northeastern city of Hasaka, Syria, August 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said
Smoke rises from the northeastern city of Hasaka, Syria, August 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said
Syrian national flags flutter at the governorate building in the northeastern city of Hasaka, Syria, August 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said
A Kurdish fighter from the People's Protection Units (YPG) carries his weapons as he walks along a street in the northeastern city of Hasaka, Syria, August 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said
People queue for bread in the northeastern city of Hasaka, Syria, August 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said
By Rodi Said | HASAKA, Syria
The Kurdish YPG militia launched a major assault on Monday to seize the last government-controlled parts of the northeastern Syrian city of Hasaka after calling on pro-government militias to surrender, Kurdish forces and residents said.
They said Kurdish forces began the offensive after midnight to take the southern district of East Nashwa, close to where a security compound is located, near the governor's office.
The fighting this week in Hasaka, divided into zones of Kurdish and Syrian government control, marks the most violent confrontation between the Kurdish YPG militia and Damascus in more than five years of civil war. It forms part of a broader battle for control of the long border area abutting Turkey.
After a morning lull in fighting, fierce clashes broke out again across the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The powerful YPG militia has captured almost all of east Ghwairan, the only major Arab neighborhood still in government hands.
The YPG is at the heart of a U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State militant group in Syria and controls swaths of the north, where Kurdish groups associated with the militia have set up their own government since the Syrian war began in 2011.
NATO member Turkey, facing a Kurdish insurgency of its own, is concerned about attempts to extend Syrian Kurdish control westward along its border. Turkey is currently allowing a rebel Syrian force under the banner of the Free Syrian Army to assemble on its soil for an attack on an Islamic State-held town, seeking to deny control to the YPG.
The Syrian army deployed warplanes against the main armed Kurdish group for the first time during the war last week, prompting a U.S.-led coalition to scramble aircraft to protect American special operations ground forces.
War planes were seen in the skies above Hasaka again on Monday, but did not drop bombs, the Observatory said.
Syrian state media accused the YPG-affiliated security force known as the Asayish of violating a ceasefire and said its members had torched government buildings in Hasaka.
It accused the Asayish of igniting the violence through escalating "provocations", including the bombing of army positions in Hasaka, and said the Asayish aimed to take control of the city.
"WE WILL NOT RETREAT"
The YPG denied it had entered into a truce. It distributed leaflets and made loudspeaker calls across the city urging army personnel and pro-government militias to hand over their weapons.
"To all the elements of the regime and its militias who are besieged in the city, you are targeted by our units," leaflets distributed by the YPG said.
"This battle is decided and we will not retreat ... We call on you to give up your weapons or count yourselves dead."
The YPG, known as the People's Protection Units and linked to Kurdish rebels who fight the Turkish state, appeared intent on leaving a nominal Syrian government presence confined to within a security zone in the heart of the city, where several key government buildings are located, Kurdish sources said.
The complete loss of Hasaka would be a big blow to President Bashar al-Assad's government and would also dent efforts by Moscow, which had sought through a major military intervention last year to help Damascus regain lost territory and prevent new rebel gains.
Kurdish forces have expanded their control of the city despite the bombing of several locations by Syrian jets.
Thousands of civilians in the ethnically mixed city, including members of the Christian community, have fled to villages in the countryside as the fighting intensified, residents said.
The confrontation appears to have undone tacit understandings between the YPG and the Syrian army that had kept the city relatively calm.
Hasaka's governor told state media after the flare-up of violence the military had armed the YPG with weapons and tanks to fight jihadist elements but had not expected them to turn against them.
Hasaka's population, swelled by displaced Syrians fleeing areas that fell under Islamic State control, is broadly divided along ethnic lines, with Kurds mainly in the city's eastern neighborhoods and Arabs in the southern parts.
(Writing by Suleiman Al-Khalidi. Additional reporting by Lisa Barrington.; Editing by Paul Tait)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-hasaka-idUSKCN10X09O
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
US Refuses to Establish Syrian No-Fly Zone Despite Airspace Warnings
Military.com | Aug 22, 2016 | by Richard Sisk
It's not a no-fly zone, but Syrian and Russian aircraft venturing near areas where U.S. troops are on the ground risk getting shot down, the Pentagon's press secretary said Monday.
"We always have the right to defend our forces," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said at a news conference in reference to an incident last Thursday in which Syrian Su-24s bombed near a U.S. Special Forces team on the ground. "We, again, would advise them to steer clear in areas where we are operating."
Cook insisted that the U.S. was not creating no-fly zones over Syria. The Pentagon and the White House have in the past consistently rejected pleas from congressional Republicans and humanitarian groups for no-fly zones to protect refugees along the Turkish border from attack, saying such a move would be logistically and politically difficult.
Cook said the new warnings to Russia and Syria were "consistent with what we've said in the past. We've said specifically we will protect coalition forces and our partnered operations" with such U.S.-backed opposition groups as the Syrian Arab Coalition and the Kurdish militia known as the YPG, or People's Protection Units.
Cook said that partnered operations would come under the U.S. air umbrella when the opposition groups are engaged in action against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. In the incident last Thursday, U.S. warplanes scrambled against Syrian aircraft that had bombed in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah, where fighting had broken out between Kurdish forces and militias backed by the Syrian regime.
The bombing was considered a threat to U.S. trainers and advisers in the area. The Syrian aircraft departed the area before the U.S. fighters arrived, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters last Friday.
After much back and forth with reporters on what was -- and wasn't -- a no-fly zone, Cook said "you can label it what you want."
Cook also said that Russian actions in Syria in support of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including continued bombing in the besieged city of Aleppo, cast doubt on the efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry to reach agreement with the Russians on a coordinated response to ISIS in Syria.
"Contrary to recent claims, we have not finalized plans on coordinated efforts. We are not there yet," Cook said, and recent actions by the Russians and the Syrians "only make it harder. Serious issues must first be resolved before we can implement the steps" considered by Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Cook said.
Kerry and Lavrov are scheduled for another round of talks starting Aug. 26 in Geneva.
-- Richard Sisk can be reached at [email protected].
Related Topics
Headlines Featured Global Hot Spots Syria Russia
© Copyright 2016 Military.com . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/...ish-syrian-no-fly-zone-airspace-warnings.html
Military.com | Aug 22, 2016 | by Richard Sisk
It's not a no-fly zone, but Syrian and Russian aircraft venturing near areas where U.S. troops are on the ground risk getting shot down, the Pentagon's press secretary said Monday.
"We always have the right to defend our forces," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said at a news conference in reference to an incident last Thursday in which Syrian Su-24s bombed near a U.S. Special Forces team on the ground. "We, again, would advise them to steer clear in areas where we are operating."
Cook insisted that the U.S. was not creating no-fly zones over Syria. The Pentagon and the White House have in the past consistently rejected pleas from congressional Republicans and humanitarian groups for no-fly zones to protect refugees along the Turkish border from attack, saying such a move would be logistically and politically difficult.
Cook said the new warnings to Russia and Syria were "consistent with what we've said in the past. We've said specifically we will protect coalition forces and our partnered operations" with such U.S.-backed opposition groups as the Syrian Arab Coalition and the Kurdish militia known as the YPG, or People's Protection Units.
Cook said that partnered operations would come under the U.S. air umbrella when the opposition groups are engaged in action against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. In the incident last Thursday, U.S. warplanes scrambled against Syrian aircraft that had bombed in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah, where fighting had broken out between Kurdish forces and militias backed by the Syrian regime.
The bombing was considered a threat to U.S. trainers and advisers in the area. The Syrian aircraft departed the area before the U.S. fighters arrived, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters last Friday.
After much back and forth with reporters on what was -- and wasn't -- a no-fly zone, Cook said "you can label it what you want."
Cook also said that Russian actions in Syria in support of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including continued bombing in the besieged city of Aleppo, cast doubt on the efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry to reach agreement with the Russians on a coordinated response to ISIS in Syria.
"Contrary to recent claims, we have not finalized plans on coordinated efforts. We are not there yet," Cook said, and recent actions by the Russians and the Syrians "only make it harder. Serious issues must first be resolved before we can implement the steps" considered by Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Cook said.
Kerry and Lavrov are scheduled for another round of talks starting Aug. 26 in Geneva.
-- Richard Sisk can be reached at [email protected].
Related Topics
Headlines Featured Global Hot Spots Syria Russia
© Copyright 2016 Military.com . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/...ish-syrian-no-fly-zone-airspace-warnings.html
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3,623
- Reactions
- Country
-
- Location
-
United States will provide air cover for Turkey’s operation in the northern Syria
Aug 24, 2016
FSA group crossing into Syria from Turkey - @AhmadAlkhtiib
The United States will provide air cover for Turkey’s operation against Islamic State in the northern Syrian town of Jarablus, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, adding that Washington was “in synch” with its NATO ally on plans. That was reported by www.reuters.com.
The official made the comment in a briefing to reporters who were traveling on U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s plane en route to Turkey, where he is due to meet both President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
Earlier President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, that Turkey’s operation against Daesh around the north Syrian city of Jarabulus is a response to terror attacks on southern Turkey in recent months.
Operation Euphrates Shield was launched early Wednesday, when artillery and air strikes were followed by Turkish tanks crossing the border to target Daesh in support of Free Syrian Army fighters.
“Right now, unfortunately, all the attacks which happened in Gaziantep and Kilis… brought this issue to this point,” Erdogan told an audience at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.
“This is the end. We said it needed to be finished and the process has started this morning at 4.00 a.m. We have to solve the problem.”
Since January, rocket attacks on the Turkish province of Kilis from Daesh-held territory in Syria have killed at least 21 people while terrorist attacks in Gaziantep blamed on Daesh include Saturday’s suicide bombing of a wedding that killed 54 and a car bomb attack in May that martyred two police officers.
“You cannot divide our nation, you cannot lower our flag, you cannot smash up our homeland, our state, you cannot silence our call to prayer, you cannot bring this county to your knees, you cannot bring to heel these people,” Erdogan said.
He added: “This nation exists and will always exist with its people, military, police and guards, whatever threats there are against Turkey.”
-
http://defence-blog.com/army/the-un...-turkeys-operation-in-the-northern-syria.html
Aug 24, 2016
FSA group crossing into Syria from Turkey - @AhmadAlkhtiib
The United States will provide air cover for Turkey’s operation against Islamic State in the northern Syrian town of Jarablus, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, adding that Washington was “in synch” with its NATO ally on plans. That was reported by www.reuters.com.
The official made the comment in a briefing to reporters who were traveling on U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s plane en route to Turkey, where he is due to meet both President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
Earlier President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, that Turkey’s operation against Daesh around the north Syrian city of Jarabulus is a response to terror attacks on southern Turkey in recent months.
Operation Euphrates Shield was launched early Wednesday, when artillery and air strikes were followed by Turkish tanks crossing the border to target Daesh in support of Free Syrian Army fighters.
“Right now, unfortunately, all the attacks which happened in Gaziantep and Kilis… brought this issue to this point,” Erdogan told an audience at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.
“This is the end. We said it needed to be finished and the process has started this morning at 4.00 a.m. We have to solve the problem.”
Since January, rocket attacks on the Turkish province of Kilis from Daesh-held territory in Syria have killed at least 21 people while terrorist attacks in Gaziantep blamed on Daesh include Saturday’s suicide bombing of a wedding that killed 54 and a car bomb attack in May that martyred two police officers.
“You cannot divide our nation, you cannot lower our flag, you cannot smash up our homeland, our state, you cannot silence our call to prayer, you cannot bring this county to your knees, you cannot bring to heel these people,” Erdogan said.
He added: “This nation exists and will always exist with its people, military, police and guards, whatever threats there are against Turkey.”
-http://defence-blog.com/army/the-un...-turkeys-operation-in-the-northern-syria.html