When you find yourself in a hole ... yep, that's us in the middle East

POSTED BY: 1kiki
UPDATED: Tuesday, July 25, 2017 10:02
VIEWED: 2777
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1KIKI

Sunday, July 23, 2017 11:25 AM

Turkey Poised To Invade Syria's Idlib Province As Inter-Jihadist Violence Rages
Created 07/21/2017 - 11:15

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-21/turkey-poised-invade-syrias-i
dlib-province-inter-jihadist-violence-rages

Two Salafi-jihadi [4]factions in Syria's Idlib province have been engaged in a brutal inter-"rebel" (or rather inter-jihadist) war this week, prompting Turkey to prepare a potential invasion to protect its favored factions on the ground. On Thursday, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS/Al-Qaeda) continued to capture towns in Idlib's countryside from rival Ahrar al-Sham and Turkish backed FSA groups after an uneasy truce between the rebel factions quickly collapsed days prior, causing the weaker Ahrar al-Sham to call in Turkish support.
Multiple reports coming out of the region indicate [5]that Turkey has been transferring hundreds of jihadists from its former Euphrates Shield forces in northern Aleppo province (the Turkish occupied "Jarabulus pocket") to Turkey's Hatay border region, where they began entering Idlib through the Ahrar controlled Bab al-Hawa crossing. However, in the early morning hours of Friday HTS reportedly captured part of the Bab al-Hawa crossing in a significant blow that could trigger a bigger Turkish response. A larger force may be awaiting word from Ankara for a full scale invasion involving Turkish Army troops which might come at any moment.
What is certain is that things are about to get even bloodier, and either Turkey will occupy yet more Syrian land, or the Syrian Army will eventually move in to mop up Idlib once the warring groups have depleted and utterly exhausted each other. The latter scenario is a likely possibility given increased Russian leverage [10]over Turkish actions: Turkey would have to seek a nod from Moscow before occupying Idlib overtly. So far, Turkey's proxy forces are being swallowed up by the more formidable HTS.

Ahrar al-Sham tank/ via jihadi social media.
Dozens of militants from both factions have been killed across the rebel controlled Idlib province in a week that's seen dramatic shifts in the geopolitical landscape over Syria, including sudden news of the White House's ending the CIA weapons program [11], as well as Turkey's leaking of US forward operating base locations [12]in northern Syria through its state-run news channel, further escalating tensions between Turkey and the US.
On Wednesday Al-Masdar News reported the extent of initial fighting, which even involved tanks and other major weapons systems:
Full-scale war has broken out between a number of major Idlib-based militant factions. Opposition media is indicating that the forces involved are seizing entire townships from each other throughout Idlib and Hama, even going so far as to use heavy weapons (i.e. tanks) to do so.
...Ahrar Al-Sham is currently storming HTS bases at the town of Harem in northern Idlib. The two groups are also exchanging fire in the town of Salqin where both have bases. The engagement has thus far left 16 people dead, most of which are Ahrar al-Sham fighters.
Video: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Clashes With Ahrar al-Sham In Idlib Province/Source: SouthFront
Idlib's in-fighting can be seen as a mini civil war for leadership and land among terrorist factions. Some reports link the cause of this week's major escalation to a dispute over the presence of FSA and more "nationalist" flags being flown by Ahrar-aligned groups. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which opposes FSA leaning groups, is essentially the current iteration of al-Nusra Front (now calling itself Fateh Al Sham), which is a coalition led by al-Qaeda's main off-shoot in Syria. While ISIS has been the focus of international headlines over the past years, Nusra has been no less barbaric in unleashing terrorism on civilians, and like ISIS it seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate.
Nusra's ideology is indistinguishable from that of ISIS, and

RIVERLOVE

Tuesday, July 25, 2017 1:50 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by G:

Definitely one of your best drunk posts.

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da da da... Won't you take me to Psycho Town? Won't you take me to Psy yi yi co Town!

1KIKI

Tuesday, July 25, 2017 10:02 AM

GEEBERS seems to think our Mideast policy - if that's what you can call it - has been a rousing success.

Trump is not the problem. He set himself against the Deep State's agenda. And the Deep State's been heading for WWIII for years.
As for you, you're just a Deep State useful idiot, furthering its agenda. So I hope you enjoy cesium in your coffee. You've earned it.