Operation Northern Storm - a few perspectives....
http://cyplive.com/eng/news/siriyskaya-armiya-nastupaet.html
The Syrian army is scaling up operations "Northern Storm" for the release of armed extremists city of Aleppo and its environs.
Syrian troops drove the rebels today the strategic heights in the area of Tell el-Shveyhna and entered the towns of El Mansoura, Kfar's daily and Babays. According to news agency SANA, during clashes have killed dozens of terrorists, most of whom were mercenaries captured stores of weapons and ammunition.The troops advancing on several fronts. In front of them, like TV channel "Al-Manar" referring to the Syrian military source, to interrupting the supply routes of militants holding under its control several districts in the city of Aleppo. Fierce fighting continues in the military airfield Meneg and border with Turkey Aazaz town, as well as in Kfar Hamra and on the highway in Kubbateyn al-Jabal. In these areas being transferred military reinforcements and armored vehicles. The Syrian air force is applied to the air strikes on strongholds of the enemy.
Turkish mercenaries stopped on the way to Syria
In the province of Latakia, according to TV station "Al-Ihbariya" border guards repelled an attempt to invade the territory of the Syrian mercenaries from Turkey. The entire unit was destroyed during the battle at the border crossing Naba al-Murr, intercepted shipment of weapons destined for the rebels. In Idlib repulsed a militant attack on army checkpoints on the pass Jisr al-Shuggur through which the highway Aleppo, Latakia. Army special forces pursued armed gangs of extremists in several areas of the province: Sarmin, Sarakibe, Derkushe and Maaret-Naamane.
Refutation of zavate military base
Syrian military source denied reports of the capture of rebel base of the 17th Division in Raqqa. As the news service, "Al-Watan", the soldiers repulsed the attack of militants from the radical Salafist group "Ahrar al-Sham."
Near Damascus troops conduct sweep of the mountainous region Kalyamun. The operation, which involved coming from the capital of fresh reinforcements, covers the entire area of the city to the village Yabrud Halbun. Blocked the approaches to the mountain resort of Zabadani, 45 km from Damascus, where massive stronghold of the rebels. From this area, in particular, are conducted rocket attacks on Lebanese territory.
Defense Minister Gen. CAP Fahd al-Freydzh has committed, according to SANA today, touring the best military units, said that the recent victory in the battle for the border town of El Quseir "gives a strong impetus for the continuation of military operations in order to return to peace and security in all corners of the Syrian land. "
Source: ITAR-TASS
Author: Dmitry Zelenin
ENLARGE
and......
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10109013/Syria-Assad-forces-massing-for-major-assault-on-Aleppo.html
http://www.debka.com/article/23032/First-clash-between-Syrian-rebels-and-Iraqi-soldiers-Baghdad-bankrolls-Assad%E2%80%99s-war
This was their first engagement with Syrian rebels in the 28-month Syrian civil war – but unlikely to be the last.
DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources report that while all eyes have been drawn in recent days to Hizballah's proactive military involvement in Assad’s war, the Iraqi role has been under-reported an treated as scattered and sporadic military actions, whereas in fact, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has even outdone Hassan Nasrallah in the generosity of his assistance for propping Assad up.
A Western intelligence source told DEBKAfile that al-Maliki is even footing the bill for Syrian government’s imports, from flour to Russian weapons systems and arms bought on the international market for the Syrian army and Hizballah. Baghdad is also covering Syria’s consumption of petroleum, benzene, fuel distillates and oils for the Syrian army's logistical systems.
Assad is therefore furnished with ample funds and soldiers by Iraq, fighting men by HIzballah, new and replenished weapons by Russia and Iran and aircraft, tanks and artillery for Syria’s own stores.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/06/09/syrian-troops-massing-for-assault-on-aleppo/
Both sides have been adding troops here and there for quite some time, but with the capture of Qusayr the Syrian government appears to be increasingly ambitious about winning the war outright, and sees a major assault on Aleppo as the key.
The White House has been threatening to do so for a long time, and with growing calls from hawks to get directly involved militarily, imposing “no-fly zones” and rebel buffer areas inside Syria, officials say throwing weapons at the rebels is being spun as a compromise decision at least a little short of direct acts of war.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/06/201369175918244221.html
( Another example of how foreign fighters are losing Syrian hearts and minds.... Committing this act just as Assad's Government troopsare gearing up for Aleppo just isn't smart ! )
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/09/308053/syria-militants-threat-to-regional-peace/
During a Sunday visit to Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Maliki referred to the turmoil in Syria, describing "the comeback of the extremist organizations" such as al-Qaeda and al-Nusra Front as the most dangerous threat to the whole region.
Maliki also called on the Iraqi nation to stay united in the face of sectarian strife targeting Iraq and other regional countries.
The al-Nusra Front has been behind many of the deadly bombings targeting both civilians and government institutions across Syria since the outbreak of violence in the Arab country in March 2011.
On April 9, the leader of al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq network, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced merger with the al-Nusra Front to play an even greater role in the crisis plaguing Syria.
A day later, Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, the head of the terrorist al-Nusra Front, pledged allegiance to the al-Qaeda chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Iraq has been witnessing an upsurge in violence across the country.
Shortly before Maliki arrived in Arbil, at least seven people lost their lives in a car bomb attack on an army checkpoint in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Some 18 others were also injured in the attack.
MKA/PR/SS
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/09/307972/syrian-army-launches-aleppo-operation/
The Syrian army has clinched victories against foreign-sponsored militants in recent days, liberating the strategic towns of Qusayr, Qunaytirah and Daba’a in the west.
Syrian forces have reportedly closed the major outlets of the city, which is located some 310 kilometers (192 miles) north of the capital, Damascus.
The army is preparing to attack militant strongholds in the towns of Hayyan, Khirbet Andan, Tell Rifaat and A’zaz on the outskirts of Aleppo.
The operation is code-named North Storm.
The Syrian army has clinched victories against the militants in recent days, liberating the strategic towns of Qusayr, Qunaytirah and Daba’a in the west.
Qusayr was an important center and supply route for the armed groups.
Damascus says a large number of militants including al-Qaeda-linked Salafists have been killed in the recent battles.
On June 5, the Syrian state TV said Qusayr, which lies near the border with Lebanon, was under full control of the Syrian army following three weeks of fighting with militants. Syrian troops were backed by forces from the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah during the Qusayr operation.
Syrian government forces also managed to retake control of several villages near Qusayr on June 7 and pushed the militants out of the central villages of Salhiyeh and Masoudiyeh.
The foreign-sponsored militancy in Syria has taken its toll on the lives of many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, since the outbreak of turmoil more than two years ago.
http://cyplive.com/eng/news/siriyskaya-armiya-nastupaet.html
The Syrian army begins (0)
The Syrian army is scaling up operations "Northern Storm" for the release of armed extremists city of Aleppo and its environs.Syrian troops drove the rebels today the strategic heights in the area of Tell el-Shveyhna and entered the towns of El Mansoura, Kfar's daily and Babays. According to news agency SANA, during clashes have killed dozens of terrorists, most of whom were mercenaries captured stores of weapons and ammunition.The troops advancing on several fronts. In front of them, like TV channel "Al-Manar" referring to the Syrian military source, to interrupting the supply routes of militants holding under its control several districts in the city of Aleppo. Fierce fighting continues in the military airfield Meneg and border with Turkey Aazaz town, as well as in Kfar Hamra and on the highway in Kubbateyn al-Jabal. In these areas being transferred military reinforcements and armored vehicles. The Syrian air force is applied to the air strikes on strongholds of the enemy.
Turkish mercenaries stopped on the way to Syria
In the province of Latakia, according to TV station "Al-Ihbariya" border guards repelled an attempt to invade the territory of the Syrian mercenaries from Turkey. The entire unit was destroyed during the battle at the border crossing Naba al-Murr, intercepted shipment of weapons destined for the rebels. In Idlib repulsed a militant attack on army checkpoints on the pass Jisr al-Shuggur through which the highway Aleppo, Latakia. Army special forces pursued armed gangs of extremists in several areas of the province: Sarmin, Sarakibe, Derkushe and Maaret-Naamane.
Refutation of zavate military base
Syrian military source denied reports of the capture of rebel base of the 17th Division in Raqqa. As the news service, "Al-Watan", the soldiers repulsed the attack of militants from the radical Salafist group "Ahrar al-Sham."
Near Damascus troops conduct sweep of the mountainous region Kalyamun. The operation, which involved coming from the capital of fresh reinforcements, covers the entire area of the city to the village Yabrud Halbun. Blocked the approaches to the mountain resort of Zabadani, 45 km from Damascus, where massive stronghold of the rebels. From this area, in particular, are conducted rocket attacks on Lebanese territory.
Defense Minister Gen. CAP Fahd al-Freydzh has committed, according to SANA today, touring the best military units, said that the recent victory in the battle for the border town of El Quseir "gives a strong impetus for the continuation of military operations in order to return to peace and security in all corners of the Syrian land. "
Source: ITAR-TASS
Author: Dmitry Zelenin
and........
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/syria/130610/syrian-assault-aleppo-imminent-government-forces-moun
Operation Northern Storm: Syrian army plans assault on Aleppo
The assault on rebel-held parts of the city is expected to begin within days, if not hours.
The assault on rebel-held parts of the city is expected to begin within days, if not hours.
ENLARGE
Syrian government troops are preparing a massive assault on the rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo, reports indicate. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Syrian government troops are reportedly preparing a major offensive on Aleppo, the country's largest city and former economic hub.
The assault on rebel-held parts of the city — called "Operation Northern Storm" — is expected to begin within days, if not hours, media reported, citing a Syrian security official.
"It is likely the battle for Aleppo will start in the coming hours or days, and its aim is to reclaim the towns and villages in the province," a Syrian government source told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity.
The sense of urgency has been picked up in Washington as well, with a State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki telling Reuters that because things there "have worsened," US President Barack Obama will be given a "wider range of options" to consider in upcoming meetings on the Syrian conflict.
Word of the possible offensive comes just days after rebels were pushed out of the strategic town of Qusayr by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's troops and Hezbollah fighters.
The Syrian government is said to have been emboldened by the victory and is now more confident it can rout rebel forces elsewhere in the country.
Such a strike could deal a significant blow in a war that's been grinding on for over two years, killing more than 80,000 and forcing more than 1 million Syrians to flee. It would also cast doubt on upcoming peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
Pro-regime daily Al-Watan wrote Sunday that the Syrian army “started to deploy at a large scale in Aleppo province, in preparation for a battle that will be fought in the city and its outskirts.”
The newspaper also said “the Syrian army will take advantage of its experience in Qusayr and Eastern Ghouta [near Damascus] to advance in the [central] province of Hama and Homs.”
More from GlobalPost: What's the big deal about Qusayr?
On Sunday, Reuters reported that battles occurred in the Shiite towns of Al-Nubbul and Zahra, just outside of Aleppo.
"The aim is to use the two villages as forward bases to make advances in Aleppo and its countryside," Mustafa Al-Sheikh, a rebel commander and former senior officer for the Syrian military, told Reuters.
Rebels said they have bolstered their forces along the road leading south from Aleppo to the town of Salamiyeh, the point from which the regime's tanks are expected to advance.
The battle for Aleppo began in July 2012 between the rebels and regime forces. Last August, rebel leaders claimed they held more than 60 percent of the city.
"We will be in full control on Wednesday morning," Sheikh Tawfiq Abu Sleiman, the leader of the largest rebel unit in northern Aleppo told the Guardian on Aug. 7, 2012. "We already have two of the walls of the citadel."
The 13th century citadel that looms over the city never fell to the rebels, nor did the rest of Aleppo, despite claims of rebel advances in the city as late as March of this year.
The intense fighting, which has killed thousands, has divided in the city in half, with rebels controlling the eastern half of the city and government forces the western half.
and......
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10109013/Syria-Assad-forces-massing-for-major-assault-on-Aleppo.html
News outlets close to the Syrian regime and the Lebanese Shia militia Hizbollah, which has come to its support, said that "Operation Northern Storm" to retake Aleppo, the biggest city in the country, and the surrounding countryside had begun. Other sources told the AFP news agency that the battle would start in "the coming days or hours".
There was no evidence of a major attack last night, but there was renewed fighting near a government-held base on the north-western outskirts. Hizbollah reinforcements were said to have arrived in the area, while a video leaked to an opposition website showed a regime general recruiting men from two Shia towns to join in a fresh attack.
The regime is in high spirits after the Syrian army and Hizbollah retook Qusayr, close to the Lebanese border. They continued their advance over the weekend, sweeping through the last opposition-held villages north of the town.
They harried the retreating rebels and the thousands of civilians who had fled with them.
Video posted online showed streams of people, mostly rebels and male civilians, marching dejectedly and in some cases staggering on crutches through the fields and orchards distinctive to the area, the sound of shelling in the background. In some, wounded men lay dying under trees.
Hadi Abdullah, one of the main opposition spokesmen in Qusayr, told The Daily Telegraph he was trapped in an enclave with 2,000 men, women and children. He said 110 people, including 40 women and children, had been killed when the refugee column was attacked by government forces on Saturday.
"We were a group of around 7,000 people," he said. "The first group of 1,000 got through (the encirclement) successfully. Then it was followed by another group but that came under direct fire from the regular army and Hizbollah forces.
"The dead and injured fell where they were. We could not even retrieve the bodies of women. The army tanks pulled some civilians and assassinated them. I called out for one of my relatives who was caught by the army. Someone from the other side answered saying, 'Come take him in pieces'."
State media at first claimed government forces had killed Abdulqader al-Saleh, also known as Hajji Marea, head of the biggest rebel brigade in Aleppo, and second-in-command of the military wing of the western-backed Syrian National Coalition.
Hajji Marea had led a group of reinforcements sent to help Qusayr's defence. The claim was later retracted, but rebels confirmed he had been injured.
The regime's recent fightback has cast doubt on the chances for a peace conference, backed by Britain, France and the United States, originally due to take place later this month in Geneva. Its date had already slipped back to next month, and William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said regime advances reduced its chance of success.
"It makes it less likely that the regime will make enough concessions in such negotiations, and it makes it harder to get the opposition to come to the negotiations," he said.
He said he accepted demands by Tory MPs last week that a House of Commons vote be taken on any decision to arm the rebels.
"People have understandable concerns about the idea of sending arms to anybody in Syria and we'd all be very reluctant to do that," he said.
"On the other hand, at the moment, people are being killed in huge numbers while the world denies them the right to defend themselves."
The opposition says it cannot attend the conference under current circumstances.
"How can you imagine someone talks about a peace or political solution under this kind of war, this sectarian war?" George Sabra, the Coalition's acting head, said in Istanbul.
Separately a Lebanese man demonstrating against Hizbollah's participation in Syria was shot dead in Beirut, the first such incident in the Lebanese city.
http://www.debka.com/article/23032/First-clash-between-Syrian-rebels-and-Iraqi-soldiers-Baghdad-bankrolls-Assad%E2%80%99s-war
Syrian rebel forces attacked two Iraqi military positions at the southern tip of their common border Sunday, June 9. They failed to beat the Iraqi troops back although a number of Iraqi officers and soldiers were killed. Shooting incidents flared during the day near the Al-Waleed Syrian-Iraqi crossing, but the Iraqi forces held fast.
This was their first engagement with Syrian rebels in the 28-month Syrian civil war – but unlikely to be the last.
The Syrian Sunni rebels were anxious to break through the Iraqi lines which were blocking their access to supplies of weapons and fighters sent over by Sunni militias in the Western Iraqi Anbar region. The failure of the rebels' first assault set back their bid to loosen the grip of loyalist Syrian troops on this strategic border crossing.
DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources report that while all eyes have been drawn in recent days to Hizballah's proactive military involvement in Assad’s war, the Iraqi role has been under-reported an treated as scattered and sporadic military actions, whereas in fact, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has even outdone Hassan Nasrallah in the generosity of his assistance for propping Assad up.
We have learned that he has advanced unlimited Iraqi credit for his war chest,, placing Iraq’s multibillion-dollar oil revenues at his disposal. US, British and French importers may not realize they are contributing to Assad’s war effort against the rebels with their purchases.
A Western intelligence source told DEBKAfile that al-Maliki is even footing the bill for Syrian government’s imports, from flour to Russian weapons systems and arms bought on the international market for the Syrian army and Hizballah. Baghdad is also covering Syria’s consumption of petroleum, benzene, fuel distillates and oils for the Syrian army's logistical systems.
And as we reported in the last DEBKA Weekly, the Iraqi prime minister has detached 20,000 troops for the mission of sealing the Syrian border against the entry of rebel reinforcements and assistance originating in the Persian Gulf and from Iraqi Sunni militias. The Syrian rebel attacks Sunday battered the Iraqi lines ranged there but failed to force any gaps.
Assad is therefore furnished with ample funds and soldiers by Iraq, fighting men by HIzballah, new and replenished weapons by Russia and Iran and aircraft, tanks and artillery for Syria’s own stores.
With hefty financial, intelligence and military aid from four allies, Bashar Assad is better equipped than ever before to rout an opposition that is divided and starved of assistance, arms and support.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/06/09/syrian-troops-massing-for-assault-on-aleppo/
Syrian Troops Massing for Assault on Aleppo
Key Northern City Remains Stalemated
by Jason Ditz, June 09, 2013
Stalemated some 10 months after both Syrian government forces and rebels announced a battle they believed would be “decisive” for the civil war, Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, is gearing up for another influx of Syrian troops.
Both sides have been adding troops here and there for quite some time, but with the capture of Qusayr the Syrian government appears to be increasingly ambitious about winning the war outright, and sees a major assault on Aleppo as the key.
The idea that Aleppo is the next target is in keeping with what Hezbollah officials were saying last weekend, that they believed Aleppo was the next logical destination after Qusayr. With the border town now decisively in government hands, supply routes to Aleppo, the industrial and financial hub of Syria, are more convenient for Assad forces.
Rebel officials have suggested their focus is elsewhere after the battle of Qusayr, with Gen. Salem Idriss, the head of the Free Syrian Army, predicting more battles inside neighboring Lebanon as a priority, with rebels looking to hit back at Hezbollah by targeting Lebanese towns.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/06/09/officials-obama-close-to-arming-syrian-rebels/
Officials: Obama Close to Arming Syrian Rebels
Sees Move as Compromise Instead of No-Fly Zone
by Jason Ditz, June 09, 2013
Citing the Syrian government’s capture of the border town of Qusayr, officials inside the Obama Administration sy that they believe the president is likely to approve a decision to start sending weapons to Syrian rebels later this week.
The White House has been threatening to do so for a long time, and with growing calls from hawks to get directly involved militarily, imposing “no-fly zones” and rebel buffer areas inside Syria, officials say throwing weapons at the rebels is being spun as a compromise decision at least a little short of direct acts of war.
But while the Obama Administration seems desperate to do “something” in Syria, the timing seems about as bad as possible, with officials going on the record favoring peace talks then watching as nominally pro-US rebels spurned the talks andstarted holding out for more guns.
Indeed, the State Department is so frustrated with the quality (or lack thereof) of the Syrian rebel leadership they’ve been stalling on sending them the huge amounts of cash they promised. If they are uncomfortable sending money, the problem of sending them guns seems even greater.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/06/201369175918244221.html
( Another example of how foreign fighters are losing Syrian hearts and minds.... Committing this act just as Assad's Government troopsare gearing up for Aleppo just isn't smart ! )
Syrian rebels 'execute teenager' in Aleppo |
Fighters reportedly shot dead a boy they accused of committing blasphemy in the northern city of Aleppo.
Last Modified: 09 Jun 2013 18:45
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| Rebels fighting the Syrian regime have shot dead a 15-year-old boy in front of his parents and siblings after accusing him of blasphemy, an activist group said. Al Jazeera was told that the boy, a street vendor selling coffee, was from the Shaar neighbourhood of the northern city of Aleppo. He has been named locally as Mohammad Kattaa. Reports indicated that he was arguing with another boy on Saturday and used the name of Prophet Muhammad in a common phrase used by Syrians at which point he was picked up by fighters, beaten, and then shot.  Abdel Rahman said the rebel group likely comprised foreigners. "They spoke classical Arabic, not Syrian dialect," he said. "They shot the boy twice, once in the mouth, another in his neck, in front of his mother, his father and his siblings," he added. 'Criminal act' The Observatory condemned the execution as "criminal" and said it was a gift to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "This kind of criminality is exactly what makes people in Syria fear the fall of the regime," Abdel Rahman said. Activists have frequently lashed out against some rebel groups that have taken advantage of the security vacuum in Aleppo to commit rights abuses. It is thought Kattaa's customer was trying to get a free coffee and the boy responded "Even if Muhammad comes down, I will not give it as debt." This was misinterpreted by the foreign fighters who took it for blasphemy. Meanwhile, government troops on Sunday were preparing to launch an offensive in the north of the country. Syrian daily al-Watan said the army has "started to deploy at a large scale in Aleppo province, in preparation for a battle that will be fought in the city and its outskirts". Rebels last July launched a massive assault on Aleppo, once Syria's commercial hub. The city has since suffered daily regime bombardment and clashes. |
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/09/308053/syria-militants-threat-to-regional-peace/
Takfiri militants in Syria endanger regional peace: Iraqi PM
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
Sun Jun 9, 2013 5:47PM GMT
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has warned that Takfiri militants fighting against the Syrian government are threatening peace and stability in the entire region.
During a Sunday visit to Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Maliki referred to the turmoil in Syria, describing "the comeback of the extremist organizations" such as al-Qaeda and al-Nusra Front as the most dangerous threat to the whole region.
“That has brought back the ghost of the killing not only to Iraq but to the region and as Iraq is part of the region and part of its fabric general and that we started to be affected by the storm the region is going through,” Maliki added.
Maliki also called on the Iraqi nation to stay united in the face of sectarian strife targeting Iraq and other regional countries.
The al-Nusra Front has been behind many of the deadly bombings targeting both civilians and government institutions across Syria since the outbreak of violence in the Arab country in March 2011.
On April 9, the leader of al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq network, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced merger with the al-Nusra Front to play an even greater role in the crisis plaguing Syria.
A day later, Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, the head of the terrorist al-Nusra Front, pledged allegiance to the al-Qaeda chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Iraq has been witnessing an upsurge in violence across the country.
Shortly before Maliki arrived in Arbil, at least seven people lost their lives in a car bomb attack on an army checkpoint in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Some 18 others were also injured in the attack.
MKA/PR/SS
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/09/307972/syrian-army-launches-aleppo-operation/
After Qusayr victory, Syrian army launches Aleppo operation
Syrian troops are seen in the western town of Qusayr, near the Lebanese border on June 5, 2013.
Sun Jun 9, 2013 10:13AM GMT
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The Syrian army has launched a major operation to clear the northwestern city of Aleppo of the foreign-backed militants in the country, Press TV reports.
Syrian forces have reportedly closed the major outlets of the city, which is located some 310 kilometers (192 miles) north of the capital, Damascus.
The army is preparing to attack militant strongholds in the towns of Hayyan, Khirbet Andan, Tell Rifaat and A’zaz on the outskirts of Aleppo.
The operation is code-named North Storm.
The Syrian army has clinched victories against the militants in recent days, liberating the strategic towns of Qusayr, Qunaytirah and Daba’a in the west.
Qusayr was an important center and supply route for the armed groups.
Damascus says a large number of militants including al-Qaeda-linked Salafists have been killed in the recent battles.
On June 5, the Syrian state TV said Qusayr, which lies near the border with Lebanon, was under full control of the Syrian army following three weeks of fighting with militants. Syrian troops were backed by forces from the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah during the Qusayr operation.
Syrian government forces also managed to retake control of several villages near Qusayr on June 7 and pushed the militants out of the central villages of Salhiyeh and Masoudiyeh.
The foreign-sponsored militancy in Syria has taken its toll on the lives of many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, since the outbreak of turmoil more than two years ago.
Qaeda chief annuls Syrian-Iraqi jihad merger | |
Al Jazeera obtains Ayman al-Zawahiri's letter addressed to leaders of two Jihadist groups to put an end to infighting.
Basma Atassi Last Modified: 09 Jun 2013 12:58
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Jabhat al-Nusra is considered one of the most effective armed groups in the battle to oust Assad [AP]
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Al-Qaeda’s top leader has ruled against the merger of two jihadi groups based in Syria and Iraq, in an attempt to put an end to increased tensions and infighting among members.
Ayman al-Zawahiri’s ruling came in a letter addressed to the leaders of Syrian-based Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI), which is the largest jihadi umbrella group in the country.
Al Jazeera exclusively obtained a copy of the letter on Sunday from reliable sources in Syria.
The ruling comes two months after the leader of ISI, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared a merger with al-Nusra to form the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), saying that al-Nusra was "merely an extension and part of the Islamic State of Iraq".
However, the unilateral move led to defections, infighting and a breakdown in operations as members disagreed over who commanded the battlefield.
In the letter, Zawahiri said Baghdadi was "wrong" to declare the merger without consulting or even alerting al-Qaeda's leadership. He added that Syria was the "spatial state" for al-Nusra, headed by Abou Mohammad al-Joulani, while Baghdadi’s rule would be limited to Iraq.
Al-Nusra, listed as a terrorist organisation by the US for its affiliation with al-Qaeda, is considered to be one of the most effective rebel groups in Syria.
But after Baghdadi released a video in April declaring the formation of the ISIL, many of al-Nusra’s fighters, especially non-Syrians, left to join the new umbrella group.
"This was the most dangerous development in the history of global jihad," an al-Nusra source inside Syria told Al Jazeera on Saturday.
One al-Nusra fighter estimated that 70 percent of the group's members left for the ISIL in Idlib province, with even higher defection rates in the Syria’s eastern regions.
Aleppo, the bastion of al-Nusra, saw the least defections from its ranks, fighters said. But even then the city suffered from the divisions within the group.
The division made the everyday practices of governance and fighting even more challenging.
Last week, activists reported flour shortage in the northern city because fighters protecting the silos had expressed their allegiance to ISIL and did not recognise the legal committee - headed by Nusra and other Syrian batalions - responsible for distributing flour. Several parties had to intervene to end the crisis.
Iraq-Syria cooperation
The divisions and turf battles between commanders prompted both Joulani and Baghdadi to send separate letters to Zawahiri in Afghanistan to arbitrate between the two groups.
"The proponents of Jihad were all dismayed by the dispute that occurred on the media between our beloved brothers in the Islamic state of Iraq and Jabhat al-Nusra," Zawahiri said in the letter.
However, he called on both sides to cooperate and, whenever they could, support each other with money, weaponry and fighters.
Zawahiri also called on members of both outfits to refrain from infighting and named Abou Khaled al-Soury, local Syrian commander, as a personal emissary "to oversee the implementation" of the accord.
When Baghdadi released the merger statement two months ago, Joulani issued an audio recording saying he had not been consulted on the formation of the ISIL and insisted his fighters would continue to operate under the al-Nusra banner.
But that message did not deter Baghdadi from travelling from Iraq to the suburbs of Aleppo and trying to open offices there.
It is unclear whether Baghdadi will accept the al-Qaeda leader’s ruling, and what effect it will have on the ground.
The fighters who left al-Nusra to join the ISIL might not want to rejoin the group, according to those close to Baghdadi.
"Ninety percent of the Arab and foreign fighters [battling in Syria] joined ISIL," said Abu Osama al-Iraqi, an activist affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq.
"It will be hard for them to take a step backward."
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