Syrian opposition: 18 Iranians, including a senior Revolutionary Guards military official, killed after Israeli strike.

DEVELOPING: Unknown aircraft reportedly carries out strikes against Iranian assets in Syria pic.twitter.com/rR4Hw57J7R

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 29, 2018

Syrian opposition: 18 Iranians, including a senior Revolutionary Guards military official, killed after Israeli strike. (TOI).

There were conflicting reports on the number of casualties: Syrian opposition officials have reportedly said that 18 Iranians, including a senior Revolutionary Guards military official, were killed, according to Israel Radio.

Other opposition-linked outlets placed the overall number of fatalities at 38. Missile strikes against Syrian regime forces in the central province of Hama overnight killed 26 pro-regime fighters, mostly Iranians, a monitor said Monday.

The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said the fighters had been killed in a raid, “probably” carried out by Israel, on the 47th Brigade base in Hama.

State media reported overnight that “enemy missiles” had struck government targets in Hama and Aleppo provinces, without mentioning any casualties or who may have been responsible. While some sources blamed Israel for the strikes, Syrian state-owned news site Tishreen said late Sunday the raids were carried out by the United States and British forces.

The Western troops launched nine ballistic missiles from military bases in northern Jordan that struck Syrian bases near Aleppo and Hama, the news outlet said on its Facebook page.

Other media outlets claimed the attacks were carried out by aircraft bombers, and Hezbollah-linked sources and other regime outlets attributed the strikes to Israel. Read the full story here.

@WTEpaminondas The impact of the #Israeli attacks was so intense, it resulted in an earth tremor measuring 2.6 on the Richter scale.https://t.co/1I863Gr5ki

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) April 30, 2018

Video - Undercover in Idlib - Syria. AL QAEDA very much in control.

HT:        https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa/status/864400455958441985

Experts: Chechen Strongman Kadyrov strengthens his influence in Middle East to improve his immunity in Russia.

Experts: Chechen Strongman Kadyrov strengthens his influence in Middle East to improve his immunity in Russia. (CaucasianKnot).

The visit of the Mufti of Chechnya to Syria and his meeting with President Bashar Assad were sanctioned by the Kremlin on the initiative of Ramzan Kadyrov, believe the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". 

They state that, apart from using Islamic tools in the Middle East conflict, the Kremlin gives Kadyrov a chance to strengthen his political influence.

The contacts of Russian Islamic religious figures with the Assad regime are intended to legitimize the Syrian regime in the eyes of Sunni leaders of the Islamic world, Alexei Makarkin, the Vice President of the Centre for Political Studies, believes.

"Kadyrov stresses that he can be helpful not only in Northern Caucasus, but also in the Middle East, in particular in Syria; therefore, he sends Chechen servicemen to Syria and benefits from his ties using their connections in the Middle East," Mr Makarkin said, adding that Moscow is trying to "find a common language in the political dimension of religion."

"On the one hand, Russia is a military ally, supporting al-Assad; on the other hand, the Kremlin is seeking to show that this is not a war against Islam," Alexei Makarkin has concluded.

The opinion that the visit of Mufti Mezhiev to Syria was agreed with the presidential administration is supported by Akhmet Yarlykapov, senior researcher at the Centre for Ethnopolitical Studies of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

The military phase of the conflict in Syria is nearing its completion; and Russia is facing a number of problems, for the solution of which the Kremlin has no "human resources" other than Kadyrov. This is the opinion of Denis Sokolov, the head of the RAMCOM Centre for Social and Economic Regional Studies.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Military experts: Chechen servicemen in Syria ensure security for the Russian contingent.

Military experts: Chechen servicemen in Syria ensure security for the Russian contingent. (CaucasianTrudeau).

The strength of the Russian military contingent in Syria is estimated at 7000, with the main surface combat units being the mercenaries from the so-called "Vagner group" and Chechen servicemen, military political analysts believe. In their opinion, the "Vagner" fighters take part in the warfare, while the Chechen servicemen ensure security for the Russian contingent.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a new battalion of military police went to Syria from Chechnya. The “Rosbalt” reported this on April 19 with reference to its source.

According to Pavel Felgengauer, an observer for the “Novaya Gazeta”, Chechen and Ingush military policemen are about a thousand, that is 15% of contingent.

Alexander, a military journalist, has noted that, apart from the battalions from Northern Caucasus, there is about a thousand servicemen strong infantry battalion of the Black Sea Fleet taking their service in Syria.

In the opinion of Alexander Perendjiev, an expert of the Association of Independent Military Political Scientists, an Associate Professor of the Division of Political Sciences and Sociology at the Plekhanov Russian Economic University, the new battalion will not participate in battles.

According to his version, the functions of the unit "include maintenance of discipline and work with the local population."

Mr Perendjiev has also pointed to the role of the head of Chechnya, assuming that "with the help of Ramzan Kadyrov, Russia is at least poorly connected with the Islamic world."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Video - 18,000 Syrian Children Victim Of Organ Harvesting via 'hellhole' Turkey.

More on child organ traffic here.

Video - 18,000 #Syrian Children Victim Of #OrganHarvesting via 'hellhole' #Turkey. https://t.co/mIvDGGazeD pic.twitter.com/qyLDTNQwhO

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) April 22, 2017

Video - Of terror attack on Syrian evacuees where 68 children died, shows Living and dead children dumped together in pickup.

.@IvankaTrump @ThiqaAgencyEN @kasimf @AlJazeera @SenJohnMcCain @LindseyGrahamSC @marcorubio @realDonaldTrump @CNN @simonschuster @jaketapper @RajaAbdulrahim @WSJ EXTREMELY GRAPHIC!
This is a horrible video showing dead children and alive being placed in the same pickup truck 💔 😔 pic.twitter.com/oRB0jsaohH

— Bassem (@BBassem7) April 19, 2017

European Department for Security and Information: "ISIS Leader Baghdadi Allegedly arrested".

European Department for Security and Information: "ISIS Leader Baghdadi Allegedly arrested". (DESI).

UPDATE:

#Russia denies knowledge of arrest of ISIS leader #Baghdadi https://t.co/5UZIIlX4aL via @RudawEnglish

— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) April 18, 2017

The Information Office of the Secretary General of the DESI European Department of Security and Information announced that:

“the office had received accurate information indicating that the leader of ISIS “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi” may have been arrested in the north of Syria through a joint action by the Syrian-Russian joint intelligence forces. 

This came after Baghdadi forcibly left Mosul as a result of the pursuit of his popular mobilization forces on April 2, 2017 and his entry to the Syrian border. 

The media office indicated that it will refrain from accurate information of the details of the operation pending confirmation of some of them and information still coming as a result of the accuracy of the stage and the consequences that may result from it.

The President of the European Security and Information Department, Luciano Consorti has welcomed the arrest of Al Baghdadi.

Despite this, the whole report looks very questionable. No comments from Syrian or Russian security have appeared on the issue. However, if confirmed, the detention of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi will be a major step in combating ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

#BREAKING #Iraqi site HES announces arrest of #Baghdadi. SG #EU #Security #information said that "Received precise information on #catching"

— PhoenixSecurityGroup (@PSecurityG) April 18, 2017

Video - Syrian Evacuation Deals (Details) And War Direction - By ME Journalist Elijah J. Magnier

Prisoner releases from Damascus, Hostage releases from Iraq, Millions$ paid and more.

Video - ME Expert Elijah J. Magnier: 'Syria Cannot Counter Israel Now, Turkey’s switching position in Syria'.

Video - Syria Cannot Counter Israel Now, Turkey’s switching position in Syria. HT @EjmAlrai.

More from ME Expert Elijah J. Magnier, Al Rai Chief International and veteran War correspondent & analyst: EU, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya..Terrorism, CT. & Intl. SCUBA. HERE: Geneva talks doomed: Turkey’s changing position in Syria is pushing Russia into more aggression.

The Admiral Kuznetsov’s return reveals problems in Russian naval aviation readiness.

Admiral Kuznetsov in Severomorsk home base. pic.twitter.com/fKmjXZ0Lz6

— Military Advisor (@miladvisor) February 8, 2017

The Admiral Kuznetsov’s return reveals problems in Russian naval aviation readiness. (RBTH).

On Feb. 3 pilots of the Northern Fleet’s aviation group flew from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier to their home base in Severomorsk-3. Only some of the aircraft, which include the Su-33, MiG-29K, Ka-52, Ka-29 and Ka-27, were transferred home. Technical breakdowns and a lack of trained aircraft carrier pilots are believed to be the main culprit behind the missing planes.


"All aircraft and pilots should be relocated to their home base from the aircraft carrier at the same time; no commander willingly relocates his regiment in stages," said a former high-ranking naval aviation officer, reported Vzglyad. "The entire engineering and technical staff should follow the aircraft as soon as possible, so that full maintenance can be done on the aircraft at the new airfield."

According to Vzglyad, it’s possible to make disappointing conclusions about the state of Russia's naval aviation: "Four fighter pilots and three helicopter pilots and the corresponding number of aircraft are all the forces that can take off from the deck of the Kuznetsov in a short space of time today.

Either they don't have more trained pilots, or the aircraft are out of order. Naval officers are well aware that during previous combat voyages the Kuznetsov regularly carried aircraft on its deck that in reality couldn’t get in the air – it was all for the purpose of public display."

Another problem may be a shortage of trained personnel. The number of pilots able to take off from the Kuznetsov may be very limited, the newspaper wrote.

"As of today Russian carrier aviation is not well developed, to put it mildly, which is something that the Admiral Kuznetsov's voyage to Syria demonstrated," said Alexander Khramchikhin, head of the analytical department at the Institute for Political and Military Analysis, reported Vzglyad.


According to other experts, the Kuznetsov's voyage was overall successful, bearing in mind that the goal was to project the Russian Navy’s power.

"The loss of these aircraft is the loss of billions of rubles of people's money," said Nenashev. "The ship repair and defense industries should make sure this doesn't happen again. The problems with cables may have happened because the Defense Ministry's ordering departments may not have allocated funds for modernization. Ship repair facilities are now ready to carry out comprehensive modernization."

Video - Muqtada Al-Sadr: 'Iraqi Militias Must Not Get Involved in Wars outside Iraq; Iraqi Army, Not Militias, Must Be in Charge of Mosul Liberation'

Trump has no influence on the predetermined American policy. I see him as a mere pawn on the chessboard. He is meaningless. He can only implement the predetermined policy. If he is brave, and wants to do things that run counter to the predetermined American policy, he will be committing [political] suicide. Transcript HT Memri.

Video - Russian (Chechen) military police in Aleppo.

Reports on the work of Chechen servicemen in Aleppo are sent to Chechnya every day, said Ruslan Numakhadzhiev, the commander of the military police battalion. According to his story, Chechen militaries are in Aleppo since mid-December of 2016.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 23, Ramzan Kadyrov confirmed the presence of Chechen militaries in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

On January 18, the channel of the agency ANNA-News (abridged from Abkhazian Network News Agency) posted a video on the YouTube "Russian military police in Aleppo". 

In the case of Syria, according to the report, the agency seems supports the position of the Russian power agents.

The video shoes the work of the military police battalion of the MoD in Aleppo and presents interviews with the battalion commander Ruslan Numakhadzhiev and his soldiers.

In Aleppo, Chechen militaries subordinate to the Centre for Reconciliation of Warring Parties, said Numakhadzhiev.

He noted that his battalion conducts joint exercises with Syrian militaries and policemen.

According to his story, in Aleppo it is necessary to correct "the negative opinion about Chechens, prevailing among the local population."

Numakhadzhiev has also stated that the battalion fighters "are happy that they were entrusted to carry out such a mission on behalf of the Russian Federation."

Source: http://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/38244/
© Caucasian Knot

Russia invites PYD Co-chair Asya Abdullah to Moscow.

Russia invites PYD Co-chair Asya Abdullah to Moscow. (gazetesujin).

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov invited the PYD Co-chair Asya Abdullah to Moscow before the Geneva talks.

Russia has invited a PYD delegation, including PYD Co-chair Asya Abdullah and France Representative Halit İsa to Moscow as part of negotiations to end the civil war in Syria.

The PYD delegation will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tomorrow at 9 a.m by holding an official meeting.

Syrian opposition groups will attend the meeting and information on the meetings held in Astana to be given during the meeting. The Geneva talks to be held on January 8 will be also talked in the meeting.

‘We want an honorable solution’


PYD France Representative Halit İsa made a statement regarding the invitation of Russia and said, “We are ready to do our part to solve Syria problem in a peaceful way. We can solve the problem with the Syrian peoples. We already declared our project. According to our project, every nation should take place in Syria honorably. We will explain our project to our Russian friends. We will present our thoughts.

As representatives of North Syria and Rojava people, we want a federal and democratic solution in which everyone takes their parts in an honorable way not only for North Syria but also for all Syria.”

Video - Assad interview: 'Without Erdogan's support ISIS and al-Nusra they cannot survive'.

Assad interview: 'Without Erdogan's support ISIS and al-Nusra they cannot survive'.  (SP).

Question 5: In the course of the fight against the so-called Islamic State, would you seek coordination with players like Turkey, Kurds, and the United States?

Erdogan supports ISIS and al-Nusra on daily basis.

President Assad: First of all, if you want to be very transparent, ISIS was created under the supervision of the United States, whether in Iraq in 2006; before it was ISIS, it was IS, Islamic State, it was in Iraq only, restricted to Iraq. Then when the conflict started in Syria, it became ISIS, of Syria and Iraq, and later Turkey sponsored this State, because they used to use the Syrian oil fields in order to export and to get money and to recruit more fighters, and Turkey was directly involved in the smuggling of oil, with the involvement and complicity of Erdogan himself with ISIS.

So, we cannot expect to have genuine fight against ISIS by Turkey or the United States, and the recent, more stark example is the attack on Palmyra a few weeks ago, when they could retake Palmyra under the supervision of the Americans, under the surveillance of the American drones; they came through the desert and they occupied Palmyra.

Today, we are talking, and ISIS has been attacking Deir Ezzor in the eastern part of Syria, and the Americans did nothing to stop ISIS.

This is where the so-called international alliance against terrorism has been working for more than one year and a half now, and they achieved nothing, because they are not serious.

For Turkey, Erdogan is Muslim Brotherhood, he’s instinctively and innately sympathetic and linked and close and adhered to the ISIS and to Al Qaeda because they have the same ideology, he cannot be away from them.

He tries to do some maneuvers, to show that he’s against those terrorists, ISIS and al-Nusra, but actually on daily basis he supports those organizations, and without his support, they cannot survive. Read the full transcript here.

No Role for 'State sponsors of terrorism' Saudi Arabia and Qatar in Syria Peace Talks: IRGC Spokesman.

No Role for 'State sponsors of terrorism' Saudi Arabia and Qatar in Syria Peace Talks: IRGC Spokesman. (IFP).

In an interview with Tasnim, Head of the IRGC Public Relations Department General Ramezan Sharif said the Syrian nation will definitely disapprove of presence of Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the process of peace talks.

Saudi and Qatari regimes have been spearheading logistical, financial and media supports for the terrorist groups that have been wreaking havoc on Syria for six years, he added.

But on Turkey, the general said Ankara can begin to play a positive role by reviewing its previous policies and respecting Syria’s legitimate government, pointing to Turkey’s recent coordination with Iran and Russia in the Syria peace efforts.

He also underlined that the main purpose of the axis of resistance, including the IRGC, is to maintain Syria’s territorial integrity and national unity.

The spokesman finally noted that the IRGC’s ultimate goal is “liberating the holy city of al-Quds” in Palestine, saying the whole tactics and efforts are aimed at countering Israel.

Video - Iranian Minister of Defense Hossein Dehghan: 'Turkey Must Withdraw from Syrian Soil'.

Pictures of Christmas crib inside the destroyed Maronite Cathedral Saint Elias of Aleppo.

Pictures of Christmas crib inside the destroyed Maronite Cathedral Saint Elias of Aleppo. HT: christianophobie.fr.

Cooperation with Saudi Arabia to Put Erdogan in Trouble in the future: Iranian MP.

Cooperation with Saudi Arabia to Put Erdogan in Trouble in the future: Iranian MP. (IFP)

“While, unfortunately, Turkey is suffering from domestic and international problems, instead of resolving the issue of war in Syria and cooperating with the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council in some aspects, Ankara is projecting its problems on others,” commented Masood Goudarzi, a member of Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.

“We have always sought brotherhood with Turkey. Iran did all in its power to support Ankara during 2016 Turkish coup d’état attempt,” he noted, according to a Farsi report by ICANA,
However, he added, Iran has serious disagreements with Turkey on the Syrian war.

“By playing in the ground of the GCC and going along with Saudi Arabia’s conspiracies, Erdoğan will find himself in a difficult situation in the future.”


“Iran’s security depends on Turkey’s security; so Tehran will collaborate with Ankara to solve their economic problems. But Saudi Arabia’s Ottoman-like conspiracies pose a threat to mutual measures,” he went on to say.

Video - French Woman Who Escaped from the IS atrocities in Syria Recounts Her Ordeal.

Experts say meeting of Russian, Iranian, Syrian ministers views on the main issues converge.

Experts say meeting of Russian, Iranian, Syrian ministers key for coordination of actions for Syrian settlement. (Tass).

The trilateral meeting of the Russian, Iranian and Syrian foreign ministers that took place in Moscow on October 28 was an important landmark that allowed to coordinate positions on a number of issues including the Syria settlement, experts said at a round table dedicated to the recent talks.

According to Lukyanov, the parties coordinated their positions on such important issues as the US presidential elections and the operation to free Iraq’s Mosul, in addition they assessed the position of the Kurds. "Both Russia and Iran are in search for new formats of cooperation," he said noting that the parties were trying to find common approaches to the Afghan issue as well as other problems.

"The trilateral meeting is a significant landmark," a leading researcher of the Center for Arabic and Islamic Studies at Russia’s Academy of Science Boris Dolgov noted. "

After the meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the first time said that the US wasn’t fulfilling and was not going to fulfill its obligations." 

"This is the correct assessment proving that the possibility of cooperation with the US is no more than an illusion," Dolgov said. "The Russian authorities need to realize that such cooperation is impossible, at least for now."

The meeting of the Russian, Iranian and Syrian top diplomats "turned out to be an important tool for coordination of actions between the three countries that are on the same side," Deputy Director of the Institute for Forecasting and Political Settlement Alexander Kuznetsov said.

In his opinion, "these countries’ views on the main issues converge." According to the expert, the issues include the territorial integrity of Syria as well as Bashar al-Assad’s staying in power for the interim period.