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Islamic State Battles Rivals Insurgents As Syria Army Prepares Assault by Nobody: 9:52pm On Oct 14, 2015 |
BEIRUT, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Islamic State
militants battled rival insurgent groups on
Wednesday north of the city of Aleppo, where
officials say the Syrian army is preparing an
offensive of its own backed by Iranian soldiers
and Russian jets.
A rebel fighter and a group monitoring the war
said Islamic State fighters took control of parts
of the towns of Ahras and Tel Jabin, about 12
km (8 miles) north of Aleppo, before being
pushed back.
Gains by Islamic State north of Aleppo would
threaten the supply lines of rival rebels inside
the city, which is divided between insurgents
and government forces. The Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights said the road used by Aleppo
residents heading north to the Turkish border
remained closed on Wednesday.
"Today there are fierce battles between us and
Daesh in Ahras, Tel Jabin, and rural northern
Aleppo," said Hassan Haj Ali, head of the Liwa
Suqour al-Jabal rebel group, using another
name for Islamic State.
His unit is one of several foreign-backed
insurgent forces which find themselves fighting
Islamic State on the ground, at the same time
as they are bombed by Russian jets and are
bracing for further ground attacks by the army
and its foreign allies.
"There are mobilisations by the regime in most
parts of Aleppo, particularly in Bashkoy," he
said, referring to another town north of
Aleppo, which before Syria's civil war began in
2011 was the country's biggest city and a major
commercial and industrial centre.
"There were advances (by Islamic State) at
dawn but we were able to recover Ahras
entirely. There are battles in Tel Jabin," said
Ali, speaking to Reuters via an internet
messaging system.
The Observatory reported fighting between
Islamic State fighters and government forces
trying to advance towards an air base besieged
by the jihadist group in Aleppo province.
Any further escalation in the Aleppo area near
the Turkish border will likely further anger
NATO member Ankara which opposes
President Bashar al-Assad, backs the
insurgents, and has expressed deep concern at
Russian air strikes.
Iran has sent thousands of additional troops
into Syria in recent days to bolster one
offensive that is underway in Hama province
and in preparation for another in the Aleppo
area, two senior regional officials told Reuters.
The army also launched a fresh assault against
rebel-held areas east of Damascus on
Wednesday, including Jobar and Harasta,
controlled by non-Islamic State rebel groups
including Jaish al-Islam.
REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS
Underlining Iran's central role in support of
Assad, whose territorial control of Syria is
currently estimated at a quarter or less, a team
of Iranian lawmakers arrived in Damascus on
Wednesday on an official visit.
Two senior Revolutionary Guards officers were
killed fighting Islamic State in Syria on Monday,
Iran's Tasnim news agency reported. Another
senior Guards commander was killed last week,
as was a top Hezbollah commander.
Supported by two weeks of air strikes, the
Syrian army and its allies have been fighting
insurgents in northern Hama province, and
neighbouring Idlib and Latakia provinces, trying
to reverse rebel gains over the summer which
had threatened the coastal heartlands of
Assad's Alawite minority.
The offensive has resulted in the captured a
number of towns in Hama and Latakia, but
progress has not been fast. The rebels say they
are using plentiful supplies of U.S.-made anti-
tank missiles to repel the attacking forces.
That is a sign of increased foreign support for
the rebels in response to the Russian-Iranian
intervention.
Two rebel commanders said on Tuesday they
have stationed a dozen TOW anti-tank missile
platforms supplied from abroad along a 30 km
(20 miles) defensive line in Hama province in
an effort to contain the army advance.
The missiles have been widely seen as
important to rebel advances earlier this year
that had put Assad under pressure.
Russia has stepped up its air strikes in recent
days, announcing on Tuesday it had carried out
88 missions in the previous 24 hours, one of
the heaviest days of bombardment of its
campaign so far.
Moscow's intervention means Russian and U.S.
jets are flying combat missions over the same
country for the first time since World War Two,
raising fears of accidental confrontation.
Russia says it has asked Washington to discuss
coordination of military efforts, but Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said the United States
had declined to send a military delegation to
Moscow for discussions.
In the fighting near Damascus, government
forces fired hundreds of rockets at towns in the
Eastern Ghouta, according to the Civil Defense
for Rural Damascus, a rescue service operating
in rebel-held areas.
Warplanes launched at least 10 air strikes on
Jobar, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
reported. Rami Abdulrahman, director of the
Observatory, said insurgents had also fired
rockets at government-held Damascus.
www.trust.org/item/20151014155518-ppwgc/?source=dpagetopic |
(1) (Reply)
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