Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, has posted photos purportedly showing Russian warplanes bombing locations in the Idlib and Hama provinces. Al Nusrah has also posted images of leaflets that were supposedly dropped in the Homs province. The leaflets, according to Al Nusrah, were authored by the Assad regime and intended to “discourage” Muslims during the bombing campaign.
According to published reports, Russia has bombed locations occupied by various insurgency groups, including US-backed rebels, as well as the Islamic State. Russia’s air campaign has hit those organizations that have taken territory from the Assad regime since the beginning of the year. The Jaysh al Fateh (“Army of Conquest”) coalition, which is led by Al Nusrah and its close ally, Ahrar al Sham, overran much of the Idlib province beginning in March. The alliance then pushed its way into the strategic Al Ghab plain, threatening Assad’s stronghold in the coastal province of Latakia, where the Russians are stationed.
The images posted by Al Nusrah on one of its official Twitter feeds can be seen below.
The two photos below allegedly show Russian warplanes mid-flight:
These photos purportedly show the aftermath of the Russian bombings:
Al Nusrah Front says the Assad regime dropped these leaflets in an attempt to “discourage” Syrians during the bombing campaign:
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13 Comments
To me, they’re all the same. Neither Al Qaeda/Al Nusrah or Isis must ever be able to gain advantage anywhere. Due to a lack of coherent Western strategy anything that seems vaguely anti-Assad and anti-Isis is allowed to pass. This is a blatant admission by the West that their Syria policy has failed. They have allowed the Sunni theocrats in the Gulf States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to dictate this war by proxy. With the exception of the Kurds and Assad himself who are clearly not religiously biased, the rest of the players on the ground are zealots. Given a chance all the Sunni extremist groups including Isis will morph into a single super jihadi group, hell bent on a medieval interpretation of Islam. What’s the difference between a Westerner who’s fought for Isis and one who’s fought for Al Nusrah?? Absolutely nothing in my opinion. Both would commit acts of terrorism on returning home.
How low will you go, a$$ad? You will let Chinese warplanes bomb your country and slaughter your people to keep yourself in power? You, a$$ad, must be the biggest coward of them all ! ! !
The first leaflet has instructions how to behave when approaching a checkpoint of the Syrian army and the lower one encourages the terrorists to go back to their parents and hand in their weapons. The tone is friendly.
good for the Russians
Anybody still going along with the phrase “Moderate Syrian Rebels” for either Muslim Brotherhood or these guys?
Or allied tribes?
Most tribes are confused, more than anything else. The secular element are the Ba’athists. Same as Iraq a decade ago.
Maybe we can talk about a War on Drugs. Get some clarity.
Well said
Thank you.
Russia is doing the right thing inside Syria. America needs to put real pressure on Turkey, House of Saud & Qatar to stop
Sunnsh Killing machines.
The western leftist-islamists have thrown their Security Blanket over radical islam, since Iraq of 2007. What we’ve witnessed ever since, are the direct results of that protection. The al Qaeda-muslim brotherhood global threat and, the shi’te A-Bomb now grow in capacity similar to any conflagration.
Larger trans-border combat, attracts more muslim brotherhood media support and gathers funding. Which attracts more foreign fighters, which supports larger areas of regional combat, and on and on. You don’t need the Weather Channel’s satellite pics to view that…
The west IMO, needs to lay down our protest signs. Forget this We’re only creating more terrorists. This War for Oil, No WMD’s nonsense. Understand this is thee most dangerous global threat posed in our times. Identify friend or foe through face to face, closed door diplomatic meetings. Where commitment is judged by both funding and troops deployed. Then declare war through the eye of a bombsite, not through the lens of a Trijicon.
Or, we can sit back and assign this war to our own children, in our own countries.
IMO when one side stops fighting in war, they instantly become either Victorious or Victim. For the past eight years, we’ve been setting up ourselves and our children as Victims. Something I refuse to accept.
Your solutions are too clear and potentially effective. It’ll never happen.
We in the West can’t call evil what it is (the treatment of people that the Koran encourages) nor can we call the world’s largest cult what it is (the religion of total control or totalitarianism, what its adherents call surrender). If you people want to surrender every decision of your own to a mad mullah who writes religious edicts for fun and profit, please be my guest. Just stay in your sandbox and keep your crazy ideas to yourselves.
We are on the side of the devils in Syria. Assad has given his opponents a few squirts of Sarin to keep them out of his capital, but that’s about it. Barrel bombs are what you use when you don’t have other bombs.
America needs a divorce from Saudi, Pakistan and Turkey, all Sunni states that train and back America’s enemies. Don’t accept excuses. The only way to put the screws on these states is in concert w China and Russia. Real diplomacy, not just speeches, is needed. Hard choices and yes, even compromises. America has a weak hand internationally and it’s getting weaker; 5G fighters and LGBT commandos will not save us from Islamists sneaking in WMD. We need to get down on the ground and kill Islamists to save ourselves, not dance around with our allies chasing pixels with robot missiles.
U.S. DoD has a new map out for Syria showing areas held by “Moderate Rebels.” Or “Secular Nationalists” if you follow their twists. The content was produced by CIA.
Since when are Nusrah Front (Al Qaeda) and Muslim Brotherhood known as moderates ?????
IS CIA missing what is happening in Syria, the way they missed what was happening in the last two or three years of the Soviet Union?
I feel anything that the u.s. could have done, would have had to have been done two years ago at the least. Now we are so legally bound by rules and regulations that our troops and Air force pilots walk on egg shells while trying to fight.
Mistakes made in heavy air to ground combat are as inevitable at this time as any other, when relying on suspect info. Our commander was way too quick to throw out apologies before the truth (?)
Was assessed. Later finding that enemy combatants were being treated inside. Later being belligerent with u.s. troops who had to push their way in.