War Against ISIS

https://southfront.org/al-jazeera-r...lanes-destroyed-convoy-of-oil-trucks-reports/

I think the following videos are from this air attack on the oil truck convoy. Warning: Some dead bodies and general mayhem. Must have been russian aircraft, one is shown but I couldn't make out the type but there are some unexploded cluster munitions so ...

https://youtu.be/niBhtsPTC9o
https://youtu.be/aPTeKCAB4rQ
https://youtu.be/SEDyoy5a5Vk
https://youtu.be/k-TKmpAhX0w
https://youtu.be/yGBgmC2rB2k

EDIT: Also a video of the TU-22M3 bombings east of Palmyra. Mediocre accuracy as usual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSceNqCPjFs

Some more materials.

US Arty in Iraq.

СÐУ американÑкого контингента в Ираке - Берлога Бронемедведа

The Backfires carry out a second round of strikes, again 6 of them.

Тем временем ... 2 ÑериÑ. - Берлога Бро½ÐµÐ¼ÐµÐ´Ð²ÐµÐ´Ð°
Ðовые удары Ту-22Ðœ3 в Сирии - bmpd

STURM said:

Interesting. I didn't know Hezbollah had any artillery. My understanding was that Hezbollah units have deployed as light infantry; used to bolster Syrian army units and also as fire brigades; sent to the most threatened sectors.

A few interesting articles.

Whether Isis jihadis or government soldiers, speak to fighters in Syria and you will discover infinite sadness | Voices | The Independent

Russian forces are the latest to travel on Syria's Roman road to barbarity | Middle East | News | The Independent

Confused about the US response to Isis in Syria? Look to the CIA's relationship with Saudi Arabia | Voices | The Independent

I read the Chilcot report as I travelled across Syria this week and saw for myself what Blair's actions caused | Voices | The Independent

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10 years ago during Hizzi-IDF conflict when Hizbullah was not a powerful as now, hizzis were trying to fire ballistic missiles at Israel of Zilzal-1 type.
They were also operating unnamed aerial vehicles. They were were able to spy on Israeli communication networks. Hizzis or Pasdaran successfully fired anti ship missiles and anti aircraft missiles.

As for artillery pretty much every religious or political group in Lebanon maintains or had at some point the ability to operate artillery and tanks.

Edit:
- After review of the video this is Iraqi Hizbullah -

There seems to be a Coup d'etat going on in Turkey.

There is footage on twitter of helicopters fiering on what is reported to be the headquater of the domestic intelligence service. Low flying Jets and the Military has announced on Television that they took over control.

I'm sure this will get his own thread depending on the success and intentions of the military commanders in charge of the coupe but this will definitly have some impact on the situation in Syria.

wsb05 said:

Edit:
- After review of the video this is Iraqi Hizbullah -

Click to expand...

Can you explain the difference please? It would be much appreciated. I'm no expert on Hezbollah.

Feanor said:

Can you explain the difference please? It would be much appreciated. I'm no expert on Hezbollah.

Click to expand...

This is the flag used by the Iraqi Hizbullah Military Wing Kateb Hizbullah
Annual Washington Post Bucket Event 2010 Pictures | Getty Images

This is the flag used by Lebanese Hizbullah Flag.
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/images/l/lb}hezb.gif

This is Iran's Pasdaran Flag or revolutionary guards flag.
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/images/i/ir^agir.gif

Lebanese Hizbullah was an Iranian funded offshoot of Amal movement operating since early 80s. They were trained by the Pasdaran in Bekaa.
Iraq Hizbullah surfaced relatively recently (after Iraq's invasion in 2003). I don't know its extent during Saddam's rule.
The accent in the video is Iraqi and not Lebanese. To my knowledge there is no documented evidence of Lebanese Hizbullah operating M-198 howitzers.

All these factions and many other believe in Waliy Al Fakih a belief originating from the twelvers shia sect in a celric having control over the shia to varying degrees depending on the interpretation. For Pasdaran and Hizzis the cleric is Khaminaii in Iran.
Ever sine the Islamic revolution nation states have been wary of the Pasdaran attempts to export this new revolutionary ideology to their shia nationals.
Lebanon was in a civil war and was infiltrated by Pasdaran under the pretex of fighting Israel.
Saddam (a secular arab nationalist) fought Iran to prevent Iranian influence in Iraq. Later during the US invasion Iran gained influence over many of the shias.
Houthis are Zaydi Shia (different from twelvers and more close to sunni) converted by Al Houthi -received his clerical studies in Iran- to believe in Wilayet Al Fakih.

Prior to the Islamic revolution shia did not refer to a specific cleric and we are seeing extensive consolidation of power in the hands of Khomaini through factions funded and armed by Iran benefiting from arab hatred to the US and Israel because of the Palestinian question and the Takfiri Salafi Sunni - Shia scare.

wsb05 said:

As for artillery pretty much every religious or political group in Lebanon maintains or had at some point the ability to operate artillery and tanks.

Click to expand...

Indeed; Amal and the Phalangist had heavy artillery and the PLO even had a few T-34s. If I'm not mistaken, the PLO also had a few Grads. I'm not surprised Hezbollah has some artillery; I'm just surprised they have it in Syria.

Some interesting footage of an Iraqi M1 in action. The first few minutes of the video also shows how Iraqi soldiers in a newly recaptured village go about identifying suspected IS collaborators. The suspected IS collaborators are then sent to Baghdad for further questioning; what eventually will happen to them after questioning is unknown.

[Fighting the Islamic State with Iraq’s Golden Division: The Road to Fallujah]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6axTxU30yo

Headcam taken from a killed IS fighter. The footage really shows how disorganised some IS fighters are; unsurprising I suppose given that many lack any formal military training and that there is a belief that faith in their ideology will compensate for whatever shortcoming they have.

[What It's Really Like to Fight for the Islamic State]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM3ElTvF52I

It has been reported that the SAA have closed off access to rebel held parts of Aleppo. There are now concerns about the civilians trapped inside the rebel held areas.

ngatimozart said:

It has been reported that the SAA have closed off access to rebel held parts of Aleppo. There are now concerns about the civilians trapped inside the rebel held areas.

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There ought to be some concern about civilians in the government held areas. They recently shelled their own controlled territory with Uragan MLRS, by mistake or accident.

SAA suffered what seems to be a serious setback. After capturing Kinsibba, they were defeated and after retreating they also suffered a SVBIED attack
https://southfront.org/terrorists-regain-kinsibba-tiger-forces-commander-killed-in-aleppo/
This Jaish Fateh's SVBIED blew up gathering of pro-Regime forces in Wadi Bassour after their retreat - Map of Syrian Civil war/ Global conflict in Syria - Syria news - syria.liveuamap.com

They got some Konkurs, too. As if they didn't have enough ATGM already
Some spoils taken today by Rebels in Kinsabba: up-armored pick-up with ZPU-4 and several Konkurs ATGM. N. Latakia - Map of Syrian Civil war/ Global conflict in Syria - Syria news - syria.liveuamap.com


Also a couple of days ago there was a series of explosions in the regime's defense factories. I don't think there is an official explanation, was it sabotage or an accident?
https://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2016/16-july-more-than-10-explosions-at-assads-defence-factories

Toblerone said:

SAA suffered what seems to be a serious setback. After capturing Kinsibba, they were defeated and after retreating they also suffered a SVBIED attack
https://southfront.org/terrorists-regain-kinsibba-tiger-forces-commander-killed-in-aleppo/
This Jaish Fateh's SVBIED blew up gathering of pro-Regime forces in Wadi Bassour after their retreat - Map of Syrian Civil war/ Global conflict in Syria - Syria news - syria.liveuamap.com

They got some Konkurs, too. As if they didn't have enough ATGM already
Some spoils taken today by Rebels in Kinsabba: up-armored pick-up with ZPU-4 and several Konkurs ATGM. N. Latakia - Map of Syrian Civil war/ Global conflict in Syria - Syria news - syria.liveuamap.com


Also a couple of days ago there was a series of explosions in the regime's defense factories. I don't think there is an official explanation, was it sabotage or an accident?
https://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2016/16-july-more-than-10-explosions-at-assads-defence-factories

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The Latakia mountains have been the stage for constant back and forth fighting for quite a while. The initial SAA offensive into those mountains was Russia's doing, to get the front line away from Hmeimeem. I don't think the SAA is going to succeed there on their own. Unless Russia decides to heavily back another push, all the way into Idlib, and to the Turkish border, it will continue as is.

There has been a very interesting incident in Syria. An unknown UAV flew into Israeli airspace from Syria, was engaged unsuccessfully by a Patriot battery firing two missiles, then by a fighter jet, but was not destroyed, and instead left back into Syria.

Попытка перехвата беÑпилотника из Сирии израильÑкой ПВО 17 Ð¸ÑŽÐ»Ñ - bmpd

Meanwhile, Russia recently tested new types of UAVs in Syria, including one that uses some sort of hydrogen fuel.

БеÑпилотник на водородном топливе - Ð”ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ ÐœÐ¾ÐºÑ€ÑƒÑˆÐ¸Ð½

Of course Russia also operates Israeli Searcher Mk2s in Syria.

"ФорпоÑÑ‚" в Сирии - bmpd

Finally, while Russia is a latecomer to the UAV game and has some projects in the area, Iran has been operating medium UAVs for quite some time. They might be the ones behind this incident.

A Patriot battery can see a UAV and fire 2 missiles at it and not hit it?

........that is an awesome UAV protected by Allah.

Cherish it.

Love it.

Praise it.

The kufirs are helpless in their decadent ways........

I have heard of certain MANPADS being apparently unable to engage UAVs and even target drones on account of the low IR signature of the UAVs and target drones.

ralphy99 said:

A Patriot battery can see a UAV and fire 2 missiles at it and not hit it?

........that is an awesome UAV protected by Allah.

Cherish it.

Love it.

Praise it.

The kufirs are helpless in their decadent ways........

Click to expand...

And what did it achieve exactly? What mission success did it have?

Show a bit of respect for others as well, or your time here will be as brief and unspectacular as this incident.

ADMk2 said:

And what did it achieve exactly? What mission success did it have?

Show a bit of respect for others as well, or your time here will be as brief and unspectacular as this incident.

Click to expand...

The whole incident is nonissue.
However since you asked question, I would venture to deliver by no means complete list of potential answers.
A. The mission was in a controlled way to evaluate limitations of patriot SAM.
B. The mission was to make Israeli throw into the air ~4 millions of USD
C. The mission was to show middle finger to patriot peddlers.

I'm very surprised no one has discussed this on the forum yet:

Russian warplanes reportedly bombed US base in Syria | Fox News

Russian planes bombs US/UK base close to the Jordanian border. Two strikes in all kill 4 rebels. US allegedly made Russia aware of the facility (how could their intelligence not have told them so?).

US have ordered Russia to stay away from the area. Just sheer carelessness rather than a deliberate act I suspect but nonetheless it does underline the dangers that this conflict still poses.

Strannik said:

The whole incident is nonissue.
However since you asked question, I would venture to deliver by no means complete list of potential answers.
A. The mission was in a controlled way to evaluate limitations of patriot SAM.
B. The mission was to make Israeli throw into the air ~4 millions of USD
C. The mission was to show middle finger to patriot peddlers.

Click to expand...

A. Yep, once again we have seen a large anti-aircraft / anti-ballistic missile system when operated outside it's design parameters isn't particularly successful. Bingo, great job...

B. Paid for by the US, but anyway, yes another 'mighty' achievement.

C. Of course. Another significant accomplishment. This will certain affect the 'peddlers' greatly, seeing as though it is not as if the Patriot is the most commercially successful medium ranged air and ballistic missile defence system in the West and probably the world...

I believe the israelis are very sensitive about their "Iron Dome" and will try to fill this gap in their air defense. Or do you think they want Hezbollah's gifted iranian drones flying over their heads in the future?

Launching patriots at these things is too costly, even when they hit. The israelis will adapt eventually, there are several anti-drone technologies and the US taxpayers will pick up the check

A failed interception and two failed rocket launches are somewhat of an issue, I don't understand why you are so dismissive about this.

On another note, was anyone else expecting Manbij to fall within a couple of weeks? We are at 2 months now and there is still some way to go, unless the 48 hour ultimatum is accepted and the ISIS terrorists withdraw. Fat chance ...

At least the iraqis are making stable progress.

ADMk2 said:

A. Yep, once again we have seen a large anti-aircraft / anti-ballistic missile system when operated outside it's design parameters isn't particularly successful. Bingo, great job...

B. Paid for by the US, but anyway, yes another 'mighty' achievement.

C. Of course. Another significant accomplishment. This will certain affect the 'peddlers' greatly, seeing as though it is not as if the Patriot is the most commercially successful medium ranged air and ballistic missile defence system in the West and probably the world...

Click to expand...

I don't think it was a test of the Patriot specifically, I think it was a attempt to prove Israeli air-space control in general. Possibly a way to test a new UAV. The materials I have don't mention anything about EW/EA, but it's possible it was also involved, no?

Meanwhile, as a sidenote, what is the most commercially successful western medium-ranged SAM?