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Voiceover by Harold Hoover
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the 5th Legion, and the Tiger Forces successfully counter-attacked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Izzah, and Abnaa al-Sham in northern Hama, recapturing the Samsam hill, the nearby points north of Qumhana, and the al-Sheha hill south of Arzah. If government forces are able to retake Khattab from HTS-led forces, this will mean that they retake the initiative in the area.
Pro-government sources reported that the militants had suffered major casualties in the recent clashes but didn’t provide numbers. Meanwhile, about 20 Syrian soldiers were reportedly killed by HTS-led forces in the area of Majdal.
On March 29th, the SAA’s Tiger Forces entered the important town of Deir Hafer in the province of Aleppo. ISIS terrorists withdrew from Deir Hafer earlier this month, but the Syrian army and the National Defense Forces were not able to enter the town because of a high number of IEDs in the area.
Since then, government forces have been waiting for engineer units (most likely Russian) which will be able to demine the town.
The SAA and its local allies also continued developing an advance southeast of Deir Hafer, aiming for the ISIS-held Jirah Military Airbase.
As soon as the military airbase is back under SAA control, government forces will likely advance further in the Maskaneh Plain east of the Jabbul Lake. The important ISIS-held town of Masakah will be the target of this advance.
In the province of Homs, government forces advanced against ISIS in the countryside of Palmyra. Government troops recaptured the Antar Mount and the Afghans hill from ISIS.
If the SAA continues its advance in the direction of the Uqayrabat crossroad, this will mean that government forces are going to advance along the road heading to Palmyra.
Another option is to shift the direction of the anti-ISIS advance to Arak. However, large-scale operations in the area are unlikely due to the complicated situation in northern Hama.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) further tightened the siege over the ISIS-controlled town of Tabqa after capturing the nearby areas, including the Tabqa-Raqqah road and de-facto encircled the town.
The operation in Tabqa and at the Tabqa dam will take some additional time for the SDF and its US backers, but the Kurdish leadership already has a view toward the fate of Raqqah when the city is liberated from ISIS.
According to a statement by co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), Saleh Muslim, the Kurds are going to add Arab-dominated regions, which have been seized by Kurdish forces, to their self-proclaimed autonomous region in northern Syria.
‘US no Longer Considers the Removal of Assad Their Priority in Syria’
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201703311052145536-us-syria-assad-not-priority/
See also:
Trump Administration Signals It Won’t Seek Assad’s Ouster
https://sputniknews.com/world/201703301052138108-trump-administration-signals-assad-ouster/
And:
Syrian Nationals Should Decide on Future of President Assad – Tillerson
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201703301052122272-assad-syria-future/
But is that all of Syria or a piece of a balkanized Syria the israeloamericans are talking about here? I’d trust that lot even less than I would the turks.
Exactly — words, or even written agreements, from the US are meaningless. Even if whoever said it is sincere at the time the US keeps changing its position, and other in some other faction do the opposite — like attacking a Syrian base just after a cease fire is agreed on, or not advancing NATO east of Germany, or keeping to treaties. The US and its empire was built on lies, and it’s policies are (clinically) psychopathic (so is capitalism).
This runs through the entire culture now — try to collect on an insurance policy and you probably will need a lawyer, because it’s well known the company will probably try to cheat you. Warranties are about the same now.
CF Ferengi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferengi#Society
[…] On the other hand, Ira Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe state (on the DS9 DVD commentary) that the Ferengi are meant to be 20th century humans. “The Ferengi are us. That’s the gag, the Ferengis are Humans. They’re more human than the Humans on Star Trek because they are so screwed-up, and they are so dysfunctional. They’re regular people. And that was the fun of that.” The name Ferengi was coined based on the Middle and South Asian term Ferenghi, meaning “Foreigners” or “Europeans”.[10]
[…]
White House: US ‘Must Accept’ Political Reality That Assad is Syria’s President
https://sputniknews.com/world/201703311052175536-white-house-political-reality-assad/
“In a daily news conference on Friday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer stated plainly that the United States “needs to accept” the political realities on the ground in Syria, namely, that Bashar al-Assad is the sovereign country’s president and leader. Rather, the US must concentrate on ousting Daesh from the region, Spicer added.
“We believe there’s a need to de-escalate violence,” in Syria, Spicer noted.
The Trump White House blamed the previous administration run by Barack Obama for missing out on the chance to remove Assad from power when that was still a viable strategy. “We lost a lot of opportunity during the last administration with respect to Assad,” Spicer said.”
That last paragraph says to me this tuppence regime acceptance of Assad is a temporary “tactical retreat” and the overall zionazi goal remains in place. As I wrote earlier, I trust the turks more than these guys.
Train, Advise, Assist? US Marines Deployed to Syria Spotted on Raqqa Frontline
https://sputniknews.com/military/201703311052159393-us-marines-syria-frontline/
“On Wednesday, Army Gen. Joseph Votel, Commander of the US Central Command, reiterated that the Pentagon has “not taken our eye off what our principle mission is, which is to advise and assist and enable our partners… Help our partners fight, but not fight for them.”
Votel wants more us troops in Syria. Much more detail here:
RT spots US ‘advisers’ on Raqqa frontline on visit to Syria’s strategic Euphrates Dam (EXCLUSIVE)
https://www.rt.com/news/382909-syria-tabqa-dam-exclusive/
“While exploring the northern side of the SDF-controlled part of the Tabqa dam, the RT crew – which became the first international news channel to film there – managed to catch a glimpse of US soldiers embedded with the Wrath of Euphrates operation.
Besides capturing what Kurds called American artillery pounding the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) targets, RT’s Lizzie Phelan also noticed US Marines at the northern entrance to the Tabqa dam.
“We managed to capture these US marines leaving the frontline before being ordered to stop filming…,” Phelan says, adding that the US troops are camera shy “for a reason,” as the Pentagon’s official line is that its forces will be kept away from frontline.
On camera, the Kurds refused to discuss the US troops and asked RT to stop filming. Off camera, however the SDF fighters openly talked about how, for some time, the Americans have been alongside them on the frontlines in fighting ISIS.
When asked what role the American’s are playing in Tabqa, one SDF fighter replied: “Let me tell you something about the Americans, I can’t talk about it…”
“It’s the Americans firing,” another fighter explained after hearing mortar fire in a distance. “The Americans are on the other side and mortars were fired at them, then the Americans came to check the position of the mortar launchers.”
The northern part of the Tabqa Dam is under the control of Syrian Democratic forces, backed by American troops. The terrorists, however, still control the most crucial parts of the dam in the south, which includes the floodgates, the control room and the hydroelectric plant.
A video recently released by IS terrorists showed the damage an alleged coalition strike had caused to the dam and an unexploded missile inside the devastated control room. [ http://isis.liveuamap.com/en/2017/27-march-isis-released-a-video-of-the-damages-at-tabqa-dam ]
Red Crescent engineers who tried2 assess damage in ISIS held part of Tabqa dam fired at again had to turn back VIDEO https://t.co/qFb5df3qj4
— Lizzie Phelan (@LizziePhelan) March 30, 2017
The Pentagon and its Syrian allies, however, dismiss claims that their air and artillery strikes somehow damaged the dam. Meanwhile, a team of Red Crescent engineers arrived shortly after the RT crew in another attempt to access the IS-held part of the site but were “once again forced to turn back by the militants mortar shelling,” Phelan said.
As Washington steps up its military presence in Syria, Damascus continues to voice concern over the legitimacy of the deployment. Speaking to China’s Phoenix TV, Syrian President Bashar Assad stressed that “foreign troops coming to Syria without our invitation or consultation or permission… are invaders, whether they are American, Turkish, or any other one.”