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hama fallen to hts. next target is homs.
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The Syria War
- Thread starter ftan42
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aiyoh jialak. assad run(s) road from damascus to moscow with his family, expecting a collapse of his regime as russian and iranian-backed forces abandoned aleppo, hama, and now homs. final battle will be in damascus. rebel forces except those supported by unker sam have apparently combined under hts and gotten their new weapons and munitions from turkey (plus training and planning).
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Not even a secret any more. Declassified info on Timber Sycamore program
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_Sycamore
LA times article:
https://www.latimes.com/nation/sns-la-fg-cia-syria-20130622-story.html
U.S. has secretly provided arms training to Syria rebels since 2012
Syrian rebel fighters belonging to the “Martyrs of Maaret al-Numan” battalion leave their position after a range of shootings on June 13, 2013 in the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan in front of the army base of Wadi Deif, down in the valley. At least 93,000 people, including over 6,500 children, have been killed in Syria’s civil war, the United Nations said on June 13, 2013, warning that the true death toll could be far higher.
(Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images)
By David S. Cloud and Raja Abdulrahim, Los Angeles Times
June 21, 2013 7:47 PM PT
WASHINGTON — CIA operatives and U.S. special operations troops have been secretly training Syrian rebels with anti-tank and antiaircraft weapons since late last year, months before President Obama approved plans to begin directly arming them, according to U.S. officials and rebel commanders.
The covert U.S. training at bases in Jordan and Turkey, along with Obama’s decision this month to supply arms and ammunition to the rebels, has raised hope among the beleaguered Syrian opposition that Washington ultimately will provide heavier weapons as well. So far, the rebels say they lack the weapons they need to regain the offensive in the country’s bitter civil war.
The tightly constrained U.S. effort reflects Obama’s continuing doubts about being drawn into a conflict that has already killed more than 100,000 people and his administration’s fear that Islamic militants now leading the war against President Bashar Assad could gain control of advanced U.S. weaponry.
The training has involved fighters from the Free Syrian Army, a loose confederation of rebel groups that the Obama administration has promised to back with expanded military assistance, said a U.S. official, who discussed the effort anonymously because he was not authorized to disclose details.
The number of rebels given U.S. instruction in Jordan and Turkey could not be determined, but in Jordan, the training involves 20 to 45 insurgents at a time, a rebel commander said.
U.S. special operations teams selected the trainees over the last year when the U.S. military set up regional supply lines to provide the rebels with nonlethal assistance, including uniforms, radios and medical aid.
(Continued)
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I just found out Erdogan have been trying to seek a meeting with Assad but was denied.
Dunno what the animosity is between these two. But turkey occupies a swath of land in Syria that borders with it's territory. Sort of a safety zone yo keep fighting out of turkey.
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It is. CIA now funding al Qaeda and IS but renaming it. It's all done to promote instability until they get the gomen they want.
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it’s not. cia is funding another rebel group. they’re not making much headway. hts is the more successful rebel group. it treats al qaeda as a rival and enemy as the founder was once from there and fell out of favor. al qaeda assassinated numerous high profile hts supporters in its early days. hts hit back and eliminated al qaeda spies and assassins. your intell not good.
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Jews loved scripts and controlled everything. You don’t call them psychopaths for nothing
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I love hans as long as they are women.
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video unavailable. lol! no shit.
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Looks like Damascus is going to fall. Iranian and Iraqi spokesmen have pledged support for Assad and Putin has sent some ships to conduct a naval exercise in the Mediterranean sea. But it's all too little too late. The Levant region is cursed.
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Isn't Assad a popular president? Like ghadaffi? Look at wat happen to Libya after he was overthrown by the ang more...whole country is a mess n rise of the terrorists... isn't that what the yanks are doing to Syria? Supporting the terrorists and creating another Afghanistan
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turks are more sympathetic to the sunnis in syria than the shit-ites oops shiites with allegiance to iran. they want a piece of the syrian pie in the northwest. the smaller rebel group sponsored by unker sam is not successful and going nowhere in the northwest, thus many have left and joined hts, a terrorist organization branded by unker sam. unker sam sponsored rebels in the northeast have practically and effectively disbanded. unker sam is supporting sdf in the northeast which is a kurdish led rebel group. turkey has a problem with kurds. sdf doesn’t fight the syrian army as they tacitly agree to a non-aggression pact, thus action in northwest syria is mostly quiet. however, there have been fighting between sdf and sna at the border between northeast and northwest. sna is sponsored and fully supported by turkey to get rid of the kurds in the north.
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hts soldiers doing selfies with iphone 15 pro?
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Rebels won...prepare for another failed state n abuse of non-mudslimes Syrians
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Is Assad dead?
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Christians and Jews in Syria are fucked
02:04
Rebels announce seizing control of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city
Rebels in Syria say they have entered the city of Homs after saying they had... more
View more related videos
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the Islamist alliance that spearheaded an offensive that rebels say brought down President Bashar al-Assad and ended five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria.
Jolani heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda.
He is an extremist who adopted a more moderate posture in order to achieve his goals.
On Sunday, as the rebels entered Damascus, he ordered all military forces in the capital not to approach public institutions.
He had earlier this week said the objective of his offensive, which saw city after city fall from government control, was to overthrow Assad.
Thirteen years after Assad cracked down on a nascent democracy movement, sparking Syria’s civil war, the rebels said the president had fled the country and declared Damascus free of the “tyrant”.
Head of Hafez al-Assad Statue Dragged Through Streets of Hama
The head of a toppled statue depicting former...
See more
Jolani had for years operated from the shadows.
Now, he is in the spotlight, giving interviews to the international media and delivering statements that have Syrians all around the world glued to their phones for clues of what the future might hold.
Earlier in the offensive, which began on November 27, he appeared in Syria’s second city Aleppo after wresting it from government control for the first time in the war.
He has over the years stopped sporting the turban worn by jihadists, often favouring military fatigues instead.
Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. Picture: CNN
On Wednesday, he wore a khaki shirt and trousers to visit Aleppo’s citadel, standing at the door of his white vehicle as he waved and moved through the crowds.
Since breaking ties with al-Qaeda in 2016, Jolani has sought to portray himself as a more moderate leader.
But he is yet to quell suspicions among analysts and Western governments that still class HTS as a terrorist organisation.
“He is a pragmatic radical,” Thomas Pierret, a specialist in political Islam, told AFP.
“In 2014, he was at the height of his radicalism,” Pierret said, referring to the period of the war when he sought to compete with the jihadist Islamic State group.
“Since then, he has moderated his rhetoric.”
People celebrate at Umayyad Square in Damascus. Picture: Louai Beshara/AFP
Islamist-led rebels declared that they have taken Damascus in a lightning offensive on December 8. Picture; Louai Beshara/AFP
Well-to-do
Born in 1982, Jolani was raised in Mazzeh, an upscale district of Damascus. He stems from a well-to-do family and was a good student.
During the offensive, he started signing his statements under his real name – Ahmed al-Sharaa.
In 2021, he told US broadcaster PBS that his nom de guerre was a reference to his family roots in the Golan Heights, claiming that his grandfather had been forced to flee after Israel’s annexation of the area in 1967.
According to the Middle East Eye news website, it was after the September 11, 2001 attacks that Jolani was first drawn to jihadist thinking.
It was after the September 11, 2001 attacks that Jolani was first drawn to jihadist thinking. Picture: Seth McAllister/AFP
“It was as a result of this admiration for the 9/11 attackers that the first signs of jihadism began to surface in Jolani’s life, as he began attending secretive sermons and panel discussions in marginalised suburbs of Damascus,” the website said.
Following the US-led invasion of Iraq, he left Syria to take part in the fight. He joined al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and was subsequently detained for five years, preventing him from rising through the ranks of the jihadist organisation.
In March 2011, when the revolt against Assad’s rule erupted in Syria, he returned home and founded the Al-Nusra Front, Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda.
In 2013, he refused to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who would go on to become the emir of the Islamic State group, and instead pledged his loyalty to al-Qaeda’s Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The first ever picture to be released of Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. Picture Al-Manara Al-Baydaa/AFP
Jolani gave a speech from an undisclosed location. Picture: HO/ Orient News/AFP
‘Smart thing to do’
A realist in his partisans’ eyes, an opportunist to his adversaries, Jolani said in May 2015 that he, unlike IS, had no intention of launching attacks against the West.
He also proclaimed that should Assad be defeated, there would be no revenge attacks against the Alawite minority that the president’s clan stems from.
He cut ties with al-Qaeda, claiming to do so in order to deprive the West of reasons to attack his organisation.
According to Pierret, he has since sought to chart a path towards becoming a credible statesman.
In January 2017, Jolani imposed a merger with HTS on rival Islamist groups in northwest Syria, thereby claiming control of swathes of Idlib province that had fallen out of government hands.
Anti government forces set the Syrian flag on fire in the city of Salamiyah in the central Hama governorate, on December 7, 2024. Picture: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP
In areas under its grip, HTS developed a civilian government and established a semblance of a state in Idlib province, while crushing its rebel rivals.
Throughout this process, HTS faced accusations from residents and rights groups of brutal abuses against those who dared dissent, which the UN has classed as war crimes.
Aware perhaps of the fear and hatred his group has sparked, Jolani has addressed residents of Aleppo, home to a sizeable Christian minority, in a bid to assure them that they would face no harm under his new regime.
He also called on his fighters to preserve security in the areas they had “liberated” from Assad’s rule.
“I think it’s primarily just good politics,” said Aron Lund, a fellow at the Century International think tank.
“The less local and international panic you have and the more Jolani seems like a responsible actor instead of a toxic jihadi extremist, the easier his job will become. Is it totally sincere? Surely not,” he said.
“But it’s the smart thing to say and do right now.”
Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad ousted, Who is Abu Mohammed al-Jolani?
02:04
Rebels announce seizing control of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city
Rebels in Syria say they have entered the city of Homs after saying they had... more
View more related videos
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the Islamist alliance that spearheaded an offensive that rebels say brought down President Bashar al-Assad and ended five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria.
Jolani heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda.
He is an extremist who adopted a more moderate posture in order to achieve his goals.
On Sunday, as the rebels entered Damascus, he ordered all military forces in the capital not to approach public institutions.
He had earlier this week said the objective of his offensive, which saw city after city fall from government control, was to overthrow Assad.
Thirteen years after Assad cracked down on a nascent democracy movement, sparking Syria’s civil war, the rebels said the president had fled the country and declared Damascus free of the “tyrant”.
Head of Hafez al-Assad Statue Dragged Through Streets of Hama
The head of a toppled statue depicting former...
See more
Jolani had for years operated from the shadows.
Now, he is in the spotlight, giving interviews to the international media and delivering statements that have Syrians all around the world glued to their phones for clues of what the future might hold.
Earlier in the offensive, which began on November 27, he appeared in Syria’s second city Aleppo after wresting it from government control for the first time in the war.
He has over the years stopped sporting the turban worn by jihadists, often favouring military fatigues instead.
On Wednesday, he wore a khaki shirt and trousers to visit Aleppo’s citadel, standing at the door of his white vehicle as he waved and moved through the crowds.
Since breaking ties with al-Qaeda in 2016, Jolani has sought to portray himself as a more moderate leader.
But he is yet to quell suspicions among analysts and Western governments that still class HTS as a terrorist organisation.
“He is a pragmatic radical,” Thomas Pierret, a specialist in political Islam, told AFP.
“In 2014, he was at the height of his radicalism,” Pierret said, referring to the period of the war when he sought to compete with the jihadist Islamic State group.
“Since then, he has moderated his rhetoric.”
Well-to-do
Born in 1982, Jolani was raised in Mazzeh, an upscale district of Damascus. He stems from a well-to-do family and was a good student.
During the offensive, he started signing his statements under his real name – Ahmed al-Sharaa.
In 2021, he told US broadcaster PBS that his nom de guerre was a reference to his family roots in the Golan Heights, claiming that his grandfather had been forced to flee after Israel’s annexation of the area in 1967.
According to the Middle East Eye news website, it was after the September 11, 2001 attacks that Jolani was first drawn to jihadist thinking.
“It was as a result of this admiration for the 9/11 attackers that the first signs of jihadism began to surface in Jolani’s life, as he began attending secretive sermons and panel discussions in marginalised suburbs of Damascus,” the website said.
Following the US-led invasion of Iraq, he left Syria to take part in the fight. He joined al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and was subsequently detained for five years, preventing him from rising through the ranks of the jihadist organisation.
In March 2011, when the revolt against Assad’s rule erupted in Syria, he returned home and founded the Al-Nusra Front, Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda.
In 2013, he refused to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who would go on to become the emir of the Islamic State group, and instead pledged his loyalty to al-Qaeda’s Ayman al-Zawahiri.
‘Smart thing to do’
A realist in his partisans’ eyes, an opportunist to his adversaries, Jolani said in May 2015 that he, unlike IS, had no intention of launching attacks against the West.
He also proclaimed that should Assad be defeated, there would be no revenge attacks against the Alawite minority that the president’s clan stems from.
He cut ties with al-Qaeda, claiming to do so in order to deprive the West of reasons to attack his organisation.
According to Pierret, he has since sought to chart a path towards becoming a credible statesman.
In January 2017, Jolani imposed a merger with HTS on rival Islamist groups in northwest Syria, thereby claiming control of swathes of Idlib province that had fallen out of government hands.
In areas under its grip, HTS developed a civilian government and established a semblance of a state in Idlib province, while crushing its rebel rivals.
Throughout this process, HTS faced accusations from residents and rights groups of brutal abuses against those who dared dissent, which the UN has classed as war crimes.
Aware perhaps of the fear and hatred his group has sparked, Jolani has addressed residents of Aleppo, home to a sizeable Christian minority, in a bid to assure them that they would face no harm under his new regime.
He also called on his fighters to preserve security in the areas they had “liberated” from Assad’s rule.
“I think it’s primarily just good politics,” said Aron Lund, a fellow at the Century International think tank.
“The less local and international panic you have and the more Jolani seems like a responsible actor instead of a toxic jihadi extremist, the easier his job will become. Is it totally sincere? Surely not,” he said.
“But it’s the smart thing to say and do right now.”
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- Sep 22, 2008
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This phone wont not explode. Where did they get the phones from?
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