Russia says it told US where in Syria they could not bomb

Russia says it told US where in Syria they could not bomb

THE Syrian army is reporting new enemy aggression, with missiles targeting missile bases in the north of the country.

“Syria is being exposed to a new aggression with some military bases in rural Hama and Aleppo hit with enemy rockets,” a Syrian army source is reported by state-run media as saying.

Military commentators and Middle East analysts are reporting an attack appears to have been made on the headquarters of the Iran-backed Shiite militia Brigade 47 near the village of Maarin al-Jabal, just south of Hama city. It is said to be used as a recruitment and training facility.

It was also believed to house a weapons depot, which would account for the intensity of the blast.

A second explosion has been reported at the Iranian-backed Brigade 80 headquarters situated north of Aleppo city.

Media outlets with connections to the Syrian regime are claiming 38 soldiers have been killed and 57 injured in the attacks.

#BREAKING Syrian state media says it faced 'new agression' after missiles attacks on Aleppo and Hama bases pic.twitter.com/UjkUUzLjjQ — Guy Elster (@guyelster) April 29, 2018

The cause of the blasts remains unclear. Reports of Israeli involvement remain speculation, while some Syrian Democratic Force rebels have claimed responsibility.

Syrian state media reported that authorities were working to “determine the cause of the explosions.”

According to various #BREAKING reports the site of the explosion in #Syria is near this village of Maarin al-Jabal south of Hama #breakingnews #Syria news; full details not clear pic.twitter.com/Wf4qAXR1JL — Seth Frantzman (@sfrantzman) April 29, 2018

“A new attack with missiles targeted military positions in the provinces of Hama and Aleppo,” respectively in the centre and north of the country, the Assad-government official news agency SANA reported, citing a military source.

The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights monitor confirmed the firing of missiles, also confirming that “Iranian elements” were stationed at two of the targeted bases.

The Observatory could not immediately say whether there were any casualties, nor who was responsible for the missile strikes.

Video was taken by pro Assad people for the attacks this night on the brigade 47 in Hama countryside.

This point was an Iranian camp pic.twitter.com/KPvMrLIoNb — Asaad Hanna (@AsaadHannaa) April 29, 2018

HEIGHTENED TENSIONS

Yesterday, Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said he reserved the right to strike all over Syria against any threats. He said he would not be deterred if Russia supplies the Syrians with advanced S-300 air defence systems.

“We will keep our freedom of operation in all of Syria. We have no intention to attack Russia or to interfere in domestic Syrian issues. But if somebody thinks that it is possible to launch missiles or to attack Israel or even our aircraft, no doubt we will respond and we will respond very forcefully,” Liberman said.

5/ In #Aleppo 7 rockets were fired at areas which were apparently emptied apparently around Aleppo international airport , no reports of injuries or causalities in #Aleppo but images show an area was clearly hit pic.twitter.com/eNJkj9CDnM — Syrian Digital Media (@SyriaDM) April 29, 2018

He added that Israel “will prevent Iran from establishing a forward base in Syria at any cost.”

The report came amid heightened tensions in Syria after Damascus and its ally Iran accused Israel on April 9 of conducting deadly strikes against a military base in the centre of the country.

Several days later, on April 14, the United States, France and Britain carried out strikes against several of the Syrian regime’s military positions, in response to a suspected chemical attack on the rebel stronghold of Douma, which caused dozens of deaths, according to rescue services.

In the April 9 attack, at least 14 soldiers, including seven Iranians, were killed in the strike on a military base in central Homs

CLASH WITH KURDS

Syrian government forces at the weekend briefly captured four villages east of the Euphrates River in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour after rare clashes with US-backed Kurdish-led fighters before losing the area in a counter-offensive by the Kurdish-led force.

It’s the same region in which US and Russian forces clashed in February.

The area close to the border with Iraq has been the site of ongoing clashes between the two sides who had been focusing on fighting the Islamic State group. The Islamic State had declared its caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq. Crossings into the east bank of the Euphrates in eastern Syria by government forces have been rare.

State news agency SANA said the villages were held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, adding that they are close to the provincial capital, also called Deir el-Zour. The SDF said in a statement later that it regained control of the whole area it earlier lost.

Much of Deir el-Zour province was held by the Islamic State group but over the past year Syrian government forces captured most areas west of the Euphrates while SDF fighters took areas east of the river.

DEIR EL-ZOUR FLASHPOINT

On February 7, pro-Syrian government fighters attacked SDF positions east of the river and faced a ferocious US counter-attack that left dozens, including Russians, dead.

SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel said in a statement earlier yesterday that the Syrian army attack coincided with “our forces’ preparations to complete the Island Storm campaign” to liberate the remaining areas east of the river from Islamic State. Gabriel said the Syrian army and pro-government fighters began targeting SDF fighters to impede “the launching of our campaign against terrorism. Our forces are responding in self-defence.”

“We affirm that we are determined to eradicate terrorism from its roots and to assert our right to self-defence,” Gabriel said about Islamic State. “We consider this aggression by regime forces to be a support for terrorism and falls within the attempts to impede the war on terrorism.”

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said yesterday’s offensive left six SDF fighters dead and 22 wounded adding that there were also casualties on the government side.

Gabriel issued another statement later saying all the area lost earlier was regained by SDF fighters. He said Syrian troops were backed by Russian fighters adding that after the SDF’s counter-offensive, government forces “are now far away.”