Thu Oct 1, 2015 | 11:56 AM EDT
By Leila Bassam and Andrew Osborn
BEIRUT/MOSCOW (Reuters) -
Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to join a major ground offensive on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad's government, Lebanese sources said on Thursday, a further step in the rapid internationalization of a civil war in which
every major country in the region has a stake.
Russian warplanes that joined the fight this
week bombed a camp run by rebels trained by
the CIA, the group's commander said, putting
Moscow and Washington on opposing sides in
a Middle East conflict for the first time since the Cold War.
The U.S. and Russian militaries will hold talks at 11 a.m. EDT via video link to seek ways to keep their militaries apart as they wage parallel campaigns of air strikes in Syria, a U.S. defense official said.
Russian jets struck targets near the cities of
Hama and Homs in western Syria on the
second day of their surprise air campaign.
Moscow said it had hit Islamic State positions,
but the areas it struck are mostly held by a rival
insurgent alliance, which unlike Islamic State is
supported by U.S. allies including Arab states
and Turkey.
Hassan Haj Ali, head of the Liwa Suqour al-Jabal rebel group, told Reuters one of the targets was his group's base in Idlib province,
struck by around 20 missiles in two separate
sorties.
His fighters had been trained by the CIA in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, part of a program Washington says is aimed at supporting groups that oppose both Islamic State and Assad.
"Russia is challenging everyone and saying
there is no alternative to Bashar," Haj Ali said.
He said the Russian jets had been identified by
members of his group who once served as
Syrian air force pilots.
Two Lebanese sources told Reuters hundreds
of Iranian troops had reached Syria in the past
10 days with weapons to mount a major ground
offensive. They would also be backed by
Assad's Lebanese Hezbollah allies and by
Shi'ite militia fighters from Iraq, while the Russians would provide air support.
"The vanguard of Iranian ground forces began
arriving in Syria: soldiers and officers
specifically to participate in this battle. They are not advisers ... we mean hundreds with
equipment and weapons. They will be followed
by more," one of the sources said.
SAME ENEMIES, DIFFERENT FRIENDS
Russia's sudden decision to join the war with airstrikes on behalf of Assad, as well as the
increased military involvement of Iran, could
mark a pivotal turning point in a conflict that has drawn in most of the world's military powers.
With the United States leading an alliance
waging its own air war against Islamic State
fighters, the Cold War superpower foes,
Washington and Moscow, are now engaged in
combat over the same country for the first time
since World War Two.
They say they have the same enemies - the
Islamic State group of Sunni Muslim militants
who have proclaimed a caliphate across
eastern Syria and northern Iraq.
But they also have very different friends, and
sharply opposing views of how to resolve the 4-year-old Syrian civil war, which has killed more than 250,000 people and driven more than 10 million from their homes.
Washington and its allies oppose both Islamic
State and Assad, believing he must leave power in any peace settlement.
Washington says a central part of its strategy is building "moderate" insurgents to fight against both Assad and Islamic State, although so far it has struggled to find many fighters to accept its training.
Moscow supports the Syrian president and
believes his government should be the
centerpiece of international efforts to fight
extremist groups.
It appears to be using the common campaign
against Islamic State as a pretext to strike
against groups supported by Washington and
its allies, as a way of defending a Damascus
government with which Moscow has been allied since the Cold War.
The Russian strikes represent a bold move by
President Vladimir Putin to assert influence
beyond his own neighborhood: it is the first time Moscow has ordered its forces into combat outside the frontiers of the former Soviet Union since its disastrous Afghanistan campaign in the 1980s.
GAME CHANGER
In the second day of strikes, Russia said it
launched eight sorties with Sukhoi warplanes
overnight, hitting four Islamic State targets.
However, none of the areas where it said the
strikes took place is held by Islamic State.
Al-Mayadeen, a pro-Damascus television
channel based in Lebanon, said the jets carried out at least 30 strikes against an insurgent alliance known as the Army of Conquest.
The alliance includes the Nusra Front, al Qaeda's Syrian branch, but not Islamic State.
Al-Mayadeen later said Russian forces had also struck Islamic State positions in Raqqa province in the east.
The Russian and Iranian intervention in support of Assad comes at a time when momentum in the conflict had swung against his government and seem aimed at reversing insurgent gains.
"The Russian strikes are a game changer.
Damascus is off the hook," a diplomat tracking
Syria said.
The Army of Conquest in particular has been
advancing against government forces in
northwestern Syria, supported by regional
countries that oppose both Assad and Islamic
State.
Russia says its air strikes, unlike Washington's,
are legitimate because they have Assad's
blessing, and more effective because they can
coordinate with government forces to find
targets.
Russia's defense ministry said Sukhoi-24M and Sukhoi-25 aircraft had hit an ammunition depot near Idlib, a three-storey Islamic State
command center near Hama and a car bomb
factory in the north of Homs.
Islamic State does not have a major presence in Hama or Homs.
The Lebanese news channel said the Russian
planes bombed rural areas near the
northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour, which is held by the Army of Conquest.
Strikes also hit other areas in Idlib province, including the Zawiya Mountain region, as well as areas in Hama province to the south.
The anti-Assad Orient News channel also said
Russian strikes had hit rebel positions in the
Hama countryside.
Insurgent-held Idlib province is of particular strategic importance to the Syrian government because it is close to Assad's heartland on the Mediterranean coast, where Russia also has its only Mediterranean naval base.
A Syrian military source said on Thursday that
Russian military support would bring a "big
change" in the course of the conflict, particularly through advanced surveillance capabilities that could pinpoint insurgent targets.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam, Sylvia Westall and Tom Perry in Beirut, Andrew Osborn and Lidia Kelly in Moscow; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Giles Elgood)
By Leila Bassam and Andrew Osborn
BEIRUT/MOSCOW (Reuters) -
Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to join a major ground offensive on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad's government, Lebanese sources said on Thursday, a further step in the rapid internationalization of a civil war in which
every major country in the region has a stake.
Russian warplanes that joined the fight this
week bombed a camp run by rebels trained by
the CIA, the group's commander said, putting
Moscow and Washington on opposing sides in
a Middle East conflict for the first time since the Cold War.
The U.S. and Russian militaries will hold talks at 11 a.m. EDT via video link to seek ways to keep their militaries apart as they wage parallel campaigns of air strikes in Syria, a U.S. defense official said.
Russian jets struck targets near the cities of
Hama and Homs in western Syria on the
second day of their surprise air campaign.
Moscow said it had hit Islamic State positions,
but the areas it struck are mostly held by a rival
insurgent alliance, which unlike Islamic State is
supported by U.S. allies including Arab states
and Turkey.
Hassan Haj Ali, head of the Liwa Suqour al-Jabal rebel group, told Reuters one of the targets was his group's base in Idlib province,
struck by around 20 missiles in two separate
sorties.
His fighters had been trained by the CIA in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, part of a program Washington says is aimed at supporting groups that oppose both Islamic State and Assad.
"Russia is challenging everyone and saying
there is no alternative to Bashar," Haj Ali said.
He said the Russian jets had been identified by
members of his group who once served as
Syrian air force pilots.
Two Lebanese sources told Reuters hundreds
of Iranian troops had reached Syria in the past
10 days with weapons to mount a major ground
offensive. They would also be backed by
Assad's Lebanese Hezbollah allies and by
Shi'ite militia fighters from Iraq, while the Russians would provide air support.
"The vanguard of Iranian ground forces began
arriving in Syria: soldiers and officers
specifically to participate in this battle. They are not advisers ... we mean hundreds with
equipment and weapons. They will be followed
by more," one of the sources said.
SAME ENEMIES, DIFFERENT FRIENDS
Russia's sudden decision to join the war with airstrikes on behalf of Assad, as well as the
increased military involvement of Iran, could
mark a pivotal turning point in a conflict that has drawn in most of the world's military powers.
With the United States leading an alliance
waging its own air war against Islamic State
fighters, the Cold War superpower foes,
Washington and Moscow, are now engaged in
combat over the same country for the first time
since World War Two.
They say they have the same enemies - the
Islamic State group of Sunni Muslim militants
who have proclaimed a caliphate across
eastern Syria and northern Iraq.
But they also have very different friends, and
sharply opposing views of how to resolve the 4-year-old Syrian civil war, which has killed more than 250,000 people and driven more than 10 million from their homes.
Washington and its allies oppose both Islamic
State and Assad, believing he must leave power in any peace settlement.
Washington says a central part of its strategy is building "moderate" insurgents to fight against both Assad and Islamic State, although so far it has struggled to find many fighters to accept its training.
Moscow supports the Syrian president and
believes his government should be the
centerpiece of international efforts to fight
extremist groups.
It appears to be using the common campaign
against Islamic State as a pretext to strike
against groups supported by Washington and
its allies, as a way of defending a Damascus
government with which Moscow has been allied since the Cold War.
The Russian strikes represent a bold move by
President Vladimir Putin to assert influence
beyond his own neighborhood: it is the first time Moscow has ordered its forces into combat outside the frontiers of the former Soviet Union since its disastrous Afghanistan campaign in the 1980s.
GAME CHANGER
In the second day of strikes, Russia said it
launched eight sorties with Sukhoi warplanes
overnight, hitting four Islamic State targets.
However, none of the areas where it said the
strikes took place is held by Islamic State.
Al-Mayadeen, a pro-Damascus television
channel based in Lebanon, said the jets carried out at least 30 strikes against an insurgent alliance known as the Army of Conquest.
The alliance includes the Nusra Front, al Qaeda's Syrian branch, but not Islamic State.
Al-Mayadeen later said Russian forces had also struck Islamic State positions in Raqqa province in the east.
The Russian and Iranian intervention in support of Assad comes at a time when momentum in the conflict had swung against his government and seem aimed at reversing insurgent gains.
"The Russian strikes are a game changer.
Damascus is off the hook," a diplomat tracking
Syria said.
The Army of Conquest in particular has been
advancing against government forces in
northwestern Syria, supported by regional
countries that oppose both Assad and Islamic
State.
Russia says its air strikes, unlike Washington's,
are legitimate because they have Assad's
blessing, and more effective because they can
coordinate with government forces to find
targets.
Russia's defense ministry said Sukhoi-24M and Sukhoi-25 aircraft had hit an ammunition depot near Idlib, a three-storey Islamic State
command center near Hama and a car bomb
factory in the north of Homs.
Islamic State does not have a major presence in Hama or Homs.
The Lebanese news channel said the Russian
planes bombed rural areas near the
northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour, which is held by the Army of Conquest.
Strikes also hit other areas in Idlib province, including the Zawiya Mountain region, as well as areas in Hama province to the south.
The anti-Assad Orient News channel also said
Russian strikes had hit rebel positions in the
Hama countryside.
Insurgent-held Idlib province is of particular strategic importance to the Syrian government because it is close to Assad's heartland on the Mediterranean coast, where Russia also has its only Mediterranean naval base.
A Syrian military source said on Thursday that
Russian military support would bring a "big
change" in the course of the conflict, particularly through advanced surveillance capabilities that could pinpoint insurgent targets.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam, Sylvia Westall and Tom Perry in Beirut, Andrew Osborn and Lidia Kelly in Moscow; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Semper Fidelis
![[Image: SyAa0qj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/SyAa0qj.png)
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USMC
Nemo me impune lacessit