At this rate Syria's military will soon be the best-armed in the world

Earlier this year I'd wanted to start to a file on the weapons caches that the Syrian military had been finding but now the task would be overwhelming. As the victories have snowballed for the SAA so have the discoveries of weapons caches -- some of which the army captures during battle, some of which are pointed out by fighters who reconcile with Syria's government, and some of which the army stumbles across in tunnels, cemeteries, etc. 

I've seen video and photos of caches where the weapons, laid out, stretch farther than the camera's eye can see. All kinds of materiel, not just guns and ammo; tanks, TOWs, you name it. And some of these caches were left over from battles won months ago by Syria's army; sappers are still working their way through the booby-traps and coming across weapons caches.   

I think if all the materiel shipped into Syria by foreign governments during the past seven years was stacked, the pile would reach as high as the summit of Mt. Everest -- and maybe with enough left over to stack against K2. 

Billions upon billions of dollars -- hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars and dollar equivalents -- poured into weapons meant to take down one little government. [shaking her head.]  Insanity. Insanity for all but the arms merchants.

What the Syrian army should do if they had the time and inclination is make a mountain out of all the captured materiel then put a big sign in front that reads: 'THANK YOU AMERICA, SAUDI ARABIA, QATAR, FRANCE, BRITAIN AND ISRAEL FOR THE SUPPLIES!'  

Well, here's one report on the caches, from FARS yesterday, quoting Sputnik's Arabic language site:

Syrian Army Discovers Israeli, American Weapons in Terrorists' Position in Eastern Qalamoun

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian Army troops found a large depot of Israeli and American arms and ammunition in terrorists' positions in Eastern Qalamoun in Damascus province months after the region's liberation, a media outlet reported on Sunday.

The Arabic-language website of Russia's state-run news agency, Sputnik, quoted a military source as saying that the army men continued cleansing operation in al-Petra region, Badiyeh (desert) and Eastern Qalamoun, discovering a large depot of arms mostly made in the US and Israel.

The report further said that the arms were sent to Eastern Qalamoun terrorists via Jordan and Badiyeh.

The report further said that the terrorists had hidden their arms and ammunition in underground hideouts, cemeteries, mountains and mines, adding that the army men found a large volume of Israeli and US-made arms, including TOW anti-tank missiles, missile launchers, cannons and anti-aircraft guns in terrorists' positions in Eastern Qalamoun.

The army's mop-up operation in Eastern Qalamoun, which was freed in April, is still underway.

On Saturday, the army units found an underground cache of weapons and ammunition of the ISIL during mop-up operations in the town of al-Hassarat in West of Albu Kamal region in Southeastern Deir Ezzur which included US and western-made mortars and RPGs, Grad missiles and satellite communication systems.

Also, the army forces in the town of Aqrab in Southwestern Hama found a hideout of terrorists which included a large number of weapons and ammunition as well as military equipment.

Meantime, field sources reported that the Syrian army troops found a large number of sniper guns made by the western countries, PKC machine-guns and different types of advanced military equipment.

[END REPORT]

Here's another one from FARS on a captured weapons cache, also from yesterday:

Uh oh. Wait  a minute. I just saw this headline at FARS, also from yesterday:

Tensions Intensifying between Civilians, US-Backed Militias in Northeastern Syria

I've been trying to keep track of this situation, which seems to be getting worse by the day. Where was I? Weapons.  

Tens of Terrorists to Leave Dara'a for Idlib after Handing over British Arms to Syrian Army

TEHRAN (FNA)- Almost 600 terrorists along with their family members are preparing to leave the Southern Dara'a province for militant-held regions in Idlib in the North-West as they handed over their UK-made arms and ammunition to the Syrian Army on Sunday.

The militants, deployed in Dara'a al-Balad district in Dara'a city, handed over at least five military vehicles, including two British armored vehicles, a large volume of heavy weapons, cannons, missiles, arms, and ammunition and communication devices to the Syrian army within the framework of a reconciliation agreement with Damascus government.

Field sources said that the ground has been paved for evacuation of the militants that refused the army's peace offer to Idlib province as they are now through with surrendering their weapons to the government forces.

[...]

All right, Pundita, that's enough reports on the caches; the reader gets the picture. 

From the expressions on the faces in the photo accompanying the above report, those must be ones who chose to evacuate to Idlib. They don't look like happy campers. Maybe that's because they know Idlib province is next on the Syrian army's to-do list and that if the army doesn't kill them, rival terrorist gangs in Idlib will. 

Well, the Russian reconciliation teams have been advising them to take the government's deal rather than go to Idlib, which is now stuffed with 50,000 terrorists who earlier accepted the SAA offer of an air-conditioned bus ride to the province. Of course they can't take any deal if they're mercenaries; they have to do what their paymasters say.

Speaking of paymasters, US-Backed Terrorists Preparing for Withdrawal from Al-Tanf in Southern Syria. Okay, that's enough headlines from FARS. Oh but look at this one -- enough. No more headlines.

More Tribes Voice Support for Syrian Army in Militant-Held Regions 

Pundita, don't make me raise my voice. It's after 3 in the morning. Time for beddy-bye. 

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