Monday, August 8

The Trap

There's something odd about this photograph of a 'rebel' food convoy driving to Aleppo



The mercenary armies in Syria that draw pay from Al Saud and Al Thani are pulling out all the stops to break the SAA (Syrian Arab Army) siege in Aleppo ahead of a planned round of UN-sponsored 'peace negotiations.'  The Saudi-controlled High Peace Council or whatever they call their sham walked out in a huff during the last round. This happened when they realized the factions in Western regimes they control hadn't been able to stop the SAA victories from piling up -- with help from a very large coalition including the Russians.

As to the mercenaries -- possibly after realizing (a) if they keep blowing themselves up they won't have any fighters left and (b) they're trapped in Aleppo -- they're attempting to win the Battle of Aleppo with their mouths. Thus, we find  'Western' press propaganda outlets such as CNN reporting Rebel fighters break siege in southern Aleppo, sources say

What sources would that be? SOHR. The White Helmets. 

Now what's actually going on in Aleppo?

The mercenaries did manage to take advantage of a sparsely-guarded area. From Moon of Alabama's August 7 sitrep:
... The Jihadis retreated after their first three attacks but renewed their efforts with fresh troops on the next day. This time they concentrated on one focal point. Another frontal assault throughout Friday failed, but a fifth major strike followed in the darkness of Friday night. A total of five vehicle borne suicide bombs broke the defense line of the Syrian government forces and Jihadi forces stormed into the wide area of the Artillery Academy.
The compound is a hard-to-observe mixture of small open fields, garages, office and quarter buildings. The sparsely manned defense lines were overwhelmed or circumvented. By Saturday night most of the academy was in the hand of the Jihadis. A small corridor to the Jihadi held east-Aleppo was opened but is not secured.
The Syrian government forces are bringing up reserves and additional forces. A counterattack is likely to follow soon. ...
 [...]
However, from Southfront's August 7 sitrep:
... There are reports that the jihadists have reopened the Alramousa road and set up a supply line to eastern Aleppo. However, the ... tactical situation does not allow them to deliver supplies there because the Syrian army is able to conduct artillery shellings of the area. This allows to conclude that, indeed, the siege has not been lifted. ... 
This doesn't mean the mercenaries have had no recent victories in Aleppo, as SouthFront explains:
Thus far, the jihadists are in control of a major part of the Ramouseh neighborhood. However, the Syrian army is still holding the cement plant there. The Jaish al-Fatah is also in full control of the Ramouseh Artillery Base after the Syrian army and Hezbollah have withdrawn from the base’s Airforce Technical College. ...
[Pundita note: The SAA forces were awaiting reinforcements. Regarding Ramouseh -- situation is unclear but according to SANA, media reports are untrue that a traffic roudabout there was captured.] 
But now I turn to AFP, as reported by Gulf News on August 7:
An AFP journalist in the eastern districts said a single truck of vegetables entered the neighbourhoods late Saturday to be sold in the markets the following day.
Meanwhile, with the best 'rebel' fighters trapped in Aleppo, this left a flank exposed.



August 8, Sputnik: Syria, Russia Engage in Major Bombing of al-Nusra Front Stronghold Near Aleppo
On Sunday, Russian and Syrian Army aircraft dropped a wave of heavy munitions over the city of Idlib, the base of operations for the terrorist organization al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda affiliate) one day after rebels led by the Islamist extremist organization broke through the siege of Aleppo. ...
And here are a few headlines from FARS to round out the current picture:



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