Original by Viktor Chemerev; translated from Russian by J.Hawk
Syria borders Jordan along its southern and south-eastern border. It is believed that anti-Assad militants receive reinforcements from across the border with Jordan. There is currently heavy fighting in the Daraa province were the SAA is slowly advancing. Two days ago, there were reports of an ISIS offensive along the eastern slope of Kalamon mountains, only a few kilometers from the border with Lebanon. The militants relative success in that sector was due in part to the fact SAA’s main forces are operating in the Kuraitan area, a large city in the south-eastern part of Homs province.
Given all that, one cannot help but turn one’s attention to Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu’s two meetings in Moscow, which occurred one after another on the same day, January 28. The first was with Syria’s Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij, and the second with Jordan’s chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Mashaal Mukhammed al-Zaben.
No details of these meetings were disclosed. But it all looks like an exchange of fresh operational data on the eve of a major operation in the south and south-east of Syria, with the participants conducting last-minute coordination and “synchronizing watches”, as it were. (Naturally, Jordan’s armed forces would not participate in the same way as Syria’s)
It is also noteworthy that everyone involved in the events in Syria was notified of the impending operation (assuming that’s the reason for the meetings). After all, information on the meetings was posted on the official Ministry of Defense site.
January 28, 2016 (20:30). On January 28 in Moscow, there was a meeting between Russian Federation Minister of Defense, Army General Sergey Shoygu and the Minister of Defense of Syrian Arab Republic Fahd Jassem al-Freij.
The two sides discussed bilateral military and military-technical cooperation. They also discussed the effectiveness of Russian air campaign against terrorist groups. There was an exchange of opinions concerning the current security issues in the Middle East.
The meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere and confirmed the shared intent to expand multifaceted collaboration between the two defense ministries.