This map provides a general look at the military situation in Syria and Iraq on August 2, 2017.
Click to see the full-size map
Military Situation In Syria And Iraq On August 2, 2017 (Map Update)
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If one looks at this map, HTS can cut off SAA in the whole north of Syria with just a small advance near Ifthrya. If they cut the road near that city, the whole of SAA in norht and north eastern Syria and Aleppo will just collapse as their resupply line will be cut and not reopened within days. It will also shatter SAA strategy.
As HTS and IS are ideoplogically near, in the present state of IS, one can imagine them cooperating in cutting that road from two sides.
If the situation of IS becomes really bad, I can even see them joining HTS or maybe merging as junior partner. That would be a major disaster for the SAA.
Don`t be afraid. Exactly in this region some of the best SAA units are deployed. So your wet dreams of a IS/HTS raid could be stored in the trash can where the IS/HTS belongs to.
There is a difference between expecting something to happen and hoping something to happen. I do not hope HTS will attack anybody. As far as I am concerned, they can be bombed from here to eternity. However, I do expect HTS to attack as soon as they are able and before SAA and SDF finish IS.
Time will tell and I hope, not expect, time will leave you less sexually frustrated.
Ithriya is a fortress city by now. ISIL, FSA, JTS, HTS, AAS, you name it – all tried and failed to take it on several occasions from 2013 onward. Why? Well look at the map. One road, controlled by SAA and wast desert with no useful communications for 100s of kms. And odd raid here and there is to be expected. But a full fledged offensive including 1000s of troops and supplies against a heavily fortified position – a linchpin between north and south of the country. They would be mowed down in droves – WWI Western Front style. Besides, the operation would need tons of weapons, fuel and ammo – all passing through Turkey. As long as Erdogan and Putin are on friendly terms, that’s not happening. The Sultan will be satisfied by raiding the Kurds in the north claiming to fight his own war on terror. And HTS and other Al Qaida offshoots will be doing what all rabid dogs do – bite each other to death closed up in Idlib…
IS or HTS do not have to take the city at all. They just have to cut off the road. All the stocks Turkey shipped to Idlib – AAS are now in HTS hands.
As for control of Idlib region, I agree with you. HTS and allies will take over any group that does not comply. Even AAS has got a new leadership known for being closer to HTS.
As for Afrin, likely you are correct.
It’s a desert road. You can’t cut it by sitting on it in the middle of nowhere. You can raid it that way – and indeed there were dozens of raids by both ISIL and Nusra in last 4 years. But in order to cut it, you need to capture one or more of the handful of fortified towns or villages it runs through. And that my friend was a wet dream of many a jihadi skeletons bleached by sun and sand of Syrian desert…
Indeed, there were raids all the time with no possibilities to fortify their positions without support lines.. even last year in june there was a coordinated ISIS and AQ attack from both sides around Khanassir if I recall that saw them capture the area for a few days only during the first Ithrya Raqqa offensive
Hope for the best to come for the SAA and the Iraqi army restoring peace and stability to the region and maybe once and for all ending this bloodshed across the middle east although I doubt if that will be the case with Saudi Arabia around. The US will provide aid and training to finish the job and I can only hope that our leaders will learn a good lesson from all of this.
Wise words Vidura.
If the US realizes that Wahhabi Islam , as promoted and exported through Saudi Arabia , is the time bomb . They will have learned a lesson .
The Shia of Iran and elsewhere , are generally more educated and so more flexible , they really are not the problem .
There is so much “easy money” to be had by turning a blind eye to Saudi barbarism , it is being optimistic that this will happen , but for civilization to continue , it must .
Woah before you were saying how Assad should be removed, is someone else using your account? Or did u become smart? Lol
Minutes ago, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) reached the first buildings in
the strategic city of Al-Sukhnah, a military source told Al-Masdar News.It started.
Southfront – Is Akashat on the border between Iraq and Syria under control of ISIS or Iraqi Government? This map states it is under ISIS, and others state it is under Iraqi Government. Clarification would be nice. Thank you and appreciate your work. Other map – https://southfront.org/russian-mod-syrian-army-liberated-t2-pumping-station-deployed-in-26km-from-al-bukamal/
I believe it is under the control of Daesh. There has been absolutely no news of Akashat’s capture and it is a pretty strategic town
I thought so. Yes it is very strategic.
I do like how the US has been reduced to “Various Militant Groups.”