U.K.'s May Condemns London Attack

British Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the car and knife attack in London as "sick and depraved," adding that it was an attack on democracy that was doomed to fail. May was speaking in the evening of March 22, after an attacker killed at least four people in what the police called a "terrorist incident."

HOW PUTIN'S MOUTH PIECE RT SEE'S IT -'Ill-Advised Policy': Shadow of Brussels Bombings Falls on London

On Wednesday, a man drove at people with a car in London and then tried to enter the Parliament building armed with a knife, before being shot down by the police. As a result of the incident, four people, including a police officer and the attacker, were killed and 40 others were injured.

London police believe they have identified the perpetrator, but will not name him publicly at this point.

Shortly after the incident, British media reported that the attacker was identified as Abu Izzadeen, born Trevor Brook, known for his links to terrorism. However, ABC reported, citing Izzadeen's lawyer, that he was still in jail and, therefore, could not have committed Wednesday’s carnage.

Wednesday’s attack came exactly a year after the March 22, 2016 explosions in Brussels and the start of an antiterrorist conference in Washington.

Britain in trouble

Wednesday’s attack came 12 years after a series of early morning explosions (three in the London Underground and one on a bus) left 52 people dead. Police later said that the terror attack, the bloodiest in UK history, had been organized by al-Qaeda.

Shortly after, police found a car packed with 16 explosive devices in Luton, a town some 40 kilometers from London. The jihadists also had a bomb-making facility in Leeds and planned a series of nightclub explosions in London.

A series of riots that engulfed northern London in August 2011 laid bare the Muslim migrants’ failure to integrate into British society and the law enforcement’s failure to respond in a timely manner to disturbances caused by angry Muslim youths.

On May 22, 2013 two machete-wielding British citizens of Nigerian descent slaughtered army drummer Lee Rigby in London and on August 2, 2016 a woman was stabbed to death and five people were wounded by a 19-year-old Norwegian of Somali descent.

Symbolic coincidence

Experts were quick to notice the coincidence between Wednesday’s attack in London, the first anniversary of the deadly explosions in Brussels, which killed 32 people, and the start of an international antiterrorist conference in Washington.

It looks like the terrorists sneer at the security measures taken in the West and demonstrate that no place in Europe, no matter how well secured, is immune to their attacks.

The problem is that many Muslims living in Britain embrace radical Islam and hundreds of their men and women have joined the ranks of jihadist militants fighting in Syria and Iraq, RT wrote.

Moreover, the number of “disloyal” Muslims inside Britain could run into tens of thousands.

In February 2017, five teenagers were arrested in London on charges of planning to joint their jihadist brethren fighting in Syria and Iraq and stage a series of terror attacks in the UK.

On March 6, 2017 The Daily Express wrote that during the past four years the British security agencies had prevented 13 terrorist attacks. 

Scotland Yard counter-terror chief Mark Rowley said earlier this month that police are concerned about "everything from fairly simple attacks with knives or using vehicles all the way through to the more complex firearms attacks."

As safe as it may look against the backdrop of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, Nice, Brussels and Berlin, the United Kingdom could now be in for more tragic events like the one than happened in London on Wednesday.

Echo of ill-advised policy

In Moscow, Sergei Zheleznyak, a member of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, blamed Wednesday’s tragedy in London on what he described as “the terrible echo of the ill-advised migration policy of the majority of European countries used to taking orders from Washington and Brussels.”

How many more people will have to die before politicians in London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels realize the need to jointly fight the terrorist threat?” Zheleznyak wondered.

Alexander Mikhailov, FSB Major-General (Retired) and President of the Russian Anti-Terror Fund agreed, saying that Britain is facing a threat even the entire Western world is unable to deal with alone.

“There is more to this problem than just Daesh propaganda. Europe is actively introducing anti-religious values like a tolerant attitude toward sexual minorities. Local Muslims refuse to accept this and some of them resort to terrorism to vent their anger,” Mikhailov told RT.

Lessons of Belgium attacks learned (almost)

Exactly a year ago, on March 22, 2016, 32 people were killed and dozens were injured in Daesh-organized attacks at Brussels international airport and a city metro station.

The attacks came even though Belgium had raised its terrorism alert to “serious and imminent” following the November 2015 carnage in Paris.

In response, the Belgian government proposed a raft of new counterterrorism laws and regulations. However, some of them, including on the use of additional security measures during a state of emergency, increasing the duration of pretrial detention to 72 hours from 24 now and measures preventing the radicalization of young people in mosques, were either voted down in parliament or have not yet taken effect.

The government did announce a €400 million ($432 mln) investment in terror-prevention measures though, and terror suspects can now have their passports suspended or annulled altogether.

The government also introduced a system of video monitoring of license plates of vehicles, stepped up border controls and banned the sale of SIM-cards for cellphones to people without identification documents.

A new terror attack possible

Still, many of the police officers stationed at Brussels’ Zaventem airport think that attacks like the ones that happened last year could happen again.

“Security at Zaventem is one big flop. Today a man with a bomb will have no problem getting inside,” one of them told the local media on condition of anonymity.

Others admitted that with the existing security system at the airport a new terror attack remained a possibility.

“There are two officers “armed” with a metal detector manning the entrance. They don’t check everyone’s baggage and, besides, they never use metal when making a bomb,” another officer told RT.

At Least 10 Egyptian Soldiers Killed in Counterterror Raid in Sinai

Ten members of the Egyptian security forces were killed in a blast during a counterterrorism raid in Sinai, an armed forces spokesman said.

The jihadist insurgency in northern Sinai started in 2013, shortly after the Egyptian army led by current President Abdel Fattah Sisi has overthrown then-president Mohamed Morsi. Police and security forces have been the target of deadly attacks by Islamists in the area.

Sinai’s militants pledged allegiance to Daesh in November 2014, taking the name of Wilayat Sinai.

Most of the attacks by the group were carried out in North Sinai, but it also claimed responsibility for attacks in other regions, including the country’s capital Cairo.

"While chasing terrorists, two army vehicles were hit by explosive devices which led to the killing of three officers and seven members of … the armed forces. Fifteen members of the terrorist group were killed and seven others were arrested during the raid," the spokesman said in a statement.

Joint forces liberate several areas in western Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Forces from al-Hashd al-Shaabi, backed by the 9th armored brigade and Army Aviation, resumed military operations to reinforce the western side of Badush vicinity and its surrounding areas.

According to a statement released by the media office of al-Hashd al-Shaabi, the operations resulted in the liberation of the residential complex, the villages of al-Jadida and al-Damerji al-Saghira and Arheiya area, as well as recapturing a communication system belonging to the Islamic State terrorist group.

Furthermore, the operations also destroyed four booby-trapped vehicles, before reaching their targets, in addition to killing and wounding a number of militants by a rocket attack launched by al-Hashd al-Shaabi.

Kurdish-led SDF forces seize Raqqa train station amidst ISIS decline

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday seized control of a train station in southeastern Raqqa city, military sources reported.

The progress followed heavy clashes between the US-backed SDF troops and Islamic State’s (ISIS) militants.

Dozens of ISIS militants were killed or injured in the clashes on Monday, according to officials.

The station, located in the Qasta al-Sukun district, was used by ISIS as a military base.

“Liberating the train station was another victory for our forces against this radical group,” SDF officer Habun Osman told ARA News.

Also on Monday, the SDF alliance drove ISIS out of the Jarqa town–20km east of Raqqa.

In early March, the SDF troops seized control of a main road that was used by Islamic State’s jihadists as a supply line between the cities of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa–the group’s de facto capital in Syria.

This comes as part of the third phase of the Euphrates Wrath Operation, aimed at liberating Eastern Raqqa from ISIS jihadists, launched by the SDF on 4 February.

During the first phase of Euphrates Wrath, which began on November 6, 2016, the SDF liberated roughly 560 km² in Northern Raqqa.

On 10 December, the SDF launched the second phase of the Euphrates Wrath, during which it captured over 2500 km² in Western Raqqa.

The campaign is ultimately aimed at isolating the ISIS radical group in its de facto capital.

Mosul, iraqi Troops in Tense House to House Searches

Members of the elite Iraqi Counterterrorism Service went house to house in west Mosul's Sinaa neighborhood on March 18, searching for Islamic State (IS) militants hiding out there. A cameraman working for RFE/RL's Radio Farda was with the unit as it encountered three militants and shot them dead. In another house, the soldiers found a young boy standing guard after other family members had left for a safer place.

Residents Flee West Mosul As Fighting Nears Old City, Key Mosque

Thousands of Iraqis were fleeing west Mosul during lulls in heavy fighting as government troops closed in on the Old City and a strategic mosque in their campaign to drive Islamic State (IS) militants out of Iraq's second-largest city.

Officials on March 18 said Iraqi forces were facing strong resistance as they attempted to retake the crowded, narrow streets of west Mosul in a drive launched with U.S. air support on February 19.

Government troops captured the eastern half of the militants’ so-called capital in Iraq in January after 100 days of fighting.

Iraqi troops are focused on encircling the Old City and the important Al-Nuri Mosque in west Mosul, Lieutenant General Raed Chaker of the Federal Police said.

Another Federal Police official on March 18 said troops had recaptured two heavily populated neighborhoods, Al-Kur and Al-Tawafa, in the Old City.

Food and water remained scarce and security was precarious in newly liberated areas. Many residents were seen fleeing to safer areas during lulls in fighting.

"We have been trapped for 25 days. No water, no food, everyone will die, and they will have to pull us from the rubble," a resident of Bab Jdid district said.

"It is terrible. Islamic State has destroyed us. There is no food, no bread. There is absolutely nothing," another resident said.

U.S. officials estimated as many as 750,000 civilians may have been in west Mosul at the start of the offensive, along with some 2,000 IS fighters.

Elements of the Federal Police and Rapid Response forces are leading the campaign around the Old City and the mosque.

Rain and heavy clouds were hanging over the area, limiting air cover.

"The weather is cloudy and rainy, but our forces are advancing toward their targets," Federal Police Major General Haider Dhirgham said.

IS militants were fighting back with sniper fire, mortars, and armored suicide car bombs, officials said.

Mosul and the Al-Nuri Mosque are of major symbolic importance to IS because it was where leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his so-called caliphate in 2014.

IS’s stronghold in Syria, Raqqa, is also under pressure from U.S.-backed forces.

IS militants seized large portions of northern Iraq and Syria in an offensive in 2014.

The group has been accused of numerous atrocities and has claimed responsibility for major terrorist attacks in Europe and elsewhere.

Iraq Situation Report: September 20 - October 3, 2016

The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have finalized conditions to begin the push north towards Mosul and its environs. The ISF recaptured Shirqat on September 22, the last ISIS-held city in Salah al-Din Province. Shirqat’s recapture extends the ISF’s control up the Tigris River from Baghdad to Qayyarah, placing the ISF on the doorstep of Mosul’s environs. The U.S. announced on September 28 that it would deploy an additional 615 advisors to several bases, including Qayyarah, to train Iraqi and Kurdish forces in preparation for the Mosul operation. The deployment represents the third “boost” to U.S. forces in Iraq since April. The deployment could help generate additional ISF forces, which are still needed to retake and hold Mosul. Meanwhile, Arbil and Baghdad announced the formation of a joint military committee on September 29 to coordinate in Mosul while the Ministry of Peshmerga announced Popular Mobilization, tribal fighters, and National Mobilization, a Turkish-backed Sunni militia, will participate in the operation. The statements gives a possible distinction between Sunni tribal fighters under the Popular Mobilization umbrella, which are acceptable to the Coalition, and Iranian-backed Shi’a militias in the Popular Mobilization, which are unacceptable. Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi warned the Peshmerga, however, that they should not exploit the operation to expand the boundaries of Iraqi Kurdistan. 

Iraqi officials have rejected Turkish presence in the operation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs renewed calls for Turkey to leave its base near Mosul after the Turkish parliament voted to extend the mandate for Turkish troops in Syria and Iraq on October 1. Turkish President Recep Erdogan stated on October 1 that Turkey will have a role in Mosul operations, likely in order to ensure the post-ISIS administration of Mosul is receptive to Turkish interests and to retain oversight of Kurdish ambitions in the region. Turkish presence could complicate the Iraqi Government’s ability to resolve Mosul’s post-ISIS governance if Turkey tries to influence the outcome in its favor. 

ISIS has increased its attacks in Baghdad and renewed attacks around Tikrit likely in order detract from the ISF’s ability to deploy north to Mosul. The Coalition assessed on September 29 that eight to twelve Iraq Army brigades would be needed to retake the city, however an estimated half of the ISF remain in and around Baghdad in order to secure the capital. ISIS will play on the ISF’s manpower shortage in order to delay or weaken the ISF’s operation into Mosul. The Coalition can reduce this vulnerability by generating and training additional security forces.

Former PM Nouri al-Maliki continues to unravel PM Abadi’s support base. The Council of Representatives (CoR) voted to dismissal Kurdish Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari on September 21 in the same method in which it dismissed Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi on August 25. The Reform Front, Maliki’s shadow party, spearheaded the effort, which succeeded largely due to a fallout between the Kurdish parties over Zebari’s survival. The Reform Front is now pushing for the dismissal of Minister of Foreign Affairs and former National Alliance chairman Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Sunni Minister of Electricity, Qassim al-Fahdawi. Maliki will continue his efforts to unseat PM Abadi’s administration in order to set conditions for the ultimate dismissal of PM Abadi himself. PM Abadi will face legislative obstacles in October as he needs to present new candidates for five vacant ministries and pass crucial budget legislation, both of which carry the risk of upsetting the status quo. He will need to ensure foremost that the Kurds remain involved the Iraqi Government, especially on the eve of the Mosul operation. He can do so by providing financial assistance to the Kurdistan Region, which remains in a dire economic crisis. Kurdistan Regional President Masoud Barzani 

The US Slides Deeper into the War in Syria

A Special Forces Operation Detachment-Alpha soldier on patrol. Image: US Army.

This week the US Department of Defense announced that it would send an additional 250 troops to Syria to serve in non-combat support roles. These come in addition to the approximately 50 Special Forces soldiers operating in Northern Syria in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). While still small, this new deployment marks the beginning of a move away from the ‘no boots on the ground’ policy of the Obama administration towards Syria.

While not explicitly stated, it is almost certain that these 250 troops being sent to the war-town country will be serving in support of the SDF. The reason for this is that this group is the US’s only successful partner on the ground in the fight against ISIS, and the only one far enough removed from the rebel/regime conflict in order to not cause diplomatic problems with Russia and Iran.

Furthermore, the US has recently constructed an airbase located in Rimelan in SDF-held northeast Syria, and local media there has already begun reporting the arrival of these US troops.

The primary question however is not who they will support, but rather in what manner. Significantly, it remains to be seen exactly how loosely the US defines the ‘support role’ provided by the troops.

While this is mostly talked about from the perspective of training local forces and calling in airstrikes from behind the front lines, this is not always the case. Experience over the last year in Iraq has shown that US troops do occasionally involve themselves in direct fighting with ISIS, and have suffered casualties from this. Moreover, footage has emerged in recent days of western Special Forces engaged in fighting on the front lines with the SDF during their offensive on Al-Shaddadi earlier this year.

With this in mind, it would appear that the US troops announced will play a mixed role; providing training and airstrike targeting support combined with at least some combat teams spearheading key advances. All of this will come in use as the SDF plans to conduct new offensives deep into ISIS-held territory, and into areas which are predominately ethnically Arab. There, support from the local population and tribes will be critical, and US assistance will help fold more non-Kurdish fighters into the SDF, garnering it greater international (and intra-Syrian) legitimacy

.

Taking a wider view, the US decision to become more deeply involved in Syria comes alongside moves which suggest the country has decided on the SDF as its favored partner in the country, and the best bet to defeat ISIS. While Russia has raised some concerns with the deployment, it does not interfere significantly with its own objectives for now, and the country is in itself supporting a separate SDF pocket further west. Notwithstanding major changes in the situation on the ground, the deployment of small numbers of US soldiers to the region could become a more regular occurrence as the final push towards ISIS’s capital Ar-Raqqa picks up. 

Battle for Khanasser as of 24th February 2016

Death by Putin

With Russian air strikes on civilians almost coming to a standstill, the number of killed sank to 26 on Mon.

February 2016 - Daesh’s Preparations Disrupted In Hasakah, Attacks Repelled Near Ain Issa

HASAKAH, ROJAVA, Syria (February 2016) —

On February 3 in the southeast of the city Hasakah, combatants from the People’s Defense Units (YPG) launched an offensive against occupied positions of the terrorist group Daesh (ISIS). The attack was led in the village of Elgana and its surroundings after insuring intelligence on the enemy’s preparation for a fresh assault was reported. The Defense Units who were accompanied by a unit of the Women’s Defense Units (YPJ) heavily struck the terrorists’ fighting positions, there was no immediate word on the casualties of the terrorists.

Earlier in the evening of February 2, the Defense Units carried out a search and patrol process in southern portion of Hasakah as Daesh terrorists were described to be on movement. There, a unit of the People’s Defense Units came across an improvised explosive device manipulated by three suspected terrorists disguised in civilian clothes. A combatant of the People’s Defense Units fell martyr as result the explosion of the IED, another comrade was wounded in action.

Ain Issa, Kobane — At about 11 am on February 3, equipped with extremely heavy weapons, a group of the Daesh terrorists stormed the countryside of the town Ain Issa in southern Kobane. The joint Defense Units in a tactical move could neutralize the enemy’s attempts by completing a series of counter-attacks which eventually ended in defeating the attackers’ plan. More updates regarding that battle will follow in next releases.

Aleppo — A unit of fighters from the People’s Defense Units conducted an attack on February 3 along the Jandol Road in northern Aleppo. Targeting multiple assemblies of operative terrorist forces, the Defense Units managed to pin down a military vehicle, and kill and wound 3 terrorist fighters.

Geneva 3 in the eyes of the people of Raqqa

Exclusive – RBSS

The world’s eyes to the Geneva Conference 3 being holds the first signs of a political solution and combines the opposition with the regime, after the regime was marginalizing the opposition and does not confess with their existence, saying that all his opponents are terrorist groups and armed, while he is sitting today forced in front of a delegation from the political opposition and forced to confess its existence.

The split among the Syrians was between supporters for the negotiations and any political solution that may result and between the likely military solution, but the largest percentage supported the negotiating team of opposition after seeing his firm and embraced the vision of millions of Syrians who want to end the suffering and the removal of the Assad regime, in the city of Raqqa summed up the real suffering as people are watching the negotiations closely While the world discusses the solution to negotiate with Assad, stationed in Raqqa another partner of him share his criminality and completes on the ground what Assad’s aviation could not do .

In turn, the team of “Raqqa is being slaughtered silence” conducted an opinion poll on opinions of civilians in the city of Raqqa of the Geneva conference, which included different age groups, but most of the opinions were looking for a solution to end the suffering in any way, said Rami 29 years old, a former teacher in the city , “the Geneva negotiations 3 are the first steps in the way of the solution in Syria and the disposal of the criminal Assad regime and the end of the Assad regime mean the end of ISIS also because the regime is the main nutrient for them,” while Sana college student said: that “Geneva 3 is a waste of time and will not differ much from Geneva 2 similar to the Geneva 1, and maybe it will be a prelude to the Geneva 4 who will decide to take place after a year which means the continuation of killings in the country. “

Saad 45 years old, talked about the possibility that Geneva is to be shifted in favor of the Syrian Revolution “Geneva 3, even if it will fail but it will be the first political victory that we might get, now is the regime is forced to negotiate who was considering them in yesterday’s germs and infiltrators, this shift is important for us we want to get rid of Assad so the terrorist groups will leave with him.”

In turn, Laila 38 years old, “she said I do not care to attend the Geneva I care what will result, all my care is to stop the killings and withdraw the terrorist militias supporting Assad and that Russia stop bombing civilians, I much whish that the world takes into account the suffering of millions of Syrians,” as Noor 32 years old said:, that “Geneva will succeed if he can enter food aid to Madaya and refugee camp of Yarmouk and Dir Elzor and Ghouta and give the freedom back to tens of thousands of detainees and stop the bombing, and if he could not achieve all of these rights that will push the world to the armed option which means more killing and destruction and perhaps the extremism of other groups.”

In spite of the poor performance of international envoy de Mistura and feeling the world with his bias to Assad regime and Russia, but the supreme body of the negotiations still can control the reins of things and stick to the demands of the people, despite of the international pressures that are exposed, today the body of the negotiations was able to get a lot of support and the support of activists who fired the Hachtag ‪#‎Committee‬of Supreme negotiations represent me.

DEATH BY PUTIN - Putin’s goal is destroying the city of Raqqa Not fighting ISIS

Once the Russian Kremlin announced its intention to intervene in the conflict in Syria to save the Assad regime under the pretext of fighting terrorism, until the Russian aircraft begun implementation of air sorties in the skies of Raqqa city and its countryside.

However, the repeated Russian’ statements of targeting ISIS were not consistent with the conduct of the raids carried out by the Russian aviation on the ground, as documented by local and international news agencies that most of the strikes were aimed mainly at the civilians, and through the shelling of residential neighbourhoods, popular markets and public facilities and infrastructure that serve the civilians directly.

This means that these raids were not aimed at the headquarters or any security military check points of ISIS known by everyone inside the city, but rarely, on the other hand they did not target the heavily armed ranks of ISIS which have long been scouring the public roads within and outside the city in the daylight, while the raids were aimed at the headquarters of ISIS ,they did not significantly affect the human structure of the military, where the losses of ISIS were virtually non-existent because most of the raids were aimed at former headquarters and absolutely empty of the ISIS members and its mechanisms as a result of the repeated targeting by the international airline alliance. 

What makes the Russian raids more advanced than the raids of the Syrian regime?

-The big destruction as a result of the enormous destructive power of its missiles, which caused dozen of massacres 

– Over flights and bombing day and night, which was something that the Aviation of the Syrian regime incapable of.

– Targeting all districts of the city, where neighbourhoods have been bombed that have never been exposed to any raids, not to mention, being purely civilian neighbourhoods.

– The systematic destruction of the infrastructure, and targeting sites that the Syrian regime did not dare to bomb such as bridges, water plants and silos and granaries.

What distinguishes the raids done by the Russian aircraft is another matter, which is targeting oil refineries which are called locally (oil Burners), which is a very small projects of refining crude oil in primitive ways, and they are owned mostly by the local population and have no direct link with ISIS

Also the raids targeted on the other hand, oil trucks that move between the towns of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa and owned by civilians also.

. 
And it seems like the Russian are trying so hard to convince the world that they are aiming at destroying all kinds of sources of ISIS through these raids that are targeting the Limited and primitive oil circulation which owned by the civilians, and that affects only the civilians.

However, the Russians know best about the economical and oil close relations between the regime and ISIS.

Not to mention targeting many of the Facilities and installations, which have been long ignored by the aviation of the regime previously, such as :

1. the trucks that move oil from where they find it inside areas controlled by ISIS to cities controlled by the regime

2. the wells that produce oil which by the way are still working until now under the supervision of ISIS 

3. the gas wells and the pipes that move it from ISIS areas to the regime’s, which the regime is depending on that for power generation

4. the trucks that move wheat and other sold grains by ISIS to middlemen working for the regime and deliver them to the its areas

On another hand, the Russian tried in Raqqa different kinds of weapons , such as, strategic missiles that were lunched from submarines stationed in the Caspian Sea, which landed in barren and free zones of population in the countryside of Raqqa, as they tried new types of Steric missiles, the residential neighborhoods were taking these kinds of experiments, and one of these experiments for instant , targeting the neighborhood of 23rd of Feb and the neighborhood of Saif Al Daola, where building were completely destroyed , and in some cases , streets were also completely destroyed , which is something happening for the first time in the city.

The civilians inside the city of Raqqa realize that the first goal of these raids is evacuating the city completely from the locals, and that through targeting residential neighborhoods to force the families to be displaced to other safer areas.

as everyone knows that the Russian air force and its aviation are more advanced and developed significantly than the Syrian counterpart, and the mistakes are rarely done by the Russians , when they target a residential neighborhood where there is no sign of ISIS on the range of 4oo meters is a clear clue that the target is the civilians and no one else, as we mentioned before that the main goal is evacuating the city of the locals so the city of Raqqa will be an empty and free stage for all types of aviation, beginning with the aviation of the international coalition who is an assumed friends and ending with the most Aggressive enemy , the Russians and the Assad regime.

In this context we can understand that the US Department of Defense remarks that the upcoming military operation on the city of Raqqa will be extremely difficult and complicated, pointing that what it seems that the city is still filled with lots of people , which is a reason that’s preventing its military operations, and since ISIS has emptied its spots and re-spread in the residential neighborhoods inside the city to make it worse and more complicated, it is okay for the Russian to handle “ The Dirty Job” which is killing the families of the city and bombing it without any mercy or evacuation

.

The international coalition and the United States are aware of the Reconnaissance planes that are flying 24/7 in the skies of the city, However the Russian raids are focusing on the neighborhoods directly and ISIS to be affected is almost non-existent, Therefore they don’t care as long as they are achieving their main target which is evacuating the city of Raqqa from the civilians as many as possible , so their aviation can fly later on to destroy the city completely just like what they did before in the city of Ein Al Arab in north of Syria.

It’s ‘hell’ : How ISIS prevents people from fleeing its ‘caliphate’

ISIS has been tightening security along the borders of its “caliphate” to prevent people from fleeing, according to locals familiar with the terrorist group’s territory.

And ISIS — aka the Islamic State — seems to be keeping a closer watch over its populace.

People who live in Raqqa, Syria, the de-facto capital of the group’s territory, which it calls its “caliphate,” are now reportedly forced to register with the militant government.

There are restrictions on what people can take in and out of ISIS-held cities. And women aren’t allowed to go anywhere without a male relative escort.

“Leaving the city is now really hard,” Abu Ibrahim al-Raqqawi, an activist with the group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, told Business Insider recently. “The problem is not going to Raqqa, it’s how to get out.”

Raqqa is the center of ISIS’s operations in the Middle East. Raqqawi — who uses a pseudonym — still travels back and forth from the city with the help of smugglers, he said. His family remains there.

Raqqawi said ISIS confiscates passports to make it more difficult to travel and forces people in the city to register so the militants can keep tabs on everyone.

“They are not allowing women to leave the city if they are not over 45 years old, and they are not allowing boys to leave the city if they are not over 19,” Raqqawi said. “After the statement that, ‘We want to register every boy in the city over 14,’ people are very afraid of the recruiting and want to leave.”

A Syrian man from Deir Ezzor, who goes by the name Fikram, told Business Insider that even some government areas “are surrounded by ISIS so civilians can’t get out except under certain conditions.”

“The area that is controlled by the terrorist organization has one road that civilians can go out from, and they open it in specific dates and times,” Fikram said. “Also, the civilians cannot move their personal items like home furnishings from the city.”

ISIS has also been enforcing rules around who can leave its territory. Ali Leili, a who runs the Syrian activist group D’Arezzo, described to Business Insider rules in place in Deir Ezzor, Syria.

“Sometimes people are allowed to leave to [go to] Damascus in order to [get] medical treatment, but not before they write a written undertaking that they will return to Deir Ezzor in the completion of treatment,” Leili told Business Insider.

Residents of other cities have talked of similar rules.

In Mosul, ISIS requires anyone leaving the city to provide the militants with the names of relatives who can vouch for their return, The New York Times reported in June. If the person does not return, their relatives may be arrested.

These restrictions have led to people relying on unconventional means to leave their homes.

“Hundreds of residents of Deir Ezzor and especially young people have left the province in secret smuggling routes to Turkey and then to Europe, [although] some of them are still in Turkey,” Leili said. “Everyone fled because of the hell experienced in the province because of the violations of [ISIS] and tightening the grip on the people there.”

The New York Times reported in a November story that a “cottage industry” of smugglers have cropped up to extricate people from ISIS territory. The newspaper reported that “until relatively recently, the routes into and out of Raqqa were mostly open.”

But now people have been relying on smugglers to supply them with false identification and accompany them across the Turkish border.

Others rely on ISIS militants themselves to help them escape ISIS territory. One woman who grew up in Raqqa and was roped into joining ISIS after the group took over the city asked a friend within the group to get her and her cousin out. The militant was able to get them through ISIS checkpoints without raising any suspicion.

Recently released ISIS propaganda suggests that the group is especially concerned about people fleeing and the damage that could do to the group’s brand.

In September, ISIS released a barrage of propaganda videos targeting refugees and telling them to come join the “caliphate” instead of fleeing to “xenophobic” Europe. The videos seek to reinforce the image of the caliphate as an Islamic utopia and capitalize on the dangers refugees face as they flee to European countries.

“They claim to create this Islamic utopia, and Muslims are fleeing in droves,” Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a counterterrorism analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Business Insider in September. “A legitimate caliphate … is supposed to be able to provide services to its citizens.”

“ISIS” military lull before the storm

Exclusive – RBSS

ISIS didn’t used to have a military recession like the one they’re having now in the light of the stopping of most of fighting fronts with the various armed factions and armed militias, when the front of Ein Essa is safe for the militia of popular protection units after it was one of the most ferocity fronts as in Dir Elzor in the east, where fighting stopped in almost completely since the last major operation launched by ISIS against the regime and its militias, leaving the north of Aleppo raged against the backdrop of clashes between factions of ISIS and the FSA in conjunction with the Russian aerial bombardment and the military progress of the regime forces towards the Nobil and Zahra.

Rally in Raqqa and fear of a repeat of Tel Abyad scenario

Raqqa city is witnessing a rise recently in the number of members of ISIS and his cars and pervasive barriers at the entrances and exits of the city as well as intensive patrols, which suggests that something is being planned.

According to our reporter in turn, that ISIS brought in reinforcements, including mortars and long-range missiles were also able to get information from different sources confirm the ISIS transferred a large number of confiscated cars to bombed cars is likely the possibility of processing an attack widely unknown destination until the moment.

For his part, Munther a young man from the city said: “We can say for sure that what is happening is the lull before the storm, I do not know if ISIS will attack somebody or that the city will be attacked by the regime or militia of protection units, do not want to get rid of the criminals to another criminal like it comes as happened in Tel Abyad, I know that the Russian bombing will stop in case of regime control or protection units control of the city but all residents will be displaced and northern countryside is living example of that. “

Destination is Aleppo

Aleppo Lives today the most difficult days in the Syrian revolution as it is now in danger of collapse at any moment with the documenting of nearly 150 strike within one day added to the regime progress backed by Hezbollah militia and Iraqi militia and Russian mercenaries from the point of Nobil and Zahra, at a time ISIS are trying to pressure from the opposite side to put it in the jaws of the pliers.

ISIS, as usual, trying to exploit the Russian military pressure on the city to subjugate and the opening of new crossings over control of parts of the border with Turkey and in particular with the strangle of it since losing Tel Abyad crossing and stop the flow of fighters, says Abu Mohammed, a bus driver, “I passed in front of several cars of ISIS loaded with fighters and dragging behind mortars I asked them to win their favor in order to avoid harassment where are going guys , to Dir Elzor ? One of them answered me, to Aleppo to fight the FSA there. “

The elimination scenario of ISIS

ISIS could have what we might call the “blind eyes” from near and far countries, after announcing the “state” and the start of its expansion to large areas in Iraq and Syria and seeking actively to consolidate its control over these areas of all methods, which allowed him the possibility of threatening the interests of many countries directly or indirectly and they were forced to form a so-called international coalition to face this organization.

During the course of military operations against ISIS, the main goal of the coalition was weakened ISIS but maintaining it and keeping the ingredients that led to its evolution of sectarianism in Iraq and the dictatorship in Syria, while who resides on the ground realize that the time factor is in favor of ISIS.

And if we’ll look for the possible scenario to get rid once and for all of ISIS in Syria, particularly in the area of Aljazeera province we will find that the equation is simple and summed up several items from which to ensure the elimination of ISIS and the seed planted in the community.

The first of these items is the leaving of Assad regime, which has contributed to the emergence of ISIS to prove his theory that the revolution is a fundamentalist extremist groups carry the thought of terrorism for fusing even the moderate opposition in this crucible and who went to it when they did not find salvation from the regime, but through it, we find that the largest proportion of members in ISIS of the Syrians are the ones from the areas which witnessed massacres, bombing and killing.

In addition, support for a Sunni Arab force to be the spearhead to fight ISIS and owns a popular incubator being of the people of the region, with the need to seek to regulate them well and protect them of the features of fragmentation and mistakes that made by their predecessors during the revolution and be a real nucleus of a future military institution of the country as a whole, and not to rely directly on specific racial or ethnic groups to fight ISIS, especially outside of their presence areas, and pressure to define its role in the areas in which they operate and force it to stop the excesses that created the incubator for ISIS and shown it in real protector of Sunni Arabs, as well as managing areas that come out of the hands of ISIS so that they become areas a good example of pushing the people of the areas that are still under the control of the latter to look for salvation from it.

Also, must not marginalize the Islamic parties in the next phase and to rely on the more moderate parties to assist in the eradication of the remnants of the thought of extremist ISIS through dialogue and correct the resulted intellectual warp, in addition to support the organizations and associations that are fighting ISIS intellectually the fact that his only goal was the dissemination of extremist ideology among the people and children more specifically, because he knows that he will be demised , those minds will carry this thought and will be the nucleus of the creation of ISIS again, more brutality, so fighting ISIS intellectually will reduce the number of entrants to him and will lie its allegations that trying to implanted in people’s minds.

Parallels the treatment of the etiology and fight ISIS intellectually in all areas where the from Iraq Libya, Egypt and others with military action against him, but the a great disaster in the presence of many parties believe that the regime’s army will remove ISIS and trying to support the idea of survival of the regime to fight ISIS, which is what drives civilians in the control of ISIS regions to rally around him and create a very popular incubator because they prefer to remain under his control that rather remain under the control of the regime than, which revolted ante before, as well as being aware that retaliation of the regime would be collectively and very expensive, and by this the international parties have served ISIS and proven presence in the region for years.

Russia Dropping Cluster Bombs over Civilian Areas in Syria

Russian bombers are dropping cluster munitions over Raqqa, Syria, the city known as the de facto capital of the Islamic State terror group, sources inside Syria confirmed to Breitbart News. Sources say Moscow is also indiscriminately targeting civilians neighborhoods populated by Sunni Muslims, killing innocent women and children in the process.

Russia remains loyal to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which has also indiscriminately targeted non-Alawite civilians throughout the country and is estimated to have killed far more Syrians than the Islamic State terror group. Forces loyal to Assad have slaughtered over 85 percent of the 250,000-plus Syrians killed during the war, according to estimates.

A source with Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, a citizen journalism network that was created to document the atrocities of the Islamic State, told Breitbart News that Russia is targeting almost the entirety of Raqqa with cluster bombs, munitions that carry explosives which on impact, disperse hundreds of deadly metal fragments. When these submunitions deploy, they spread out over hundreds of yards of territory, creating a situation where individuals far away from the target site are subject to being killed or seriously injured. A single cluster bomb may hold hundreds of sub-munitions.

The citizen journalist network posted photos of the Russian strikes on its social media pages.

Using Cluster bombs against Civilians in Raqqa is A WAR CRIME, international community should take responsibility

Russia’s Worsening Economy Means Less Aggression Abroad, More Repression At Home In 2016

For Russia in the new year, trends shaped by earlier developments in 2015 will continue to intensify.

Russia’s domestic economic situation will steadily worsen, although according to many analysts, at least in 2016, the Kremlin will have enough resources to sustain the status quo. The number of local protests (such as the recent protests by Russian truck drivers against new highway tolls) will steadily increase across the country. But in 2016, they are not yet likely to reach the level that would create real problems for the system.

Nonetheless, the regime’s paranoia about its survival will keep intensifying in light of the worsening economic situation. Hence a new set of more repressive laws is likely to follow, and the overall intensity of the repressions will increase. Expect more opposition activists jailed, more limitations on civil and political freedoms, and more prohibitive laws. Some remaining quasi-independent media may become victims of a new wave of repressions.

In the economic domain, currency control laws (which have already started to emerge) might multiply due to the scarcity of dollars. This would include new bans on imported products (Russia’s so-called “anti-sanctions”) and bans on holding foreign accounts. The same lack of rubles might induce higher taxes, fines and fees, as well as delays in salary and pension payments.

In the foreign policy dimension, the important development is that the Kremlin is running out of resources in light of collapsing oil prices and a deepening recession. This could lead to less aggressive Kremlin adventures on the international stage. Experts already predict that Russia’s military budget will soon be downsized. As I have shown elsewhere, Russia is a typical petrostate: it tends to get more aggressive when oil prices peak, and tends to avoid military escalation when oil prices are low. Therefore the scarcity of oil revenue in 2016 might push Russia towards a more compromising stance on its Ukraine and Syria policy. The recent appointment of Boris Gryzlov into Ukraine’s contact group may indicate a step in that direction. It is unlikely that the Kremlin has resources for a substantive military escalation in Ukraine as of now.

The Kremlin desperately needs higher oil prices to refill its budget. In an attempt  to inflate oil prices, the Kremlin may attempt to rekindle conflicts in the Middle East, for example between Saudi Arabia and Iran. But despite recent tensions between the two countries, experts suggest that military escalation between them is unlikely, as neither Iran nor Saudi Arabia wants to engage in a military confrontation with each other.

To ensure that Russia stays in line, however, it is necessary for Western sanctions to remain in place. The Kremlin’s engagement in Syria doesn’t seem to have influenced Washington’s position on sanctions, but in the EU the situation is more complicated, as the Kremlin has been courting some of the EU members and lobbying for their abolishment. Moscow had some success with Italy when Rome unexpectedly blocked the automatic extension of EU sanctions in December 2015 (although Italy’s foreign minister later denied this). For now, the sanctions will remain in place for at least another six months. But we can expect to see greater resistance to emerge from countries whose leadership is closer to Putin (such as Hungary) or whose trade is more closely intertwined with Russia the next time that sanctions come under reconsideration.

Finally, the development of shale oil might have fundamentally altered geopolitical realities. As hydrocarbon markets become increasingly competitive, the petrostate politics that had a dramatic influence on international trend in the past few decades might fundamentally change. The very concept of a “petrostate,” of which Russia is a prime example, might eventually fade out. We may be at the beginning of this process in 2016.

Digital trail left by Russian Paratroopers In Ukraine