Iran sends troops to syria
The aim is really to help the armed forces of Syria in their weak spots
• Iran ground forces were on the move Thursday night in Syria in preparation for an attack to reclaim rebelheld territory under the cover of controversial Russian airstrikes, according to sources close to Damascus.
The Russians are predominantly targeting those rebels not aligned to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who present the biggest threat on the ground to Bashar Assad’s regime.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia that has come to Assad’s rescue in battlefronts throughout Syria during the past two years, is prepared to capitalize on the strikes, a source said.
Iran, which is the main sponsor and tactical adviser to Hezbollah, was sending hundreds of its own troops to reinforce them, sources in Lebanon said.
Iran made no comment on the claims, but Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, said the move would be an “apt and powerful illustration” that Russia’s military actions had worsened the conflict.
Russia’s long-term aim would be to defeat or demoralize the non-ISIL opposition, so ISIL became the regime’s only enemy. That would force the West to back Assad, the Syrian president, against the terror group.
“They want to clean the country of non-ISIL rebels, and then the U.S. will work with them, as ISIL will be the only enemy,” the Damascus source said.
In the first instance, an attack in northwestern Homs province, the apparent chosen battlefront, would help distract the rebel alliance from attacking Latakia, the stronghold of the Alawite minority from which much of the Assad regime is drawn.
The Russians continued their aerial bombardment Thursday. Targets included Jisr al-Shughour and Jabal al-Zawiya, areas under the control of Jaish al-Fatah, the Army of Conquest, an alliance of Islamist groups that has won significant victories against Assad’s forces this year.
The Russians included ISIL targets in Raqqa and Deir Ezzour provinces, among them a Syrian airbase that fell to ISIL this year.
The Kremlin admitted Thursday that objectives included non-ISIL targets, something it had previously denied.
“The aim is really to help the armed forces of Syria in their weak spots,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said in New York the Russian campaign was little different from the American one, which has hit al-Qaida targets in Syria as well as ISIL ones. “We see eye-to-eye with the coalition on this one,” he said. “We have the same approach: It’s ISIL, al-Nusra and other terrorist groups.”
However, rebels claimed the “other terrorist groups” included moderate elements, some trained by the Central Intelligence Agency as part of the American program for supporting the opposition.
The Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, one of the CIA-backed groups, said it had been hit by 20 missiles in its base in Idlib province. Among the dead from Wednesday’s strikes was said to be a prominent rebel leader in north Homs province, Capt. Iyad alDeek, a former regime officer who defected in the uprising.
Also hit by a strike, said to be Russian, were the outskirts of the town of Kafranabel, one of the best-known centres of secular activist opposition to Assad over the past four years.
The rebels have promised to take the fight to the Russians, some in blood-curdling comments online.
“Is it not time for the knight to mount his steed? Is it not time to cut off the heads? What are we waiting for?” said Mohammad al-Maghaweer, who claimed to be a front-line fighter with Jaish al-Fatah.
Another fighter, Mukhlif Hussein al-Tamer, from Idlib, said, “My message to the Russian bear — no matter how much you gather your force in Syria, do not think we are afraid of your failing forces.”
The rebels also claimed civilians had been killed.
“The mosque was virtually destroyed, and there was a body under the ruins, and there were eight wounded, among them a child,” said Tareq Abdul-Haq, a media activist who visited Jisr al-Shughour after the Russian bombing.
Russia is preparing both a United Nations resolution purporting to cover both its bombing campaign and that of the U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition under one formulation, and a new round of peace talks.