Tag Archives: Syria

Islamic State Attacks Palmyra & Takes Ramadi

Islamic State rebels engaged troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad less than a mile outside the ancient city of Palmyra Thursday night. Syrian troops reportedly used the ancient ruins as cover and areas of the city have been damaged through shelling. Palmyra has existed since at least the second millennium BC and was a wealthy trading city over under the Assyrian, Persian, Macedonian, Seleucid, and Roman/Byzantine empires. With Islamic States’ devastation of Nimrud and the Maryam Khatoon Mosque, people are right to fear Islamic State destroying Palmyra should it fall into their hands. As mentioned earlier on Free Fire, Islamic State gains funding in part via the illegal sale of artifacts. By destroying some artifacts, the price of others in Islamic State’s hands is greatly increased, allowing the jihadist group to drastically increase the profitability of the artifacts they hold. The black market artifact trade under Islamic State is allegedly worth around $1 billion.

The attack on Tadmur, the modern city near the Palmyra ruins, began Monday with Islamic State forces moving in from the north and east. Tadmur’s military airport is allegedly a location used by Iran to drop off troops and supplies to support the Syrian government, and Tadmur boasts several arms and fuel depots used by government forces, some of the largest in the area. Such supplies would be very useful for Islamic State and could allow the jihadist organization to expand their area of operation further west, perhaps even to Israel.

Islamic State has already seen more success in Iraq lately. This Friday, Islamic State militants seized the main government building in Ramadi, raising their black flag on the roof as they did so. Territory in Ramadi had changed hands multiple times in the nearly two year battle for the city, but Islamic State had never managed to seize the government building until today. Islamic State used six car bombs and an armored bulldozer to reach the fortified city center and take the main government building, though fighting continues in some areas of Ramadi. If Ramadi was to fall to Islamic State, it would be a severe setback to the Iraqi government in the wake of their victory at Tikrit several weeks ago, and to the Iraqi government’s attempt to retake Anbar province. Without holding Ramadi, the Iraqi government has little hope of controlling Anbar.

Violence in Qalamoun Mountains erupts; tension in Lebanon grows

Early last week, a coalition of Syrian rebels, including Al Qaeda-linked Jabhat Al Nusra and Ahrar Al-Sham, together with other primarily Islamist Syrian militias, with the intentions of marching on Damascus. al-Nusra, also known as al-Qaeda in Syria, has recently joined forces with the Islamic State in the outskirts of Damascus in hopes of carrying out a march on the Syrian capital that would result in military supply lines being cut off, resulting as a huge loss for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. The coalition sparked battles on the Syrian border, eventually pouring into Lebanon. When al-Nusra launched a preemptive attack on Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist group, the group retaliated with an ambush of an al-Nusra convoy inside Lebanon’s borders.  Although a response from the Lebanese government and military is not expected, Lebanese officials warned against a “cross-border” assault as the nation recently fought its own civil war in 1975 through 1990.

Much of the fighting has occurred in the Qalamoun Mountain region of Syria, an area used as a supply route for Syrian insurgents and as a strategic area that looks over Syrian towns with a strong Hezbollah presence. Close to 3,000 militants are based in the Qalamoun region, with numbers evenly split between al-Nusra militants and Islamic State militants. Al-Nusra, also known as al-Qaeda in Syria has recently joined forces with the Islamic State in the outskirts of Damascus. Last week, as Hezbollah vowed to clear Syrian rebels from the area, it seized mountainous terrain once controlled by al-Nusra, including training camps and hideouts. In response to Hezbollah’s presence in Lebanon, and attacks on al-Nusra territory, the Sunni group has released a video of seven Lebanese hostages begging Shi’ites to “stand up” to Hezbollah before a full out war breaks out in Lebanon. Lebanon has seen a resurgence of its sectarian conflict throughout the Syrian civil war. Lebanon’s Sunni Muslim population has tended to support Syrian rebels, whereas the country’s Shi’ites have supported the Assad regime. As a result, civil unrest and violence have erupted amongst Lebanese cities.

Hezbollah, a proxy of Iran and an ally of Assad, claims to be defending Lebanon and its people, but it is primarily motivated with maintaining its routes of resupply from Iran and Syria. There is growing concern that Hezbollah may be planning to launch attacks on refugees seeking asylum in Lebanon as its leader recently stated it would begin an operation to eliminate terrorists in Lebanon who are disguised as refugees. With over one million Syrians taking refuge in Lebanon, an attack on refugee areas could result in increased sectarian violence in an already unstable Lebanon.

US Needs a Strategy for the Collapse of the Assad Regime

Adding to the complexity of the current chaos in Syria and Iraq, the Jerusalem Post reported this week that Syria’s Assad regime may be on the brink of collapse.

Syria has faced four years of civil war and 200,000 deaths. Multiple rebel offenses have taken key cities such as Idlib. There is a concerted rebel effort making its way towards Damascus in the South.

Danielle Pletka, Senior Vice President for Foreign and Defense Policy Studies of the American Enterprise Institute, gave a dire outlook for Syria when she wrote this week that

“The facts are straightforward: rebel forces have been advancing on government/Hezbollah/Iranian-held towns with growing success. Led by al Qaeda ally Jabhat al Nusra (JN) in coordination with a mishmash of other Islamist groups, Assad’s opponents appear to be consolidating their hold over Idlib province, and are making gains elsewhere around the country. And, as multiple analysts have noted, at the same time that JN et al appear to be coordinating more effectively (while shutting out ISIS and its allies), Assad’s own forces seem to have lost the will to fight.”

The Syrian military has dropped by half due to high rates of casualties and desertions. As a result, it is increasingly relying on foreign fighters, many trained and armed by Iran.

The collapse of the Assad government would make Syria a greater threat to regional security than it is today since there is a strong possibility it would be taken over by Isis and Al Qaeda and become a terrorist safe haven..

The Obama administration’s strategy for Syria has been incoherent. It needs to come up with contingency plans in case the Assad government collapses so the country does not become another Iran or Libya.

Syrian Province Falls To Al-Qaeda Militia

A group consisting of fighters from al-Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front (Jabhat al-Nusra) and US-backed rebel groups captured the Syrian town of Jisr al Shughur in the Idlib province Saturday in an offensive dubbed by the rebels “The Battle of Victory.”  The rebels took the city rapidly after a four day battle partly by  utilizing American-made TOW missiles and other advanced weaponry. Much of the American weaponry has ended up in the hands of the Nusra Front after the Islamist group defeated US-supported rebel forces.

This victory comes in the wake of a recent alliance between Sunni Islamist groups not affiliated with Islamic State. The alliance is named “Army of Fatah” after the original conquering Muslim army of the seventh century. Rebel forces launched the offensive with a three pronged assault on Jisr al Shughur. Government forces expected an attack on Ariha rather than an assault on Jisr al Shughur from the west. Reports from loyalist troops state that the rebels were assisted by a significant number of guerrillas who came over the Turkish border. The Turkish government has been accused in the past by the Kurds of giving support to the Nusra Front.

The loss of Jisr al Shughur prevents the Syrian government from supplying the surrounded western bases of Mastuma and Ariha via ground, hampers loyalist travel from Latakia to Aleppo, and is the second major loss for government forces in the past month since the fall of Idlib, the capital of Idlib province, to rebel forces on March 28. With Idlib in rebel hands, the entire province is now out of the control of the Syrian government, and an attack on the loyalist stronghold of Latakia, and perhaps even further support for the battle in Aleppo, is possible.

With Al-Qaeda making an effort to retake their former position as the premier Sunni jihadist organization from Islamic State, the United States should be more careful about arming Syrian rebels, even if they profess to be moderates. Given the U.S. track record in arming Syrian Islamists, who have repeatedly either failed to defeat, or else willingly cooperated with Al Qaeda, there’s no reason to believe that we will be more successful at the vetting process at this late stage.

The U.S.’s decision to create false distinctions between Syrian Islamist militias, Al Qaeda, and Islamic State, has created an incoherent policy where one Global jihadist organization (Islamic State) is facing airstrikes and a popular campaign to role it back, while the other, (Nusra Front) , is at best being ignored, or at worst, knowingly aided by a confused Syria policy.

Al-Qaeda Capitalizes on Strategic Opportunities in Yemen

As the heavy Saudi-led airstrikes continue against the Shiite rebels loyal to President Hadi, the chaos has allowed Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to continue its major offensive with the capture of the Riyan airport, a sea port, and an oil terminal on Thursday just outside the city of al-Mukalla.

Military officials close to the situation said that AQAP extremists clashed with Yemen security officials outside the city of Al-Mukalla for a brief time before the eventual takeover. AQAP has strategically exploited the chaos in Yemen, most notably in the early April prison break to free over 300 loyalists and extremists, including senior AQAP commander Khaleed Saeed Batarfi.

Mukalla is the capital of Yemen’s largest province, Hadrawawt, and has been under United States drone strikes and counterterrorism actions since AQAP’s presence in the region. Not only is AQAP’s presence in the region ensuring more conflict, but Houthi rebels had seized the capital earlier in the month and exiled President Hadi.

Al-Qaeda has sat back and tactically capitalized on the Shiite-Saudi and Houthis-Hadi battles and has mapped out its own territory within the battlefield known as Yemen. The military units of Al-Qaeda’s opponents are quickly shrinking and the advancement of AQAP is going under the radar. It is important to point out that AQAP does not appear to be the target of Saudi led airstrikes, and this precise move is what is helping facilitate Al-Qaeda advancement.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Carter and Joint Chief of Staff Chairman acknowledged the American-backed Saudi  General Martin E. Dempsey faced questions as to the growing conflict in Yemen and if the conflict created a growing environment for Al-Qaeda to expand:

AQAP provides opportunity in the environment created by the turmoil in Yemen. AQAP, just to remind you, is a branch of Al Qaida that has shown a particular determination to attack us and our homeland, and is therefore of serious concern to us. We continue to watch them and take action against AQAP.

You know, it’s obvious that it’s easier to do our counter-terrorism operations against AQAP when there’s a settled government in Yemen. There is not that now. We, for that reason and other reasons, hope that there will be and are trying to work with others in that direction.

It is being reported that AQAP took control of the 27th Merchandised Brigade’s camp and seized heavy weapons, artillery, and tanks.

Peace initiatives have been called upon by Yemen’s exiled Vice President Bahah, saying that ground operations must cease for peace talks. Unfortunately, the United Nations special envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, resigned early Thursday morning due to “interests in moving to another assignment”. Pressure was mounting as the Moroccan diplomat had seen a surge in Houthi operations.

APAP is still widely considered Al-Qaeda’s strongest terroristic branch, with its size and operational capacity the greatest threat to United States homeland security. With no end to the conflict in sight, a strategy to minimize the conflict in Yemen is all we can hope for now.

Somali-American Indicted On Terror Charges

Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, a 23 year old man from Columbus, Ohio, was indicted by a federal jury on three counts of terrorism yesterday. Mohamud, a Somali immigrant, is accused of going to Syria last year to train with Jabhat al-Nusra before returning to the US, where it is suspected that he planned to launch an attack on US military facilities or a prison.

According to the indictment, Mohamud is charged with aiding terrorists, aiding terrorist organizations and lying to federal investigators. For these crimes, Mohamud faces 38 years in prison. The aid was in the form of a computer tablet and other materials, as well as conducting money laundering in order to cover his tracks. While in Syria, Mohamud allegedly received training in weapons, explosives, hand-to-hand combat, and breaking into houses. Mohamud was then instructed by a cleric to return to the United States and commit terrorist acts. At this time the FBI has not released information on what Mohamud was planning to target specifically, though the indictment notes Mohamud’s desire to go to a US military base in Texas and kill several US soldiers there.

Mohamud was arrested back in February because he posed a a flight risk. His attorney, Sam Shamansky, stated that Mohamud was no risk to anyone and had been under surveillance for well over a year before his arrest; Mohamud pled not guilty to the charges.

The FBI has been tracking around 200 Americans who have gone to Syria since the beginning of the civil war in 2011. Americans of Somali origin consist of the largest group, examples include Abdi Nur and Abdullahi Yusuf, charged with attempting to join Islamic State. Adullahi Yusuf was arrested at the Minneapolis airport as he tried to board an aircraft to Turkey. Mohamud immigrated to the US as an infant with his family back in 1998, where he had a relatively uneventful life before he started supporting Islamic State openly on Facebook. Mohamud’s half-brother, Abdifatah Aden, also from Columbus, was killed while fighting in Syria. Aden had joined the Nusra Front back in summer 2013. According to the indictment, Mohamud initially tried to join Islamic State but Justice Department officials refuse to release information on exactly what terrorist group Mohamud ended up joining. However, sources indicate that Mohamud did join up with al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria Jabhat al-Nusra. Of note is that according to Mohamud’s (now inactive) Facebook page, Mohamud married a Somali woman living in Istanbul named Zamzam Hashi back in December 2013. Mohamud did fly to Istanbul to begin his trip to Syria.

Palestinian Jihadi Group Clashes with Islamic State over Refugee Camp

On April 2, 2015, Palestinian fighters and Syrian rebels moved to retake a refugee camp in Syria’s capital of Damascus which had been seized by the Islamic state.

IS has held control over substantial portions of the camp following fighting which began on April 1st. ISIS captured the majority of the camp, in order to position themselves to target Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president. Reportedly, Al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Al Nusra fighters joined Islamic State in the attack.

While it initially seemed the Islamic State had succeeded, later in the day, the Palestinian terrorist group, Aknaf Beit Al-Maqdis retaliated, attempting to retake the Yarmouk camp.

Approximately 18,000 civilians, 3,500 of whom are children, live in the refugee camp. The United Nations Refugee Works Agency, states that the clashes taking part inside of the camp are putting the children at serious risk.

Syrian rebels entered the camp in order to help fight against the Islamic State. By the end of April 2nd they had forced ISIS to the edges of the camp. Fighting is currently continuing on the outskirts of the camp, with Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis and the Syrian rebels trying to regain complete control. So far, there have been six fatalities and 17 others wounded.

Palestinian fighters who were able to regain control of nearly all of the camp though IS remains present on the borders.

Several articles have reported that the group Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis is loyal to Hamas. Previously the group’s allegiance was to al-Qaeda and in 2013, Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis was publicly speaking out against Hamas. Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis’ renewed loyalty may be recognition that they share more in common with Hamas than IS.

The Islamic State’s Dabiq magazine recently published its argument against what it described as factionalism, and instead emphasized loyalty to the Islamic State and the path to global jihad.

Despite their similar in goals, Hamas and Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis are principally Palestinian in orientation and support liberating Palestine as an Islamic State as a first step towards global jihad.

As a result, there have been repeated rhetorical disagreements between Hamas (and its parent organization, The Muslim Brotherhood) and the Islamic State. Islamic State believes that it is inappropriate for Hamas to try to liberate Palestine as a national project, because the true priority is establishing a united Islamic caliphate.

Yet again, we see how an ideological analysis can provide useful insights regarding inter-jihadi disputes.

Sunni Jihadists Gain Ground in Syria

The al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front seized the provincial capital of Idlib in northwestern Syria this past weekend. Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s forces withdrew after five days of intense fighting with a primarily al-Nusra-dominated coalition of rebels, all of whom are part of the multi-faceted Syrian opposition.

According to the “Army of Conquest”, the name of the coalition, 70 rebels were killed in the decisive battle. Beyond al-Nusra, other Islamist militias helped in the effort including Ahrar al-Sham, Jund al-Aqsa, Liwa al-Haqq, and Failaq al-Sham, and some smaller groups played a lesser role.

Al-Nusra said today that it will rule Idlib with sharia law, with the group’s leader Abu Mohamad al-Golani stating, “We salute the people of Idlib and their stand with their sons … God willing they will enjoy the justice of sharia, which will preserve their religion and their blood.” While the jihadists were battling the regime and now are trying to setup Islamic governance, hundreds of thousands of residents have reportedly fled the city.

Idlib has strategic significance for multiple reasons, including that it is 20 miles from the Turkish border, and one Syrian military source accused Turkey of helping the rebels take Idlib. Furthermore, Idlib is only the second provincial capital that Assad has lost, the first one being Raqqa. The Sunni jihadists are gaining ground and can consolidate their power in Idlib to move onto other strategic targets. Idlib is important for exerting control northeast toward Aleppo city, and the rebels are better suited to move towards Hama city and its military airfield or into the regime’s heartland.

As al-Nusra is imposing sharia law on Idlib, its main rival jihadist group, Islamic State (ISIS), seized most of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria’s capital. Al-Nusra members who defected to ISIS helped in the fight against Assad regime forces. According to the U.N., before the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Yarmouk was home to about 200,000 people; now, that number is down to 18,000.

ISIS has been attempting to push into western Syria, far way from its main strongholds, for months. The group is trying to establish sleeper cells in the areas around Damascus and maintain a firm presence there. While the regime has strong checkpoints to repel attackers from Damascus, ISIS’s presence so near to the capital indicates that they are getting closer.

While these two developments are occurring, Syrian rebels, including Jabhat al-Nusra, were fighting Wednesday with regime forces along the Jordanian border. The rebels attacked the main border crossing between the two countries on the Syrian side, known as the Nasib post, causing Jordan to close the area. According to Conflict News, al-Nusra militants captured the border crossing on the same day. If true, Jordan will rightfully be concerned about the fighting’s proximity to its border, especially while it has been dealing with an influx of Syrian refugees throughout the civil war.

All of these stories show the increasingly chaotic situation in Syria. While ISIS is adding territory to its self-declared caliphate, the al-Nusra front is also quietly gaining territory. Both groups’ success will only increase their propaganda and bring in more recruits. With Sunni jihadists groups on the move and the Assad regime trying to hold onto as much of the country as possible, there seems to be no good foreseeable outcome. The conflict will only get more complicated as the fighting gets closer to Turkish and Jordanian territory and Islamist rebels get closer to Damascus.

Iran Outsourcing Nuclear Program to Rogue Nations

The world’s focus is on the ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and the P5 + 1 partnership. In the meantime, reports are beginning to surface detailing the nuclear agreement between Iran and various rogue states – primarily North Korea and Syria.

North Korea and Iran have had a long history of nuclear proliferation together since the early 1990s. In 2002, it was reported that a shipment of weapon grade uranium cracked and contaminated Tehran’s newly constructed airport, causing complete closure for weeks.

For years Iran and North Korea were working together to complete a secret nuclear facility in Deir al-Zour, Syria. Prior to completion, Israeli jets destroyed the facility in 2006.

Then in 2012, North Korea and Iran signed a technical cooperation pact. Shortly thereafter, it was reported that Iranian military personnel were moved to a remote military base in the North Korean mountains.

Iran has clearly developed a habit of exporting their nuclear technology. While these revelations focus heavily on Syria and North Korea, our southern neighbors continue to be ignored by Washington.

The Iran theocracy has heavily invested in creating nuclear relationships with many of the government in Latin America. The most noteworthy examples are that of Venezuela and Argentina.

When Hugo Chavez took power of Venezuela in 1999, Iran saw a strategic partner to fight against their common enemy: the United States. Since then, the Chavista regime has continually strengthened their relationship with Iran.

It has been reported that since 2007, a state owned airline made repeated flights to Tehran from Caracas. While estimates claim it ran until 2010, there is absolutely no way of knowing whether or not the program has ended. Due to the airlines success, it seems highly unlikely that either Tehran or Caracas would abandon such a profitable enterprise.

This airline, nicknamed Aeroterror, would fly drugs from Venezuela to Tehran with a brief stop in Damascus. The return flights often included large sums of cash, weapons, Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard operatives, and various other unknown cargos.

In 2007, Chavez played a critical role in establishing ties between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Argentina’s eventual president Cristina Kirchner. It has been reported that Ahmadinejad pleaded with Chavez to secure nuclear technology from Argentina. Tehran even directly contributed vast amounts of cash to Kirchner’s presidential campaign.

With no hard proof that any technology was shared, one can only deduce it was. The fact is that the Iranian and Argentine heavy water reactors share numerous structural similarities. The possibility that that Venezuela could have used this airline to smuggle nuclear technology supplied from Argentina to Tehran should not be ruled out.

With suspicion that Tehran has moved their nuclear program out of the country to meet the criteria of a nuclear deal with the United States, one could argue that Venezuela would be an ideal location to do so. Anti-American, corrupt, and lacking American intelligence assets, Venezuela has become prime location for Tehran’s strategic plans.

ISIS Reportedly Deploys Chemical Weapons Against Kurds

Since October and the battle over Kobane, Kurdish fighters have repeatedly accused Islamic State of deploying chemical weaponry, chlorine gas in particular, but no concrete evidence of the use of such weapons has been available. At least, not until this weekend when the Kurdish Regional Security Council released what they say is video showing a truck loaded with canisters dispensing chlorine gas against Peshmerga fighters, many of whom reported nausea after exposure.

When the truck was destroyed by Peshmerga, it released a large cloud of white vapor into the air, and Peshmerga report that they recovered some twenty empty canisters of gas from the remains of the truck. The Security Council said in a statement that soil and clothing samples were taken from the site of a suicide bombing on January 23rd to a laboratory for analysis, where it was discovered that the chlorine used was in a weaponized form. However, this report has not yet been confirmed by other sources. Chlorine has also been used several times in Syria as well.

If the allegation is true, this wouldn’t be the first time the Islamic militant group has used chlorine gas in Iraq; in May 2007 Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists in Iraq detonated three chlorine tankers as makeshift chemical bombs in Anbar province. A few months before that, US forces had raided a bomb factory near Fallujah that was also being used to produce chlorine gas and other crude chemical weaponry. The utilization of chlorine-enhanced explosives became a favored tactic of Al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq. Al Qaeda in Iraq would eventually evolve to become Islamic State.

Worse still is the fact that Islamic State seized the Al-Muthanna chemical weapons development facility last summer during its initial Iraq offensive. Al-Muthanna a facility capable of producing mustard gas and various nerve agents, and held the remaining chemical weapons from the Ba’athist regime stored in two sealed bunkers on site. At this time, it is unclear if any of the weapons were stable enough to be used effectively.