Western – Saudi “Kurdistan” Strategy Foiled by Syrian and Iraqi Army
Successful Counterinsurgency in the Kurdish Region of Syria and Iraqi Military Operations Foil planned “Kurdistan Crisis”. Western – Saudi – Backed Terror Wave in Syria and Iraq however, creates Havoc and aim at Civil War.
The Syrian Arab Army conducts successful counterinsurgency operations throughout the country. Also, the Iraqi military has some success in limiting the effect of the primarily Saudi Arabia backed wave of terror that has been unleashed against the country, and Iraqi troops help securing the Syrian border.
A renewed and intensified wave of violence was expected in August and September. Iran´s leadership warns against attempts to cast the entire region into civil wars.
The Syrian Arab Army continues successful counterinsurgency operations throughout the country, including the primarily Kurdish region of northern Syria, where Saudi and Western-backed insurgents with ties to al-Qaeda attempt to provoke either Kurdish demands for secession or justify calls for an international intervention.
The strategy to seed discord between Syrian Kurds and Damascus and the attempt to justify calls for international interventions are failing as the Syrian Arab Army increased its operations in the region.
In Deir Ez-Zor, terrorists wounded a woman and a child when a mortar shell was fired into the al-Mouazafein neighborhood of the city. The shell fell near the al-Mouazafein Bakery and the blast inflicted serious injuries to a woman and a child. Several civilians were injured when two mortar shells were fired on the al-Fateh Mosque in the al-Osour neighborhood. One of the shells landed in the yard of the mosque while the other landed near the main gate, causing injury to several unarmed civilians.
Foreign Insurgents in Deir Ez-Zor. A still unknown number of terrorists in Deir Ez-Zor were killed while they were trying to rig a car with explosives. The deadly explosion occurred in the terrorist hideout near the Palace of Justice in Deir Ez-Zor City.
The Syrian Armed Forces targeted several positions and hideouts of the insurgents in Deir Ez-Zor, killing and wounding many of them. Among them were scores of non-Syrian insurgents. Scores of the insurgents in the predominantly Kurdish city were killed and injured in the al-Huwiqa neighborhood of Deir Ez-Zor. Among them were Mahmoud Ali al-Hassan, Fadel Muslim Hamada, Fayez Saleh al-Salem, Adel Ali al-Hamad al-Jader and Akram al-Salem.
In April 2013 the EU lifted its ban on the import of Syrian oil from “rebel held territory to finance the opposition”.
Syria´s Armed Forces also targeted a battalion of insurgents who were staging in the Hwija Saker area of Deir Ez-Zor, in preparation of new operations. The insurgents were staging in a 0.7 kilometer long area when the Syrian Armed Forces attacked.
Scores of the insurgents, including many foreigners were killed. Among them was a Yemeni citizen known under the name al-Basheq. Besides suffering heavy personnel losses, much of the insurgents equipment, including heavy machine guns was destroyed. Another Syrian Army unit destroyed a rocket launcher in the al-Ardi neighborhood, killing several insurgents at the location.
Another Army unit fought down and eliminated a group of insurgents the Cinema Fuad Street, also destroying a mortar launcher and ammunition caches in the area. Yet another Syrian Army unit clashed with a group of armed terrorists in the Sina´a neighborhood, killing the members of the group, including Qais al-Darwish. A terrorist hideout in the town of al-Shihel was attacked and destroyed by the Syrian Armed Forces.
Counterinsurgency operations, conducted by the Syrian Arab Army, are slowly but surely reestablishing relative law and order in the predominantly Kurdish region. The region around Deir Ez-Zor holds a large percentage of Syria´s oil resources. The Saudi Arabia and Western backed al-Qaeda insurgents attempt to either create a humanitarian disaster that would allow calls for a foreign intervention, or to provoke Kurdish calls for secession. The strategy failed, as the Syrian Arab Army increased operations in the region.
Iraqi Armed Forces foil Cross-Border Infiltration – Iraqi Officials blame Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and other Countries for Wave of Violence and Terrorism. The Iraqi Armed Forces continue operations against al-Qaeda linked terrorists and insurgents in the Jazerat al-Anbar region on the Syrian – Iraqi border.
Large Infiltration Attempt Foiled. A unit of Iraq´s Armed Forces repelled the attempt by a large battalion of al-Qaeda linked insurgents to infiltrate from Syria to Iraq in the region near the Rabia´a border area, killing a large number of the insurgents while some of them escaped. Large quantities of arms were seized during the operation.
An Iraqi official issued a statement, saying that the Iraqi Armed Forces have arrested 800 terrorists, destroyed 22 of the terrorists´ positions and hideouts, and discovered and seized 41 caches, full of weapons and explosives. Many of the explosives had been rigged for planned suicide missions.
The Iraqi Armed Forces have also seized 21 boats which the insurgents use for transporting weapons as well as for suicide attacks. The Iraqi official also stressed, that the “so-called Free Syrian Army” has provided advanced weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles, suitable for attacking the helicopters of the Iraqi Army to insurgents in Iraq.
Iraqi Officials point at Saudi Arabia and other Regional Countries. The Chairman of the Security and Defense Committee of the Iraqi Parliament, Hassan al-Sanid, has blamed Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and other regional countries for the terrorist operations which are being carried out in Iraq.
On Sunday, al-Sanid stressed, that open meetings are being held in some regional countries, such as a meeting that took place on the sidelines of a youth forum in the Karbala province, where some regional countries aim at indoctrinating youths to aim at changing the political situation in Iraq.
The Chairman of the Security and Defense Committee explicitly named Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan among those countries which “are in tune with the forces of terrorism in Iraq”. Hassan al-Sanid said:
“One notices clear encouragement for these terrorist acts on some of the satellite channels which are contributing to serving the interests of those countries.”
Also the former Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, has accused “certain countries” of utilizing their budgets for the aim of fragmenting Iraq and its people.
On the evening of Saturday 10 August, 2013 alone, 11 car bombs shook Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces, killing 70 civilians and injuring more than 250 others. Only halfway into the month of August 2013, it has already become one of the bloodiest month for years.
Syrian Arab Army – Nationwide Counterinsurgency Operations. Besides returning relative stability to the predominantly Kurdish region and Deir Ez-Zor, the Syrian Arab Army has carried out successful counterinsurgency operations in the countryside of Damascus, in Aleppo and the countryside of Aleppo, in the city of Homs and in the Homs region, in Hasaka, Idleb as well as in Hama.
The increase in violence in the region of Deir Ez-Zor and the general increase in the level of violence over the last two weeks has been forecast by analysts and concurs with intelligence, according to which the Syrian military and armed opposition and their foreign backers have planned a renewed, major military campaign in Syria in August and September.
August – September; Attempts to Justify Interventions. The campaign shall reportedly justify renewed calls for a no-fly zone, for humanitarian corridors and a foreign military intervention. Part of the strategy which the opposition had planned to use in August and September was the large scale or wide-spread use of chemical weapons. So far, it looks as if that element of the opposition strategy has been foiled by the seizure of large quantities of chemicals from the insurgents by the Syrian Arab Army.
On a political level, the findings of the Russian expert commission´s investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Khan al-Assal on 5 March, which clearly documented that it was the opposition and not the Syrian Arab Army that used chemical weapons against unarmed civilians, has likely contributed to inducing “second thoughts” about the large scale use of chemical weapons by the Western – backed insurgents.
The general strategy of the foreign-backed insurgencies has, according to several analysts as well as regional leaders, shifted towards the creation of civil wars throughout the region, including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt. Last week, the Iranian head of state, Ayatollah Khamenei warned the people of the region against foreign-backed attempts to create civil wars, and he especially called on the people of Iraq and of Egypt to be vigilant.