UPDATE3: Even Moscovites read b’s posts @MoA – Race for Raqqa: Why Washington Wants to Capture the City | Sputnik News |
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the US-led coalition are competing in a race for Raqqa, because the stakes are very high; to restore Syria’s sovereignty, the SAA should be the first to expel Daesh from the eastern Syrian city.
Over the last few days, the 555th Brigade of the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division, backed by pro-government militias, has continued to gain ground in northeast Syria. It has moved toward the Al-Raqqa Governorate’s strategic Tabaqa Military Airport.
On Thursday morning, the Syrian Arab Army’s 555th Brigade – in close coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF), Liwaa Suqour Al-Sahra (Desert Hawks Brigade), Kataebat Al-Ba’ath (Al-Ba’ath Battalion), Fouj Al-Joulan (Golani Brigade), and the predominately Palestinian pro-government militia “Liwaa Al-Quds” (Jerusalem Brigade) – imposed full control over Tal Madakhah after a violent battle with the ISIS terrorists positioned at this small hilltop near Ithriyah.
On Friday, Syrian armed forces re-entered the governorate for the first time since August 2014. Back in 2014, Tabaqa Military Airport was seized by Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) and turned into the terrorists’ primary military base and training ground in Syria, according to the independent news source Arab al-Masdar.
“With the Khanasser-Ithriyah Road free of any ISIS [Daesh] presence, the Syrian Armed Forces can continue to concentrate their soldiers at the Raqqa-Hama axis without having to fear another disruption along their primary supply route to Aleppo,” Al-Masdar News reports.
Battle of Al-Tabaqa air base: clashes between ISIL and SAA in August 2014
After Tabaqa airport, what is IS’ next target? | Al Monitor – August 2014 |
The unexpected end and thunderous fall of the Tabaqa Military Airport in Raqqa to the Islamic State (IS) has reshuffled the cards on the ground and opened the eastern and central parts of Syria to endless, dangerous possibilities. Meanwhile, the Christian majority city of Mhardeh, in the countryside of Hama, was under the fiercest offensives by Jabhat al-Nusra several days ago, amid fears that the scenario of [the capture of] Maaloula could be repeated.
Regardless of how you describe what happened at the military airport, whether it was to retreat and regroup the Syrian troops outside the airport, a withdrawal and defeat, the inevitable truth is that Raqqa province as a whole has become devoid of any presence of the Syrian army, which is a precedent since the start of the Syrian war three and a half years ago. This gives IS greater freedom of movement and mobility and allows it to secure supply routes between Mosul and the city of Raqqa.
The fall of the military airport is expected to result in dangerous repercussions on several areas, stretching from the countryside of Hama — which is, according to estimations, probably the next target for IS — through the Deir ez-Zor military airport — which is severely endangered following the loss of the 24th air defense brigade — to some Iraqi areas where fierce battles are taking place. IS may now be able to bring additional fighters after it managed to get rid of the threats posed by the aircraft of the Tabaqa Military Airport, by targeting its fighter jets and inflicting great damage to them.
The Tabaqa Military Airport fell yesterday [Aug. 24] to IS, which launched its fourth attack in six days. Although the airport was able to effectively counter major attacks, the ongoing and unusual heavy attacks in a short period of time pushed the military leadership to consider a decision to evacuate the airport and withdraw all of the troops, aircraft and military equipment. The control of the Syrian army units over Oujail village, which is close to the airport toward the south, on Thursday [Aug. 21] was an important indicator of the army’s quest to secure a safe route that would enable troops at the airport to pass through toward Athrey in the countryside of Hama, when the decision to evacuate [the airport] was taken.
The Mysterious Fall of Raqqa, Syria’s Kandahar | Al Akhbar – Nov. 2013
The Euphrates overflows with blood, and the crows caw over the corpses that the Syrian city of Raqqa sacrifices every day to the princes of death in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and al-Nusra Front, ever since the two al-Qaeda affiliates turned the city into the first official province of their Islamic emirate. The tyranny that people rose up against has now returned, more morbid than before. Today, Raqqa is Syria’s answer to Kandahar – the birthplace of the Taliban.
The opposition Syrian National Coalition has no presence in Raqqa. All mainstream opposition forces left the city months ago because of clashes between the various brigades of the armed opposition. Raqqa is today without a state, and its people grapple with death every day, with no hope in sight for a normal life.
Eight months have passed since the armed opposition brigades and al-Nusra Front entered Raqqa, at dawn on 2 March 2013. Since the armed opposition offensive, only three Syrian army bases in the entire governorate have survived: the 17th division, stationed around 1 km north of Raqqa; Tabaqa military airport, 50 km west of the city, along the Raqqa-Aleppo expressway; and the 93rd brigade, stationed 55 km from Raqqa near the town of Ain Issa.
Mystery has shrouded the manner in which Raqqa fell, as there have been indications the city did not fall militarily. While there was no formidable Syrian army deployment in the city, which had been surrounded on four sides by checkpoints, it is not logical that the city fell in a matter of hours.
The Syrian regime force manning the eastern checkpoint pulled out on the morning of the attack, handing over the city’s eastern entrance – and the entire eastern district – to the fighters of the Muntasir Billah Brigade and al-Nusra. The officers of the Syrian military police and the Hajana – the border guard – were even seen moving their equipment, without any harassment from the opposition fighters, from the center of the city to the headquarters of the 17th division, before the opposition brigades advanced and took over the Hajana’s vacated barracks.
To many, what happened was suspicious. The truth about what happened is known only to a handful, including Raqqa Governor Major General Hassan Jalali and local Baath chapter Secretary General Suleiman Suleiman, who were both captured by al-Nusra two days after the offensive. Their location remains unknown, but it is rumored that they are being held inside the Euphrates Dam that al-Nusra now uses as a base.
