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[AcademicSaucer]

Syrian soldiers fought their way into an airbase in northern Syria on Tuesday, state television said, breaking a nearly two-year siege by Islamic State insurgents at the facility and freeing military personnel holed up inside.

A military source close to the government said the army was working to secure the Kweires airbase in Aleppo province, where soldiers and officers have been under attack since 2013.

State television broadcast live footage from the airbase of an emotional, fatigue-clad reporter announcing the news, played victory songs and ran archive footage of military exercises.

"We, the heroes of Kweires, are now celebrating with our brothers this victory," one of the freed soldiers told state TV, speaking by phone.

"We dedicate this victory to President Bashar al-Assad and we promise him we will continue fighting until all of Syria is liberated. We will not kneel to Daesh," he said, using an Arabic name for Islamic State.

The military source said hundreds of soldiers were freed.


Britain-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also said that an advance party of troops had reached the airbase and "broken the siege".

It is the most high-profile victory for Syria's army since Russia launched an air campaign in support of Assad on Sept. 30.

Syrian troops have also been supported by Iranian forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters in a push to regain territory, largely in the north, lost to insurgents during almost five years of conflict.

Rebels have frustrated a campaign to reclaim territory elsewhere in the country, where Russian jets have flown more than 1,600 sorties in little over a month.

Dozens of soldiers were shown on television arriving at the airbase, elated and beaming, and it aired calls from the families of the freed soldiers.

"We talked to him three hours ago, and he is in high spirits," the mother of Lieutenant Iyad Salameh said.


Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi praised the "strength and steadfastness" of the soldiers, and sounded a defiant tone against "terrorists", the term which Syria's government uses to describe all rebels fighting against it.

The breaking of the Kweires siege stood in stark contrast to Islamic State's capture of Tabqa airbase in Raqqa province in the north of the country last year, when militants killed scores of soldiers.

The families of soldiers under siege in Kweires had staged protests urging the government to do more to take it back.

Source http://www.reuters.com/article/2015...ria-idUSKCN0SZ15E20151110#yD5WGhAk1pxyVEu1.99

 

[Anion]

I havent read much into politics in a while this whole year cause im so busy, but I swear I watched an interview with Kerry and how he said Assad didnt even try to target the ISIS group...but it seems like he did...? I mean that was one of his points to remove Assad cause he didnt even care for his people?

 

[AcademicSaucer]

I havent read much into politics in a while this whole year cause im so busy, but I swear I watched an interview with Kerry and how he said Assad didnt even try to target the ISIS group...but it seems like he did...? I mean that was one of his points to remove Assad cause he didnt even care for his people?

My understanding is that he has done some terrible things against the syrian people, but is still somehow better than total chaos like libya.

 

[Jacobi]

Nice, but Assad sucks as well.
If you wanna see what he did to Aleppo check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3W9Bgzpkq8

Most people are fleeing because of barrel bombs, not because of IS

 

[CHEEZMO™]

My understanding is that he has done some terrible things against the syrian people, but is still somehow better than total chaos like libya.

The Caesar photos (of people tortured and starved to death in Assad's jails in just one area of the country, and only up until Summer 2013) alone consist of more than twice the number of people killed in fighting in Libya since mid-2014.

 

[akira28]

I havent read much into politics in a while this whole year cause im so busy, but I swear I watched an interview with Kerry and how he said Assad didnt even try to target the ISIS group...but it seems like he did...? I mean that was one of his points to remove Assad cause he didnt even care for his people?

none of this is accurate. Did you get all of your political news from a shoe?

 

[Madness]

My understanding is that he has done some terrible things against the syrian people, but is still somehow better than total chaos like libya.

Yup. Even the US knows it's a lost cause at this point. Libya is virtually just wild territory now, rules by armed tribes. We've seen what became of Iraq and how they almost lost Baghdad to ISIS and I bet Europe is tired of millions of Syrians trying to come to their continent. At this point, Assad will be the victor in this civil war, backed up by Russian military power. They're already devastated the rebels so much, the US has completely stopped all training programs and reversed course. Now they're going to move on ISIS soon especially after this terrorist attack on the Russian plane.

Best option is to stabilize Syria under Assad rule, and then hope for a transfer of power to someone else. But after his brutal rule and killings, he'll never be accepted again. There will be uprisings and guerilla attacks for a long time. Syria is essentially screwed for the next 30-50 years.

 

[params7]

This is good news.

I havent read much into politics in a while this whole year cause im so busy, but I swear I watched an interview with Kerry and how he said Assad didnt even try to target the ISIS group...but it seems like he did...? I mean that was one of his points to remove Assad cause he didnt even care for his people?

Its not wise to just trust western media or congressmen in regards to anything happening in the middle east.

Nice, but Assad sucks as well.
If you wanna see what he did to Aleppo check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3W9Bgzpkq8

Most people are fleeing because of barrel bombs, not because of IS

Syrians are specifically fleeing because of the extremist groups. The migrant crisis was ignited by a direct rise of ISIS/Al Nusra etc. Not to say Assad bombing hasn't destroyed homes, but he's a much better option than any Saudi controlled group taking over.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

Nice, but Assad sucks as well.
If you wanna see what he did to Aleppo check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3W9Bgzpkq8

Most people are fleeing because of barrel bombs, not because of IS

Jesus. When I see them pull the 2-month old baby out still alive...so happy, yet so fucking pissed. Sucks to feel so powerless in the middle of a corn field in Illinois.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

Syrians are specifically fleeing because of the extremist groups. The migrant crisis was ignited by a direct rise of ISIS/Al Nusra etc. Not to say Assad bombing hasn't destroyed homes, but he's a much better option than any Saudi controlled group taking over.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...about-syrian-refugees-in-europe-a6689021.html

Go look at what happened (and is happening to) Darayya, Tadamon, Jobar, Baba Amr, Al-Khaldiye, al-Qusayr, Masha al-Arbaeen, Masha Wadi al-Jouz, countless towns in Idlib, Homs, Hama and Aleppo provinces, huge areas of Aleppo itself. Look at what happened in Houla, or Baniyas and al-Bayda. Or look at the tens of thousands of people who have disappeared into Assad's jails never to be seen again.

 

[Yamauchi]

This is a great victory for the Syrian Arab Army, surviving a nearly 3 year siege. Lifting the siege will hopefully free up soldiers to fight on other fronts as well.

Syria is heading for de facto partition between an SAA-controlled west and a YPG/SDF controlled east. The good news I guess is that these are two groups which are actually capable of negotiating with one another. But there is going to be an enormous amount of bloody fighting on both sides (SAA vs. FSA, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS; YPG/SDF vs ISIS) before that point is reached.

 

[MonsterHunter]

I'm not a fan of Assad but I'm happy for the soldiers and their families.

 

[Jaladinozozo]

This is Salafisms gift to the world.

 

[Abinash117]

Good for them for having their first victory in the year. Those guys got lucky that they didn't end up the those people in Tabqa airbase or those SAA soldiers in that hospital surround by rebels.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

This is a great victory for the Syrian Arab Army, surviving a nearly 3 year siege. Lifting the siege will hopefully free up soldiers to fight on other fronts as well.

Syria is heading for de facto partition between an SAA-controlled west and a YPG/SDF controlled east. The good news I guess is that these are two groups which are actually capable of negotiating with one another. But there is going to be an enormous amount of bloody fighting on both sides (SAA vs. FSA, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS; YPG/SDF vs ISIS) before that point is reached.

Yeah , I think this whole thing is going to end up with the SAA negotiating with the kurds about the future of Syria.

 

[Abinash117]

Yeah , I think this whole thing is going to end up with the SAA negotiating with the kurds about the future of Syria.

The Kurds are working with US-led rebels as part of the SDF and the SAA in Kurds areas have no frontlines with ISIL and the most Kurds are on the other side of the country with SDF, by the time of any negotiations between those two happen the Kurds would be far more allied with US rebels in the SDF at that point and possibly own more territory or share more territory with an allied force.

 

[GTP_Daverytimes]

Gif of SAA advances aided by Russian airforce just today, hopefully things will ramp up and an end to the war can be in sight.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

Gif of SAA advances aided by Russian airforce just today, hopefully things will ramp up and an end to the war can be in sight.

The SAA presence on the South Aleppo front is negligible. The front is dominated by foreign (Lebanese, Iraqi) Islamists, Shia Afghan mercenaries, and Iranian troops.

 

[GTP_Daverytimes]

The SAA presence on the South Aleppo front is negligible. The front is dominated by foreign (Lebanese, Iraqi) Islamists, Shia Afghan mercenaries, and Iranian troops.

I don't see how that is of any consequence, at the end of the day it is a SAA victory, whether aided by Hezbollah, or Iranian troops or Russian advisors and airforce.