by debkaFile
If Erdogan decides to carry on with his anti-Kurd campaign in northern Syria, he will find himself not only up against the Trump administration, but also his allies, Russia and Iran.
The US and Russia took military action in the last
48 hours to show the bit-players in the Syrian war that they are not
calling the shots for the next moves. The objects of this lesson were
the Assad regime, Turkey, Iran and Hizballah.
On Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Jan. 7-8, members of the US 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit fired M777 Howitzer guns, backed by air strikes, against Hizballah and pro-Iranian Shiite militia forces operating in the Deir ez-Zour region east of the Euphrates River. Russian forces may also have been involved in the clash, say sources in Washington. According to the official US-led coalition communique, pro-Assad forces attacked a headquarters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) east of the Euphrates, which is the deconfliction line separating the US area of operations from that of Russia and the Assad regime, and suffered 100 dead in the US counter-attack.
DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources
disclose that the official US communique revealed a small corner of the
clandestine campaign US forces are currently waging against the Assad
regime’s army and its pro-Iranian allies on two fronts east of the
Euphrates River.
Deir ez-Zour: Here, the US is engaged in a concentrated effort to arm and supply logistics to the SDF and the Kurdish YPG for two missions: the fight against Islamic State and a solid front to contain the Syrian, Iranian and Hizballah forces operating in the region. DEBKA Weekly’s military sources reveal that, in this sector, the US contingent is not content with delivering training and supplies; it also provides artillery and air support, labeled “preventive fire,” to help the local forces keep Assad’s army and its allies pinned down in their positions. This holds them back from continuing their easterly advance to the Iraqi border. The slightest movement outside those lines draws sustained American fire.
Al-Tanf Front, SE Syria: This is
the most active front. Hardly a day goes by without pressure from
Russian special forces, Syrian troops, Hizballah, or local groups. A
combined Russian-Syrian-Hizballah push has long sought to drive the
Americans out of Al-Tanf, because it is the key to free and safe passage
from southeastern Syria into western Iraq and northern Jordan. However,
the US garrison isn’t budging – even when it comes under live artillery
fire and air strikes.
On Thursday, Jan. 8, Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan put in a call to Vladimir Putin in Moscow in search of an
understanding with the Russian president on coordination between their
air and air defense forces in Syria. DEBKAfile’s military sources report
that the call had become urgent, since it looked as though Russia was
preparing its air force and air defense systems to hit the Turkish
warplanes that were providing air support for the Turkish anti-Kurdish
operation in Afrin.
On Tuesday, Russian forces took over the Syrian Abu
Dhuhour Airport east of Idlib and moved in Russian planes and
helicopters. Elsewhere in Syria, they deployed their air defense weapons
systems to new positions in the Aleppo and Idlib regions. A Syrian
military spokesman announced that all parts of northern Syria were now
covered by a comprehensive anti-missile shield. Afrin air space had
suddenly become an effective no-fly zone for Turkish air force
operations. This was Moscow’s punishment for the downing on Feb. 3, of a
Russian Sukhoi 25 Frogfoot ground attack aircraft over the town of
Maasran in northern Idlib by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham rebels, firing a
ground-to-air man-portable missile. The Russians believe that Turkey
gave the rebel group those missiles.
The Kremlin issued a communique after the
Putin-Erdogan conversation stating that they had agreed to establish a
Tension Reduction Zone in Idlib. But our sources report that the main
part of the conversation was far from accord. Putin’s demanded that
Erdogan call off the Turkish campaign in Afrin, repeating the demand
issued Wednesday by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani. Therefore, if
Erdogan decides nevertheless to carry on with his anti-Kurd campaign in
northern Syria, he will find himself not only up against the Trump
administration, but also his allies, Russia and Iran.
Source: https://www.debka.com/us-air-artillery-strike-hizballah-iranian-forces-e-syria/
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