http://tass.com/defense/934792
http://tass.com/defense/934792
MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. The first team of 187 servicemen of the International Demining Center of the Russian Armed Forces arrived in recaptured Palmyra; the sappers have begun working already, Head of the Main Operations Department at the Russian General Staff Sergei Rudskoi said on Friday.
"For demining of Palmyra's territory, liberated from terrorists, in Syria has arrived the first team of the International Demining Center of the Russian Armed Forces. The team is of 187 people, using 32 special vehicles," he said. "New robotized complexes and specially trained dogs are used in clearing the city from mines and explosives."
Earlier, Syrian engineers began demining the territory.
The Russian general said Russia invites all countries to join Palmyra’s demining.
"We address all the involved countries to participate in demining of the global history’s monuments in Palmyra," he said.
Syrian army continues to advance eastward after Palmyra’s liberation
After the liberation of Palmyra, Syrian government troops have continued their offensive east of the city expanding the safety zone northward and southward, according to Rudskoi.
"After taking control of the city of Palmyra, the Syrian government troops continue the offensive east of the city and, seizing the dominant heights, are expanding the security zone northward and southward," Rudskoi said.
Militants of the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) captured Palmyra in May 2015. The city was liberated from terrorists by the Syrian army with the assistance from Russia’s Aerospace Forces on March 27, 2016. Russian field engineers were later involved in efforts to demine the city and the ancient monuments located in the vicinity. At that time, the engineers cleared 825 hectares, 8,500 buildings as they demined about 18,000 explosive units. Last December, Palmyra was again in the hands of extremists. On March 2, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the operation to liberate the city had been completed. Rudskoi later told a press briefing that the operation to recapture Palmyra from Islamic State militants was planned and conducted under the supervision of Russian military advisers.
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-troops-isis-capital-raqqa-2017-3
Earlier this week, a convoy of US Army Rangers
riding in armored Stryker combat vehicles was seen crossing the border into Syria to support Kurdish military forces in Manbij. The convoy, identified by SOFREP as being from 3rd Ranger Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, was the most overt use of US troops in the region thus far.
Until this most recent Ranger deployment, the Pentagon had adamantly stuck to the line that its "regional partners" — Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga for the most part — were bearing the brunt of the battle.
But on Wednesday, another curious deployment seemed to counter that narrative. According to The Washington Post, US Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine regiment had left their ships to establish a combat outpost inside Syria that is apparently
within striking distance of Raqqa.
"For the base in Syria to be useful, it must be within about 20 miles of the operations US-backed forces are carrying out," the Post wrote.
The unit, part of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, recently finished conducting training exercises in
Oman and
Djibouti. Its new outpost inside Syria has M777 Howitzers that fire 155mm projectiles, which are likely guarded by additional infantrymen at the site, according to The Post.
US Marines fire artillery to break up ISIS fighters attacking Kurdish and Peshmerga forces.
Cpl. Andre Dakis/US Marine Corps
Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the commander of Operation Inherent Resolve,
told the Fayetteville Observer last year that most US troops were in Iraq or Kuwait, though "some" were operating inside Syria.
Meanwhile, US special operations forces, who are said to be taking a training and advisory role with Iraqi and Kurdish forces, were quietly given more latitude to call in precision airstrikes and artillery. As the AP
reported in February, advisors are now able to call in airstrikes without seeking approval from an operations center in Baghdad.
Additionally, advisors were embedded at lower echelons of Iraqi security forces at the brigade and battalion level, rather than division — meaning that US forces are increasingly getting closer to direct combat.
Though the new directives were lauded by the Pentagon as "adding 'precision' to ground operations," wrote The Institute for the Study of War, "it also underscores that US personnel are increasingly at the frontlines of the operation. Indicators from the new US Administration, including a proposed 10% budget increase for the Department of Defense, suggest that it may expand the level of US involvement in Iraq, beyond the Mosul operation."
A spokesperson for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit did not respond to a request for comment.
Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for OIR, said the moves into Syria were to pre-position US forces so they can provide logistical and fire support to "Syrian partnered forces" who will eventually assault Raqqa.
The Marines and Rangers will provide the "commander greater agility to expedite the destruction of ISIS in Raqqah. The exact numbers and locations of these forces are sensitive in order to protect our forces, but there will be approximately an additional 400 enabling forces deployed for a temporary period to enable our Syrian partnered forces to defeat ISIS," Dorrian told Business Insider.
He added: "The deployment of these additional key enabling capabilities allows the Coalition to provide flexible all weather fire support, training and protection from IEDs, and additional air support to our Syrian partners."
The White House is considering whether to send another 1,000 American soldiers to Kuwait to serve as a "reserve force" for the Raqqa offensive, Reuters reported Wednesday. Officials who spoke with Reuters said there were about 6,000 US troops currently deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, up from the 5,000 that was reported in January.
The presence of additional US ground troops inside Syria — even miles from the frontline — would bring with it considerable risk. Combat outposts often draw rocket and mortar fire, in addition to small arms. Last March, a Marine outpost established to support the operation to retake Mosul, Iraq came under rocket attack by ISIS militants,
killing Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin.
A total of nine American service members have been killed in OIR combat operations, while 33 have been wounded, according to Pentagon statistics.
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At least 98 militants have been killed in Turkey and northern Syria over a week, the Turkish military said March 10.
Some 71 out of 98 Democratic Union Party (PYD), outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and People’s Protection Units (YPG) militants were killed in northern Syria as part of the Turkey-led Euphrates Shield operation, the military said.
The military added that efforts to clear mines and explosives were ongoing in the regions of al-Bab, Qabasin and Bzagah.
Since the operation began last August, the Turkish military has neutralized 3,060 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants and 462 PKK, PYD and YPG militants.
Turkish authorities use the word “neutralized” in their statements to imply the militants in question were either killed, captured or surrounded.
Turkish jets also destroyed 2,325 targets, with the military taking control over 243 residential areas and 2,015 square kilometers (778 square miles) of territory between the cities of Azaz and Jarabulus.
According to another statement by the military on March 10, Turkish jets destroyed three
PKK targets in the Avasin-Basyan and Zap regions in northern Iraq late on March 9.
The Turkish General Staff said in a statement that 27 of the militants were killed in anti-PKK operations in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakır, Bingöl, Siirt, Mardin, Bitlis, Batman and Kars between March 2 and March 9.
During the operations, 24 shelters used by the
PKK were destroyed and five vehicles were seized, while 80 improvised explosives and 25 infantry rifles were recovered.
A Turkish soldier was also killed during security efforts at the border, during which 3,547 people were captured while trying to cross illegally.
Security forces also seized 908 kilograms (2,002 pounds) of cannabis and 7,000 packets of smuggled cigarettes.
March/10/2017