Representatives of four Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel groups fighting on the ground in Syria on Thursday dismissed a report that FSA factions would meet with Russian officials next week in Abu Dhabi. “But while we will see a few high intensity fighting on the ground, the bulk of that will be conducted by Iran, Hezbollah, and Assad’s troops, under the cover of Russian airpower”.
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In a frank assessment of the situation facing the government side, the two senior sources – neither of them Syrian – said the course of battle had been slowed by more military support to the rebels from Saudi Arabia, which is vying for influence with Iran across the Middle East and wants Assad gone from power.
They cited increased supplies of anti-tank TOW missiles to the rebels as a big factor.
Fifteen Islamic State fighters made up the remainder of the death toll, the Britain-based Observatory said, after a series of strikes on Tuesday that hit the group’s Syrian stronghold.
Jeremy Bender, offered by Published 12:49 pm, Fri., November 6, 2015 AP Photo/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service On November three, Russia carried out a collection of heavy air strikes against ISIS’s de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria. “They come to the rescue of each other on their different turf”.
Meanwhile, the conflict has raged for 4 1/2 years, claiming over 250,000 lives and displacing over 7.5 million people.
Nikolay Kozhanov, a fellow with the Russian Federation and Eurasia Programme at the global affairs think tank Chatham House, said Russia’s intervention is “not enough to completely change the situation in the favor of the regime….” The Free Syrian Army seemed just right for this goal.
“Taking control of Morek means the beginning of retaking the [M5] highway”, said HMC spokesman Muhammad, “allowing rebels to begin operations pushing towards Hama city”. The Russian air force began air strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad on September 30. Al-Bayoush said he sent home 130 fighters who had been undergoing training because if a missile hit their training camp, “there would be a massacre”.
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Russian air strikes had intensified against rebels following Morek’s capture, he said.
