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August 14th, 2017 
Awake Goy 
nsnbc : Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, on Sunday, said the Syrian government has increased the size of territory under its control by two-and-a-half times in just two months. Progress is made especially in Homs, Sweida, Deir Ez-Zor, Damascus, and the Qalamoun mountains. Meanwhile, US-backed troops continue making progress against ISIL in Raqqa. The most likely region for Syrian, Russian, Iranian-backed and other troops – on one hand – and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to link up is Raqqa province.
SAA troops in Aleppo (archives)
Shoigu’s statement came as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the SAA’s privately financed, predominantly Alawite Tiger Forces, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups, fighters of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, some Palestinian groups and others, backed by Russian troops and air forces and Iranian troops seized thousands of square kilometers from the so-called Islamic State (a.k.a. ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh).
Syrian government forces supported by Iranian-organized armed groups and Russian air forces have recaptured much of Syria’s Homs province in 2017. Most of the province is desert, but it contains several important hydrocarbon fields as well as phosphate and other minerals.
Syrian Arab Army troops and allies are also currently increasing activities aimed to recapture the city of Deir Ez-Zor in the likewise very resource-rich Deir Ez-Zor province. The SAA has also recently reestablished control over key areas and sites along the Syrian – Jordanian border in Sweida province.
Shoigu, in an interview with Russian State broadcaster Rossiya24, said “recapturing Deir Ez-Zor will say a lot, if not everything about the end of the battle” with ISIL. Russia has provided air support for SAA and allied troops in Syria since 2015.
SDF with officers of the YPG and deserted FSA officers. (archives)
With regard to “the end of the battle against ISIL”, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), consisting mostly of fighters from the Syrian – Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the all-female Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), plus a number of Arab and local militia are making steady progress against ISIL in is “capital” Raqqa.
It is in Raqqa province that Russian / Iranian – backed and US-backed forces are most likely to meet up in the fight against ISIL, posing a political, but even more so a strategic dilemma and high risk for all of the involved “anti-ISIS” fighters.
The defeat of ISIL in Syria will also pose renewed questions about the alleged “legality” of the presence of US-troops in Syria.
Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in July, General Raymond Thomas, commander of the United States special operations forces command, spoke frankly about a number of controversial issues pertaining the United States’ presence in Iraq and Syria.
Among the “hot potatoes” Thomas touched upon were Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga’s need for training, the fact that U.S. special operations forces are “bumping into Iranians everywhere”, and the fact that Russia might ask U.S. troops to leave Syria once “we are done with ISIS”.
A Russian-mediated ceasefire announced last month has failed to end fighting between the Syrian Arab Army and allies on one side, and several “rebel” factions, most prominently the Faylaq al-Rahman, on the northeastern edged of the capital Damascus. The group said it isn’t party to the ceasefire while the Syrian government maintains that it is fighting Faylaq al-Rahman as a terrorist organization.
The al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, mainly based in the Qalamoun mountains between Damascus and Lebanon, is also coming under increased pressure. On Sunday the group announced that it had reached an agreement on the release of 104 prisoners, among them 24 women from government jails. The group said the release was negotiated as part of an agreement for it to give up its positions in the Qalamoun mountains in September.
CH/L – nsnbc 14.08.2017
Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/08/14/syrian-government-doubles-territory-under-its-control/
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