The 22-year old Turkish special operations police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas, who assassinated Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov in Ankara Monday, Dec. 12, was a member of the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s Syrian branch. After yelling “We die in Aleppo, you die here,” he recited sentences from an Arabic prayer which are Nusra’s anthem.
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Not much can be ascertained about President-elect Donald Trump’s administration future policies for the Middle East - any more than for most other parts of the world, except that his starting points are likely to be diametrically opposed to those of Barack Obama – especially on Iran. Given his worldview, Trump’s global stance will certainly not be shaped in Moscow, any more than his Israel and the Middle East is set outside the Oval Office.
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Intelligence sources observing the terror attack Sunday, Dec. 18 in the southern Jordanian town of Karakh report that the exchange of gunfire continued into the night after Jordanian forces stormed the Crusader castle where terrorists were holding an unknown number of tourists hostage, and freed some of them. So far, 10 killed are confirmed, including a Canadian woman, and 29 injured - some in critical condition.
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When Aleppo succumbed to the Russian-backed government army and its allies, Iran, Hizballah and fellow Shite militias, Thursday, Dec. 15, it did not fall alone. It brought down the entire architecture of US-backed positions in northern Syria. The US had invested in and trained local groups as the bedrock for its policy and interests in the conflict. Those groups have all melted away
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Rex Tillerson, Chairman an CEO of Exxon Mobil, was named this week as the next administration’s Secretary of State to execute president-elect Donald Trump’s tough foreign policies, including his decision to stiffen the nuclear accord signed with Iran as soon as he moves into the White House on Jan. 20. debkafile reports this exclusively from New York and its intelligence sources. Read more about Trump’s plans for his secretary of state in the coming issue of DEBKA Weekly (for subscribers) out on Friday. Dec. 16, 2016.
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Islamic State forces pushed forward their assault to retake the central Syrian town of Palmyra Monday, Dec. 12, and by evening had entered the big Russian-Syrian T-4 air base outside the town, carrying off substantial quantities of Russian armaments. Reporting this, debkafile added: They booty they snatched included different types of ground-to-ground missiles as well as anti-tank and anti-air rockets.
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Moscow started to deploy Chechen special operations forces units to Syria this week, debkafile’s military sources reveal. The troops come from elite units of the Chechen military with extensive field experience in urban warfare. Some of the units fought in eastern Ukraine in the past two years and, before that. in Chechnya against radical Islamic terror organizations linked to Al Qaeda and the Salafi movement.
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There is no chance of the Mosul offensive scoring a victory before Barack Obama quits the White House next month. Altogether 54,000 Iraqi troops and 5,000 US servicemen – supported by 90 warplanes and 150 heavy artillery pieces - were invested in the Mosul campaign when it was launched in October. They proved unable to beat 9,000 jihadists.
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It is designated the “Fifth Corps” of the Syrian army, but debkafile’s military and intelligence sources can identity the new unit as the framework for an international Shiite brigade or foreign legion.
Retired Marine General James Mattis, 66, whom President-elect Donald Trump has picked as his secretary of defense, is famous for his rough-and-tough stance toward America’s adversaries.
Arab media described Israeli warplanes attacking targets in and around Damascus overnight Tuesday, Nov. 29, as firing “four long-range Popeye” missiles from Lebanese air space.
Libyan Gen Khalifa Hafter arrived in Moscow Sunday, Nov. 26, with a request for Russian arms and military support for his army. He was welcomed in Moscow, which saw an opening for Russia to gain its first military base in North Africa.
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