{"id":20060,"date":"2013-11-15T22:19:18","date_gmt":"2013-11-16T03:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=20060"},"modified":"2013-11-15T23:24:40","modified_gmt":"2013-11-16T04:24:40","slug":"syrian-rebels-pounded-regime-offensive-aleppo-homs-damascus-salah-salameh-leaders-largest-aleppo-militia-wounded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/syrian-rebels-pounded-regime-offensive-aleppo-homs-damascus-salah-salameh-leaders-largest-aleppo-militia-wounded\/","title":{"rendered":"Syrian Army Retakes important towns in Aleppo, Homs and Damascus. Both Salah and Salameh, leaders of largest Aleppo militia, wounded."},"content":{"rendered":"

The Syrian Army has gone on the offensive, retaking a key town –\u00a0al-Sfireh – on the south-east of Aleppo.\u00a0On Monday, the town of Tal Aran, on the Safira-Aleppo road, also fell. The army then secured the area around the city’s airport and retook a strategically important base nearby, named\u00a0Base 80, a large military position which rebels had held since February. Analysts claim that the base will help regime troops move on opposition-held areas of Aleppo.<\/p>\n

The response of rebel militas was immediate. A statement by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) urged “all brigades and Muslims to face off against the enemy.” Liwa al-Tawhid urged people in Aleppo to “face up to regime attacks” and called for a mass mobilisation in Aleppo to halt a government advance. They claimed that government forces backed by fighters from the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah, Iranian Revolutionary Guards and members of Abu al-Fadl Abbas, an Iraqi Shia militia, had launched a “fierce offensive to reoccupy” Aleppo.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Within a few days, The Syrian Army killed a number of the leaders of Aleppo’s largest militia<\/a> – Liwaa al-Tawhid. Its top leaders, Abd al-Qader al-Saleh & Abd Aziz Salehmeh were both injured, but are in good condition. The unit commander Youssef al-Abbas<\/a> was killed. The regime bombed a meeting of Liwaa al-Tawhid leaders, suggesting it has improved its intelligence operations. Liwaa la-Tawhid has about 25-30 unit commanders joined at the top by Saleh\/Salame, the majority stationed in the Aleppo region<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>

??? ?????? ??????? ????????? ?? ??? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ??????. Abdel Qader al-Saleh in hospital. This photo seems to be an old one, taken when he was wounded over a year ago, but the Revolution 2011 Facebook page republished it after the recent injury of Saleh. Many well-wishers have left comments expressing their hope that Saleh has a quick recovery.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Abd al-Aziz Salameh in his hospital bed<\/p>\n

According to ISIS sources, the loss al-Sfireh was due to fighting between ISIS and al-Nusra, the two main branches of al-Qaida in Syria. This news comes from an article published in Sana al-Sham News<\/a>, an ISIS aligned weekly newspaper that was recently launched in the northern Aleppo countryside.<\/p>\n

Here is the quote:<\/p>\n

” ???? ?????? ???? ?? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ????? ???? ???? ?????? ????? ????? ???? \u00ab??? ??????? ??????? ????? ?????\u00bb ???? ?????? ??????? ??? ????? ??? ???????? ????. ” [Translation] We carried out an important operation in al-Sfireh but a conflict arose between us and Jabhat al Nusra and Allah says “dispute not one with another lest ye falter and your strength depart from you” and the regime entered Sfireh again after we withdrew from it.<\/p>\n

ISIS Leader – `Amr al-Shishani – military Amir of the Northern Region<\/h3>\n

Included in the new publication is an interview with the Chechen leader and military Amir of the Northern Region of ISIS, `Amr al-Shishani. ?????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ?? ????? \u00ab?????? ????????? ?? ?????? ??????\u00bb? ??? ????????<\/p>\n

BBC arabic also<\/a> researched his childhood in Georgia, where a reporter found some interesting information. He had mandatory military service in the Georgian army between 2006-2007 and signed a contract to work with the army after that period. He fought against the Russian army during the last Russia\/Georgia confrontations in 2008. He was released from the army in 2010 after coming down with Tuberculosis. He was arrested later for stocking weapons and received a 3 year sentence but was released early due to his deteriorating health condition. He then traveled to Egypt, from where he hoped to go to Yemen to fight. But after some time was able to go to Syria, where he was shocked that people were listening to music, cutting their beards, and smoking cigarettes. Protestors were demanding “democracy and freedom” and not Islam. He went to Syria to apply Sharia Law.<\/p>\n

He denies giving Asifat al-Shamal, the militia that hosted John McCain permission to meet McCain. He says the notion that he would permit their meeting is ridiculous because Americans are the enemies of Allah and Islam and there’s only the sword between him and the US. He remains an emir in ISIS and denies rumors that he quit the group. “How can I quit the Dawla Islamiya when it’s the project of the Islamic umma and all Muslims?” he asks. He did not join ISIS because of Baghdadi or Abu al Athir( ???? ???) , he did it for Allah.
\nISIS was the main player behind the coast front and is responsible for the latest victories in Hama<\/p>\n

Here is a photo of ShiShani with Hajaj al ajmi, <\/a>one of his main Kuwaiti sponsors. Much like the Kuwaitis who fund Nusra (read Ben Hubbard’s story<\/a>), private Kuwaitis also raise money for ISIS.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

??? ???????? ??? ????? ??? ????: ????? ??????? ??????? ?????????????<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"

?????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ?? ????? \u00ab?????? ????????? ?? ?????? ??????\u00bb? ??? ?????????<\/p><\/div>\n

??? ???????? ??? ????? ??? ????: ????? ??????? ??????? ?????????????<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

???? \u00ab???????\u00bb ?? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ?? ????? \u00ab?????? ????????? ?? ?????? ??????\u00bb? ??? ????????? ????? ???? \u00ab??? ?????\u00bb ??????? ???????? ?? ?????? ?? ????? ??????? ?????? ??? 9\/11\/2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Homs<\/h3>\n

The Syrian Army issued a statement announcing major advances in southeastern countryside of Homs and the capture of 3 towns. <\/a>The villages that they captured fell in rebel hands earlier this month in an attack that included the capturing of an army weapons depot in one of the villages, which was said to be the second largest arms depot<\/a> in the country.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Cutting Off the Wrong Head<\/h3>\n

An ISIS fighter cut off the head of a fighter<\/a>, claiming he was an Iraqi Shiite fighting for the Assad regime.\u00a0 It turned out that<\/p>\n

Militants from al Qaeda-affiliate Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) issued a statement asking<\/b><\/span><\/a> for forgiveness after a video was posted online of ISIS fighters brandishing the decapitated head of a commander of Ahrar al-Sham, an ISIS ally who ISIS says it beheaded by mistake. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here is the Telegraph story about it by Richard Spencer: Al-Qaeda-linked rebels apologise after cutting off head of wrong person:<\/a> Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham militants say sorry for decapitating a fellow extremist rather than enemy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Syrian Army has gone on the offensive, retaking a key town –\u00a0al-Sfireh – on the south-east of Aleppo.\u00a0On Monday, the town of Tal Aran, on the Safira-Aleppo road, also fell. The army then secured the area around the city’s airport and retook a strategically important base nearby, named\u00a0Base 80, a large military position which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[98,256,277,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aleppo","category-isis","category-liwaa-al-tawhid","category-nusra"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nSyrian Army Retakes important towns in Aleppo, Homs and Damascus. 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