[ Ed. note – Yet more escalation in Syria…according to a report from South Front, the so-called Free Syrian Army has launched a “large-scale attack” against the Syrian Arab Army. Russian and Syrian war planes have responded with airstrikes on the FSA units involved in the attack.
The story doesn’t say exactly when the attack occurred, but the article was posted just today. This development comes after airstrikes carried out last Thursday in the city of Al-Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province which reportedly killed 35 civilians, mainly women and children.
In a statement today Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the Al-Mayadeen airstrike as well as a second coalition airstrike, in Raqqa on May 27, and which reportedly left 20 civilians dead.
“In fact, these air raids have been exacerbating the situation in Syria, increasing the civilian death toll and spreading chaos and destruction which benefit militants of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terror groups, as well as their affiliated units,” Zakharova said.
The Russian official called both strikes “ill-conceived” and said they “have nothing to do with the fight against terrorism.”
The altercation between the SAA and the FSA is said to have occurred on the main highway linking Damascus and Baghdad. It is the second coalition-initiated attack on the Syrian Army in as many weeks. On May 18, on the same highway, US Coalition forces bombed a Syrian Army convoy in the vicinity of Al-Tanf, killing six Syrian soldiers and wounding three.
Then, just a few days ago, US Coalition planes dropped leaflets warning the Syrian Army not to continue to advance toward the city of Al-Tanf. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the “threats” as an intrusion upon Syrian sovereignty.
“As you know, there were not only threats, but also the fact of the specific use of force in that area,” Lavrov said. “I think that this situation is very alarming, as it directly affects the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic. Of course, these issues require settlement, which is what our military is currently engaged in.”
I’m not sure what “settlement” Lavrov, in his dreams, is imagining. The neocons are intent on regime change in Syria, and they are not going to give up. War with Russia is on their agenda too. Maybe at some point Russian officials will come to grips with the reality that the US is not sincere about fighting terrorism. Unfortunately, as is frequently the case in the human experience, earthshaking realizations of this sort often come too late for us to do anything about them. ]
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South Front
The US-backed coalition of militant groups, known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA), launched a large-scale attack on positions of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the vicinity of the Zaza Triangle at the Damascus-Baghdad highway in the southeastern Syrian desert. The attack was dubbed “The land is ours”.
Furthermore, pro-militant sources said that the FSA had received a significant support including weapons from the US and other countries. The provided support was aimed at increasing the FSA’s military capabilities for an attack on the SAA in the Damascus and Homs deserts.
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