Russia Reinforcing its Military Presence in Central Syria Near Palmyra

Russia is reinforcing a military airport in central Syria as a new base for its warplanes as government forces edge closer to Palmyra, a military source and monitoring group said Thursday.

Russian Sukhoi Su-30 SM jet fighters land on a runway at the Hmeimim air base on Oct. 3 in the Syrian province of Latakia.

"The preparation phase for the Shaayrat base is nearing its end. It is being prepared to become a Russian military base," the military source told AFP, declining to be named.

"A number of Russian advisors arrived in Shaayrat weeks ago," the source said. The base "will begin being used by Russian forces before the end of this month."

Since Moscow began airstrikes in Syria on Sept. 30, its Su-34, Su-24, Su-30 and Su-25 planes have operated out of Hmeimim base in the coastal province of Latakia.

Shaayrat lies in Syria's central Homs province, north of several towns where government forces and allied militia backed by Russian airstrikes have been fighting the Islamic State jihadist group.

Late last month, regime forces recaptured the town of Maheen after IS had overrun it on Nov. 1.

Government troops have fought to edge closer to the historic town of Palmyra, about 130 km (80 miles) east of Shaayrat and held by IS since May.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Russia was "building new runways at the Shaayrat airport and reinforcing its surroundings in order to use it soon for operations" in Homs province.

Abdel Rahman said Russian helicopters were already using the nearby T-4 military airport to strike IS targets in Palmyra.

"Syrian regime forces are about three kilometers (less than two miles) from Palmyra and are advancing from the south and west with air cover by Russian helicopters," he said.

The troops have also reached the edges of Al-Qaryatain, a mixed Christian-Muslim village in Homs province that IS seized in August.

The military source said Russian and Syrian aircraft had conducted at least 40 strikes in and around Al-Qaryatain in the past 24 hours.

He said there would be "an important advance" within 72 hours.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to intensify his country's fight against IS after the organisation's Egypt affiliate claimed to have shot down a Russian airliner carrying 224 passengers.

Starting on Oct. 7, Syria's army launched ground attacks with Russian air support in at least four provinces across the country.

The army has also advanced in parts of Aleppo province of northern Syria.

Reliable Sources Confirmed News That TTP Commander Mohmmad Hassan Killed by Pakistan Army

Commander Hasan, who belonged to Afghanistan’s Kabul city, was released from an Afghan jail some time ago.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Saturday said that they lost a senior commander, identified as Gul Hasan Afghani, in clashes with security forces in the North Waziristan tribal region.

TTP spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid said that Commander Hasan was killed in clashes with the Pakistan Army in the Boya area of the agency two days ago. Commander Hasan, who belonged to Afghanistan’s Kabul city, was released from an Afghan jail some time ago. Shahid said that the attack was jointly carried out by TTP’s Mehsud faction and the local Taliban and had inflicted “heavy losses on the security forces.”

“The Taliban fighters also captured some areas of the agency during the operation, and seized arms and other equipment,” he added. The TTP also released photographs of the funeral of their slain commander and their chief Maulvi Fazlullah led the funeral which took place at an undisclosed location. Security forces had launched the long-awaited military operation against the TTP and foreign militants in North Waziristan on June 15 after peace talks with the Taliban collapsed.

The military says forces, backed by fighter jets and gunships, have killed over 1,000 militants so far. The TTP spokesperson, however, denies the army’s statement and claims that the military operation faces a total “failure” and that the military’s information wing the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) is “trying to mislead the people through its favourite media.”

Shahid rejected the army’s statements on Taliban casualties, control over areas in North Waziristan, destruction of Taliban control and command system and the arrest of the TTP members behind the attack on educational activist Malala Yousafzai. The military spokesperson DG ISPR Major General Asim Bajwa had earlier said that a group of 10 Taliban militants has been captured in connection with the attack on Malala. He had added that the TTP chief had ordered the attack.

The Taliban spokesperson, however, said that the arrested suspects in connection with attack on Malala were never active Taliban members, adding that they may have been arrested during the 2009 operation in Swat valley and had been missing since then. “The Taliban central command system is fully secure and active and is successfully attacking key targets of Pakistan Army,” Shahid said.

He also claimed that the Taliban shot down a military fighter jet through an anti-aircraft missile in Shawal area. The TTP spokesperson also alleged that dozens of TTP detainees have been killed in fake encounters in Karachi. 

Source: defence.pk

Airstrikes kill 35 suspected militants in North Waziristan - Dawn Reports

Thirty-five suspected militants were killed in aerial strikes by fighter jets in the North Waziristan tribal region, the military said on Wednesday. The claims, however, could not be independently verified as journalists have limited access to the restive tribal agency.

A statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations said “three terrorist hideouts were destroyed in precision strikes in the northwest of Dattakhel early on Wednesday”. Dattakhel is considered a stronghold for terrorists and a targeted clearance operation is under way in the area. More airstrikes may be carried out in and around Dattakhel which has also been a scene of numerous drone strikes in the past.

 

A PAF F-16 Fighting Falcon Block-52

 
The latest statement from the army comes as military operation Zarb-i-Azb is completing its third month. The operation was launched by the Pakistan Army on June 15 following a brazen militant attack on the Jinnah International Airport and failure of peace talks between the government and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) negotiators.

The Taliban and their ethnic Uzbek allies both claimed responsibility for the attack on the airport which was seen as a strategic turning point in how Pakistan tackles the insurgency. Nearly a million people have fled the offensive in North Waziristan and taken shelter at camps for the displaced.