Operation Free Sinjar was a tremendous success. Retaking Sinjar completely from the jihadis has liberated the Yezidis, whose enslavement and slaughter at the hands of ISIS aptly demonstrated the sheer cruelty, inhumanity and sadism of that tyrannical group. Strategically it poses another major setback for ISIS since it cuts off an important route, Highway 47, between the Iraqi and Syrian territories the caliphate occupies.
In neighbouring Syria the YPG are on the offensive against ISIS-occupied areas in Al-Hasakah Province. ISIS was forced out of the provincial capital in August and the YPG recently seized from them the Syrian Army’s 121^st Regiment base, which ISIS had captured in July 2014. Forcing ISIS completely out of that eastern Syrian border region will further augment and complement the recent Peshmerga victory in Sinjar.
Put into its broader context this is another decisive Kurdish blow against that group which will yield immense strategic ramifications in the long-term since it will effectively split-up the territory they hold and reduce their hitherto contiguous terror state into at least two smaller and divided enclaves, each of which could be more prone to pressure and harder for the group to hold onto and defend.
Additionally, ISIS morale will doubtlessly be affected when it becomes evident to their rank-and-file that they can no longer move between Mosul and Raqqa both of which arguably constitute the two most significant cities they have ever seized: Mosul because it’s the largest city they ever managed to completely takeover and Raqqa because it’s the largest city they retain complete hold over in Syria and due to, the much more symbolic, fact that it was the first city they were able to completely takeover and have described as the “capital city” of the caliphate.
In the space of six months the Kurds have done the most to effectively contain the caliphate. The Sinjar operation, after all, comes after the capture of Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) by the YPG in Syria last summer. Through Gire Spi the YPG joined-up their two primary Syrian Kurdish cantons of Kobani and Jazira and in the process cut-off two-thirds of Syria’s northern border from ISIS which effectively severed the inflow, through Turkey, of many foreign volunteers, weapons and the outflow of everything from oil to looted antiquities to the black market which has helped finance their criminal enterprise.
This has increased pressure on Raqqa. Were it not for the resolute opposition of Turkey the YPG would doubtlessly have continued advancing west of Kobani over the Euphrates and routed ISIS out of the remaining 68-miles of northwestern Syrian border territory they, and other similar Islamist terrorist groups like Jabhat al-Nusra, continue to have a presence in.
That coupled with this latest Peshmerga offensive is a great psychological blow to ISIS since that group has, since June 2014, strove to demonstrate, to their new recruits and the world, that the so-called state they have built is a tangible reality. They oversaw the establishment of trading routes between Raqqa and Mosul and took new recruits back-and-forth from captured territory in Iraq and Syria in a bid to show that they have made the old Sykes-Picot border completely irrelevant.
Roads are still immensely important when it comes to fighting and winning wars. Consequently the Peshmerga’s seizure of Highway 47 in itself was a highly significant and commendable victory. Cutting off the main routes between Mosul and Raqqa will not only stymie trade but in the long-term it could halt any ISIS members based in Iraq from reinforcing/supporting their counterparts in Syria if need be and/or vice-versa.
Thanks to the earnest efforts and sacrifices made by the Kurds of both Iraq and Syria ISIS is being increasingly contained and its criminal jihadi entity carved-up. It is a slow and arduous process but one that is clearly succeeding.
Having made this much headway against ISIS expecting the Kurds to risk over-stretching now by attempting to force ISIS out of Mosul and/or Raqqa more-or-less singlehandedly would be asking too much. Undoubtedly the Kurds will do their part and pull their weight when the time comes for liberating those areas, but they really can’t be expected to risk doing it all on their own. Uprooting and forcing ISIS from Mosul (and Raqqa too) will have to be a much broader effort and responsibility. Especially when you take into account the limited amount of arms and resources the Kurds have had to date to fight such a ruthless enemy with – a fact which makes their respective gains and victories at the expense of ISIS over the course of the past six months even more impressive.

rudaw.net

Al-Qaeda launched simultaneous attacks on two army positions in southeastern Yemen early Friday that left 12 soldiers and 19 jihadists dead, an army officer said.

The attacks targeted army positions near the town of Shibam and in Wadi Sir, both in Hadramawt province, a stronghold of Al-Qaeda whose militants control its capital Mukalla.

Known as the “Manhattan of the Desert” for its high-rise mud-brick buildings, Shibam is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Opportunism may be one of the accepted facts of life in foreign policy, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. The Turkish government is busy right now trying to make the most of two pieces of the Syrian crisis that have come to the fore: The recent flood of refugees to Europe, and the ISIS attacks in Paris. They are both likely to backfire.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s coy question “What would happen if these 2.2 million refugees get out of Turkey and start marching towards the EU?” is a cheap bargaining trick to say the least, attempting to introduce the destiny of desperate Syrian as a new unofficial dossier in EU-Turkey relations.

But now, the number of locks on the door of Europe is likely to rise as information circulates that one of the Paris attackers may have been a Syrian refugee who passed through Turkey. Will the negotiations move towards a buffer zone plan, or will the sides leave the with-or-without-Assad debate aside, and concentrate on ending the war in Syria as quickly as possible?

But let’s be clear: Ankara is playing the terrorism card at the very moment that the Paris attacks strengthen the decisiveness to combat ISIS. Erdogan condemned the Paris attacks, calling for “a consensus of the international community against terrorism.” But in his mind, this consensus means adding Kurdish forces to the EU list of terrorist organizations. The U.S. and the EU already recognize the historical Kurdish organization PKK as terrorists, but Ankara also wants the West to end its recent collaboration with the Kurdish groups, PYD and YPG, in the military fight against ISIS.

Assad, stay or go?

But the Paris attacks underlined the urgency for a broader solution in Syria, and that requires the U.S. and Russia to work together. Led by France, the West is now looking to get in line with Russia and put aside plans to overthrow the Damascus regime in favor of focusing on the defeat of ISIS.

The Vienna gathering on Saturday came just after the terror attack in Paris. A transition government is to be founded in Syria within six months, and UN-observed elections are to be held within 18 months according to the new constitution to be written. The ideal date for the Syrian government and the opposition groups to start talks under UN observation is Jan. 1.

So, ever more, it appears that the transition will be with Assad, though there is no clue about the long-term fate of Assad. The Russians are selling this by saying ‘the people at the ballot will decide, while the Americans appear ever more helpless and biding their time.

Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu insisted Assad will not run in the elections, and his exit will occur according to a process to be decided later. Russia is no longer pushing Assad to stay, according to Sinirlioglu.

Ever more, the Syrian issue is starting to be perceived within the context of “combating terrorism,” which is also to Moscow’s liking, though Turkey’s desire to add the PYD and YPG to the terrorism list is not.

As people wonder whether the Paris attacks are a turning point in the battle against ISIS, some began to ask if the West would launch a ground war. Obama quickly ended such speculations at the recent G20 summit.

While the rest of the world begins to coalesce in the battle against ISIS, Turkey seems to care about nothing except stopping Kurds from moving west of the Euphrates. If this ends up standing in the way of a united front against ISIS, the whole world would suffer. And the allies would remember Turkey’s blatant opportunism for a long time to come.

worldcrunch.com

Syrian army forces have recaptured the Al-Jamiliyah neighborhood in northwestern city of Aleppo from Islamic State, Press TV reports.

The seizure occurred on Wednesday, the Lebanon-based Arabic-language al-Mayadeen satellite news network reported.

Meanwhile, in another development on the same day, ISIS elements transferred heavy weapons and Christian families from the town of al-Shaddadah, located in Syria’s northeastern province of Al-Hasakah, to the city of Deir Ezzor.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, also reported that ISIS militants and their families are leaving their command base in Syria’s northern city of Raqqa and moving to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

There are further reports saying that French and Russian forces have intensified their strikes on positions held by ISIS in Raqqa following the November 13 attacks in the French capital city of Paris, which left 132 people dead and over 350 others injured.

armradio.am

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has stressed the importance of the United Nations’ role in seeking a political solution for the crisis in Yemen.

Zarif made the comments during a meeting with UN special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, in Tehran on Wednesday.

Tehran supports all the measures by the UN to resolve the conflict in Yemen and calls on all the Yemenis to make every effort to smooth over the situation in the country, the Iranian foreign minister noted.

“Months of aggression and military approaches have led to nothing but the destruction of Yemen’s infrastructure and the death and injury of the innocent people of the country,” Zarif added.

Following the meeting, the UN envoy maintained that the warring sides in Yemen have shown “very positive attitude” to discuss UN Security Council resolution 2216, which demands an end to the violence in Yemen.

Yemen has been witnessing Saudi airstrikes since March 26, when Riyadh started supporting former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi against the Houthi rebel movement.

The Saudi-led offence has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 7,500 people and injured nearly 14,000 others. The strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the impoverished country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

albawaba.com

Iran has tested its homemade drones dubbed “Mohajer” and “Yasir” in the final day of the ongoing “Prophet Mohammad 3” military drills.

“Mohajer and Yasir drones conducted successful operations in the final phase of the exercise,” IRNA news agency quoted General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, the commander of the Iranian Army’s ground forces, as saying Nov. 18.

He further added that the Yasir drone was produced and unveiled earlier, but for the first time it was used in the actual military exercises.

Earlier, Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, commander of the Iranian Army’s ground forces, said that Iran had held three drills and five technical drills last year. The official said at the time that Iran was facing new threats, mentioning proxy wars and terrorist groups.

Tehran regularly announces its military advances, which cannot be independently verified. Iranian media outlets report that Iran has made great strides in its defense sector and has attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems in recent years.

Since 1992, Iran has manufactured its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, radars, boats, submarines, and fighter planes.

trend.az

Several members of the IS (“Islamic state” terrorist group) have been arrested in western Iran, a senior Iranian military official said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the intelligence ministry have arrested several teams linked to the IS in the past two years in the western Kermanshah province, bordering with Iraq, Brigadier General Bahman Reihani, commander of the IRGC in the province said, Iran’s ILNA news agency reported.

Reihani clarified that the activities of the detained people were to mainly recruit members for the group and dispatching them to other countries.

He added that for instance recently members of an IS-linked team which had military training, were arrested in the province, explaining that military jackets and equipment as well as bombs were seized from the group.

However the Iranian commander made it clear that there is no security problem in the country.

The IRGC commander also said that several PJAK- the Iranian wing of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)- teams were destroyed in the region by the IRGC in recent months.

Reihani underlined that all security forces in the country, particularly those deployed at the borders, are fully prepared to meet any threat, ensuring that there is no serious problem at Iranian borders.

Iranian officials have warned in numerous occasions that the IS group will receive a crushing response if they try to approach the borders of the Islamic Republic.

Early in November Mahmoud Alavi, Iran’s intelligence minister said that at least 20 people aiming to join the IS in Syria and Iraq were detained near the Iranian borders.

He said a large terrorist network was neutralized in the country’s eastern part, while ten members of terrorist groups were arrested in the provinces of Golestan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Mazandaran and Tehran.

trend.az