The US-led coalition has stepped up the airstrikes on the remaining Islamic State (IS) positions in Iraq and Syria by 300% in comparison with March this year, like reported by basnews.com.

The Coalition said it had carried out 74 air raids against IS in the month of March, and the number increased to 225 strikes in May, as reported by the VOA. 

According to military officials, the increase in the number of airstrikes is in parallel with the second phase of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) operation against the remaining IS insurgents in the Middle Euphrates River Valley.

Selling missiles to the Qataris is not only good business for the Russians; it also allows them to meddle in the conflicted and splintered politics of the Gulf states, like reported by middleeasteye.net

Military experts refer to the Russian-made S-400 SAM (surface-to-air missile) system as beyond compare, with one calling it “the most capable and lethal long-range air defense missile system on the planet”.

Nicknamed the Growler, this portable weapons system can engage virtually any aerial target, from ballistic missiles to stealth fighter jets to unmanned aerial vehicles, at a range of up to 400 kilometres. It is simply the best. The highly touted American Patriot system doesn’t even come close.

So it is not surprising that the Russians are finding ready buyers, among them Turkey. The Turks have signed a $2.5bn deal, much to the chagrin of the US. Turkey is a key NATO member and the idea that it would reach out to the Russians has US politicians fuming, so much so that the US Senate is considering killing off a deal to sell 100 F-35 fighter jets to the Turks, as well as threatening sanctions.

A theatre for the Growler

For their part, the Turks are unimpressed by US threats: “The ‘I will impose sanctions if you buy’ approach will not affect Turkey. Turkey will not accept this,” responded Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. And he brushed off entreaties from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, brusquely noting: “We have completed the S-400 process. That is a done deal.”

In the mix in the Middle East to buy the S-400 are Egypt, Iraq and Syria, where the ongoing civil war has proved a perfect  theatre to showcase the capabilities and many qualities of the Growler. Among those most impressed by what they have seen are the Saudis. That’s understandable, given rising tensions between Tehran and Riyadh as they challenge each other for regional hegemony.

In October of last year, during a visit by King Salman to Moscow, a memorandum of understanding was signed for the purchase of a number of weapons systems, including the S-400, with the understanding that it allowed for technology transfer to enable the development of a Saudi defence industry. That’s a key element of the overhaul of the Saudi economy, Vision 2030, led by the king’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The Americans made no public comment at the time, perhaps because they were already mollified by the huge deal announced during President Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh in May 2017. That deal, which put a very big smile on Trump’s face, was said to be worth $350bn over 10 years to the US defence industry.

Saudi-Qatar feud

In the meantime, the Russians were far from finished with the business of selling the S-400 in the Middle East. Next up were the Qataris, who announced in late January via their ambassador to Moscow that they were well on their way to finalising an agreement to purchase the system. Speaking to Tass, ambassador Fahad bin Mohammed al-Attiyah said: “Talks about the subject are at an advanced stage.”

That was enough to infuriate the Saudis, who are locked in a bitter feud with Qatar that is now over a year old. In June of last year, Saudi Arabia, together with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, imposed a land, air and sea blockade, demanding that Qatar rein in its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, shutter the broadcaster Al Jazeera and surrender its independent foreign policy.

The Qataris have proved to be both defiant and resilient. Their economy has ridden out the blockade, and in the propaganda wars raging between the two sides, they are consistently getting the better of the Emiratis and the Saudis, the main protagonists within the so-called Quartet.

On 1 June, the French daily Le Monde reported that it had seen a letter sent by King Salman to President Emmanuel Macron attempting to enlist his support in pressuring Russia not to go ahead with the S-400 sale to Qatar. According to Le Monde, the king expressed “profound concern”. The letter went on to threaten military action against Qatar should the sale go through.

For their part, the Qataris have been on a weapons spending spree while the blockade has gone on, including a deal with the US, announced in March, to spend nearly $200m on upgrading their existing missile defence system. So it is unclear why, in particular, the S-400 deal became the trigger point for Saudi anger.

Diplomatic silence

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that Saudi attempts to block the deal were an attack on his country’s sovereignty and noted that Qatar posed no threat to Saudi Arabia. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Al Thani commented: “Qatar is going to treat this the same way we have treated the illegal blockade, we are going to seek all the international forums to make sure that this behaviour is not repeated.”

In any event, it would appear that Macron is steering well clear of involvement. Other entreaties to both Washington and London have been met with a similar diplomatic silence. It was an odd approach by the Saudis to try and get others to pressure the Russians. Why not go to them directly?

Well, perhaps the Saudis did just that and threatened to break off the deal. If so, the Russians would appear not in the least to have been intimidated. They know that the Saudis need the S-400 because of the Iranian threat. That’s especially true now that Trump has sabotaged the deal that constrained Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Selling to the Qataris is a case of putting the cat among the pigeons. It is not only good business for the Russians; it also allows them to meddle in the conflicted and splintered politics of the Gulf states.

Helping to keep the Gulf feud burning briskly gives Russian President Vladimir Putin further leverage with Iran. Thus far, it is the Iranians who are the only winners in the feud. They have watched without so much as lifting a finger as the Gulf Cooperation Council has split itself apart when it ought to, among other things, be functioning as a military alliance against external threats. So chalk up another win for Putin.

Russia’s enhanced presence

Putin has saved Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from sure defeat while supporting Iran’s intervention and ambitions in Syria, and at the same time, has managed to sell billions of dollars of weapons to their Gulf enemies. In the process, he has immensely enhanced Russia’s presence in the region. The icing on the cake, the sheer brilliance of selling the S-400 to Qatar, means that he continues to divide and thrive.

Lost in all the clever manoeuvres, all the wheeling and dealing and the multibillion-dollar arms sales, is the thought that the most sophisticated weapons the market can offer and that money can buy are pouring in at an unprecedented rate to a region that has all the signs of fast-tracking to a major war with global consequences.

Heavy clashes broke out after an attack by fighters from Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham in the towns of Kefraya and Foua in Idleb countryside, like reported by syrianobserver.com.

For about three years, the two towns in the northern Idleb countryside, which are majority pro-regime, have been under a heavy siege imposed by Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham. The two towns are controlled by fighters from pro-regime Shia popular councils.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Hayyat fighters, “late on Saturday began a heavy bombardment on the two towns before storming them and clashing with local gunmen.”

Heavy clashes have continued until today, which has led to the death of six loyalist fighters and three from Hayyat.

Short skirmishes between the two sides are sometimes recorded, but the frontline has seen relative calm in recent months.

This is “the heaviest attack on the two towns in about three years.”

The regime news agency SANA reported that “heavy clashes” were occurring with fighters from Hayyat who had slipped into the two towns, and claimed that the popular councils had “forestalled” the attack.

Regime forces today carried out raids in the area around the two towns, and targeted a number of other towns including Binish and Ram Hamdan, in addition to points where Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham has been concentrated at the front lines.

Foua and Kefraya are the only two towns currently under siege in Syria according to the United Nations. It was expected that 5,000 of its residents would be evacuated last week in exchange for removing Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham fighters from southern Syria, according to regime media, however the evacuation was limited to medical cases from the two towns.

Iraq’s prime minister ordered an investigation into overnight explosions that tore through a mosque in Baghdad as officials raised the casualty toll to 18 dead and 38 wounded. The blasts took place in Baghdad’s Sadr City when a weapons depot exploded inside a Shiite mosque, the officials said according to cbsnews.com.

It was not clear what triggered the explosions that destroyed or damaged 20 homes.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

In a statement issued by his office, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that storing weapons in a crowded residential area by “unauthorized parties” was a “crime that led to the killing of innocent people.”

Al-Abadi directed the Interior Ministry to take “legal deterrent measures” against those who “committed this crime.” He ordered security forces to conduct searches inside and outside the cities to confiscate weapons from parties “outside the official security forces,” referring to Shiite militias.

Sadr City is considered one of the main strongholds for supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric whose supporters once fought American troops in Iraq in the years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Al-Sadr’s followers won the largest number of seats in Iraq’s May 12 parliamentary elections but would have to form a coalition government with other blocs in a process that could drag on for months.

Al-Sadr also commands a government-backed paramilitary force that took part in the nearly three-year war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after it seized large swathes of Iraq’s territory in 2013 and 2014. Iraq declared victory over ISIS last year, but the extremist group retains pockets in western and northern Iraq and continues to stage attacks on security forces.

The US-Led Coalition against the Islamic state ISIS militant group announced that Syrian democratic forces SDF militant group began an operation against the Islamic state ISIS militant group near Dashisha town in Hasakeh province eastern Syria, like reported by qasioun-news.com.

US-Led Coalition or the Operation Inherent Resolve said Syrian Democratic Forces initiated ground operations for phase two of Operation Roundup to defeat Daesh remnants in northeastern Syria today.

The SDF ground offensive, aimed at clearing Dashisha, is bolstered by coordinated Coalition cross-border air and artillery strikes, and our Iraqi partners’ strikes by the Iraqi Air Force and Iraqi Army artillery positioned near the border.

Iraqi Security Forces have also enhanced their border presence to prevent the escape of Daesh members from Syria into Iraq.

Operation Roundup began May 1, and the successful first phase ended with the clearance of Baghuz, Syria May 15.

“This is a well-coordinated, powerful offensive to annihilate Daesh remnants in northeastern Syria,” said Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk II, commander of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. “Our partners are aggressively taking the fight to what’s left of Daesh’s conventional force, which has been demoralized by military losses and its leadership’s abandonment of the terrorists they left on the front lines.”

Coalition strikes supporting Roundup in May exceeded April’s strike total by 123%, and March’s strike total by 304%. Ongoing strikes are targeting Daesh command and control centers, weapons production and storage facilities, safe houses and facilitation sites. “We and our Iraqi partners are also targeting a lot of tunnel complexes and underground storage sites, where Daesh are hiding,” said Funk.

Despite their significant sacrifices thus far in the fight against Daesh, the multi-ethnic Syrian Democratic Forces remain committed to liberating the people of northeastern Syria from Daesh’s control and putting an end to the human suffering in the area.

The pro-government paramilitary troops have announced shelling, through its artillery, Islamic State militants inside Syria, like reported by iraqinews.com.

A statement by the media service of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said on Thursday evening that troops “shelled Islamic State members gathering at the Syrian al-Desheisha village, which neighbors Tal Sufuk region.”

The targeted militants, according to the statement, “were trying to reach to the troops deployed along the borders, taking advantage of the bad weather conditions.”

Last week, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said troops managed to secure the Syrian side of borders and eliminate Islamic State members in Upper Euphrates.

The Iraqi-Syrian borders are under the control of joint troops of military and border guards.

In December, Abadi announced full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members. However, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq against troops. Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country.

Thousands of IS militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.

Iraqi security forces arrested Islamic State’s chief explosives expert in Diyala province, a security source was quoted according to iraqinews.com.

Alsumaria News quoted the source saying that a security operation in Diyala resulted in the arrest of a the Islamic State’s “IED planting official”, nicknamed “Abu Yassin”, having received intelligence information about his presence at a house in Khanaqin town.

Five companions were arrested along with him, according to the security source, who explained that Abu Yassin was behind several bombings that occurred recently in Diyala .

Though the Iraqi government said last December it had ended Islamic State militants’ presence in the country, remaining cells have carried out occasional attacks against security forces and civilians, and troops continue to comb liberated regions i search for those cells.

Arab coalition jet fighters launched a number of air raids against a group of Iranian-backed Houthi Militia positions in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Local sources have confirmed that coalition fighters launched an air strike on a militia gathering at Ghaa Al-Ghethy area, south of Sanaa, and three raids on Garban Region in Sinhan Directorate, southeast of Sanaa.

The Arab coalition’s jet fighters launched several air raids last night against positions and gatherings of coup militias in the front of Magbana, west of Taiz, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The Houthi militants in Yemen’s Hodeidah have evacuated dozens of Iranian “advisors” from the city as the Yemeni army, backed by the Arab coalition, continued its advance in the area, like reported by aawsat.com.

Secretary of the Hodeidah district, Walid al-Qadimi told Asharq Al-Awsat that some 50 Iranian experts were evacuated from the city towards the capital Sanaa and the Hajjah region, where masses of Houthis fighters are deployed.

He revealed that the Iranians were evacuated in ambulances, in violation of international rules of war.

Some experts have remained in Hodeidah, specifically in the mountainous regions near the city, he added.

They have remained to oversee the military operations, but chose to steer clear of possible army and coalition targets, Qadimi explained.

The army is, however, monitoring their movement in order to capture them before they have the opportunity to flee, he stressed.

Sources from the Yemeni military had previously told Asharq Al-Awsat that some 150 Iranian advisors were located between Sanaa and Hodeidah and they are tasked with supporting the Houthis’ military capabilities.

In Hodeidah city, Qadimi said that senior Houthi commanders are fleeing the area and the majority of the extremist fighters have escaped to Saada.

Those who have remained were brought in from Amran, Dhamar and Hajjah, he revealed. The militias have also paid thugs and outlaws to head to the city to engage the military in guerrilla warfare once they enter the area.