• Baghdad & Damascus Strike Back: Iraqi Army launches counterattack to retake Ramadi while Assad airst
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[quote][B][U]Syrian air strikes target ISIL in Palmyra[/U][/B] Syrian fighter jets have carried out a series of strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) group in and around the ancient city of Palmyra, according to a military source. The source was quoted by the AFP news agency on Tuesday as [B]saying that the Syrian air force struck more than 160 ISIL targets, while state television reported that at least 50 "terrorists" were killed in the assault.[/B] ISIL captured the historical city on May 22 after a week of battling government forces and forcing them to retreat. [B]"The air force struck more than 160 Daesh [ISIL] targets, killing and wounding terrorists, and destroying weapons and vehicles equipped with machine guns"[/B] on Palmyra's outskirts and elsewhere in the east of Homs province, the military source said. "Military operations, including air raids, are ongoing in the area around al-Suknah, Palmyra, the Arak and al-Hail gas fields and all the roads leading to Palmyra." In a separate development on Tuesday, Syrian state television reported that at least 140 fighters had been killed in air force attacks on an ISIL fighters' base in Raqqa province. [B]Local activists in Palmyra have criticised what they call the Syrian government's "indiscriminate" air strikes, saying civilians are bearing the brunt of the attacks.[/B] The Palmyra Media Centre, a monitoring group on the ground, released a statement on Monday evening condemning the deadly air raids, which they say destroyed numerous residential buildings. "At least 15 people, including women and children, have been killed and dozens of others injured by the air raids," the group said. It also accused the government of using ISIL's takeover as a "fabricated pretext to bombard the city and its people".[/quote] [url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/syria-isil-palmyra-air-strikes-barrel-bombs-150526070448335.html[/url] [quote][B][U]Iraq's army launches offensive to retake Anbar[/U][/B] Iraqi forces have launched a counteroffensive to retake areas of Anbar province recently captured by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group. Officials in Anbar told Associated Press news agency on Tuesday of air strikes and fighting on the ground west and south of the provincial capital, Ramadi. [B]A Shia unit spokesman told AFP news agency that Iraqi forces had surrounded Ramadi from three sides.[/B] Thousands of Iraqi forces, [B]made up of government troops and fighters from allied Shia militias under the Popular Mobilisation Forces banner,[/B] have been gathering at the Habbaniyah military base in preparation for the counteroffensive since Ramadi fell on May 17. Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad, said [B]the fight for Ramadi was "likely to be a very protracted battle"[/B], adding that control over the major highways in Anbar would be key. "It is quite likely to be a very big operation, mounted in stages along some of the main roads in Anbar province," he said.[/quote] [url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/iraq-forces-launch-anbar-counter-offensive-isil-150526082417369.html[/url]
Looks like these guys are starting to get Syrious
Apparently Daesh has launched a counteroffensive in Iraq already with a bunch of suicide bombers. They really don't want to lose Ramadi. [quote]The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group has reportedly carried out a series of suicide attacks on military convoys northeast and southeast of the city of Fallujah, killing at least 55 people, Al Jazeera has learnt. Three blasts on Tuesday struck army convoys travelling in Anbar province to take part in a planned offensive aimed at retaking the provincial city of Ramadi from ISIL, Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad, said. [B]He said that the attacks were a "very big blow" to the military.[/B] ISIL has routinely used car bomb attacks to a "devastating effect" against Iraqi forces, he added. [B]"Car bombs have proven to be a very big problem for the Iraqi security forces,"[/B] he said, noting that the tactic played a major part in the capture of Ramadi. Brigadier General Saad Maan Ibrahim, the spokesman for the Joint Military Command, gave a lower death toll. He told The Associated Press that 17 troops were killed in the attacks.[/quote] [url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/suicide-blasts-isil-iraq-fallujah-ramadi-150527080550499.html[/url]
[QUOTE]The Palmyra Media Centre, a monitoring group on the ground, released a statement on Monday evening condemning the deadly air raids, which they say destroyed numerous residential buildings. "At least 15 people, including women and children, have been killed and dozens of others injured by the air raids," the group said. It also accused the government of using ISIL's takeover as a [B]"fabricated pretext to bombard the city and its people"[/B].[/QUOTE] That's an interesting last line - are they suggesting that IS taking over Palmyra is entirely made up?
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