Syria to launch a "vast offensive" against rebel groups with help of Iranian ground troops; Russian

[EmperorScorpious]

[quote]Government forces advanced in western Syria in a "vast offensive" against armed opposition groups, as NATO voiced alarm at escalating Russian military activity in the war-torn country.

[B]Government forces appeared to have regained ground on Thursday, after its chief of staff General Ali Abdullah Ayoub announced "a vast offensive to defeat the terrorist groups" and restore control over opposition-held areas.

Although Ayoub did not specify where the operation would take place, Syrian state TV reported that the army had targeted "terrorist positions" in the central province of Hama, killing 32 fighters and destroying four armoured vehicles.[/B]

At least 13 government fighters and 11 opposition fighters were killed in the clashes, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Rebels shot down a low-flying military helicopter, but it was unclear if the aircraft was Syrian or Russian, Rami Abdelrahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory, said. He could not confirm what had happened to those inside.

Elsewhere in Syria, backed by Russian air strikes, government forces fought heavy battles with armed opposition groups for control of a hilltop in an mountainous range close to President Bashar al-Assad's coastal heartland.

The fighting was centred around Jeb al-Ahmar, a highland area in Latakia province which if captured would allow the army to more effectively pound rebel positions in the nearby Ghab Plain, said Abdelrahman.

[B]A Syrian military source told AFP news agency on Thursday that the army, backed by Russian raids and allied groups including the Lebanese group Hezbollah, had advanced into the key mountain range.[/B]

"They have seized most of the hilly region of Jeb al-Ahmar" which overlooks the strategic Sahl al-Ghab plain to the east and Assad's coastal stronghold of Latakia to the west, the source said.

The plain has been the focus of a months-long offensive by a rebel alliance including al-Nusra Front.
[B]
Russia has dramatically stepped up its nine-day-old air war against foes of Assad, with heavy bombing by warplanes and cruise missile strikes from the Caspian Sea.[/B]

Russia says it is striking the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group and "other terrorists".

The US has accused Russia of targeting groups other than ISIL or al-Nusra in more than 90 percent of its raids.

[img]http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2015/9/1/412b24ead10a43f0aae365d7bbda1809_18.jpg[/img]
[/quote]

[url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/assad-forces-stage-vast-offensive-western-syria-151008152227338.html[/url]

[quote]Reports from Lebanon say hundreds of [B]Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last 10 days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes.[/B]

Reuters news agency reported on Thursday the arrival of the Iranians, quoting two Lebanese sources:

[B]"The [Russian] air strikes will, in the near future, be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies," said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict.[/B]
[B]
"It is possible that the coming land operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside."[/B]

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the report.

The two Reuters sources said the operation will be aimed at recapturing territory lost by President Bashar al-Assad's government to rebels.

If true, the development points to an emerging military alliance between Russia and Assad's other main allies - Iran and Hezbollah - focused on recapturing areas of northwestern Syria that were seized by opposition fighters in rapid advances earlier this year.

[B]"The vanguard of Iranian ground forces began arriving in Syria: soldiers and officers specifically to participate in this battle," the second source said.

"They are not advisers ... we mean hundreds with equipment and weapons. They will be followed by more."

Iraqis will also take part in the operation, the source said.[/B]

Thus far, direct Iranian military support for Assad has come mostly in the form of military advisers.

Iran has also mobilised Shia units, including Iraqis and some Afghans, to fight alongside Syrian government forces.[/quote]

[url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/reports-iranian-troops-syria-joint-offensive-151001143337046.html[/url]

[G-Man]

This'll either be a major step forward in the fight against ISIS (and other groups), or a huge disaster.

[gudman]

[QUOTE=Spetsnaz95;48864504]This'll either be a major step forward in the fight against ISIS (and other groups), or a huge disaster.[/QUOTE]

Either way, huge losses will follow. SAA might just lose any ability to advance they've left, if latest advances around Hama are anything to go by.