It surely seems Syrian Army has made gains in Aleppo.NYT's had begrudgingly acknowledged the gains- Russia Makes an Impact in Syrian Battle for Control of Aleppo
" Syrian Army troops and allied militias inched their way closer to the contested city of Aleppo, as a slowly developing offensive stretched into its fifth day. To the east of the city, forces loyal to Syria,( not Bashar Al Assad: Disinfo removed), appeared to be pushing to retake a military airport surrounded by militants with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL"
The progress of the offensive has been halting, however, slowed in part by American-made antitank weapons supplied to insurgents by Saudi Arabia.
America supplied ISIS through Saudi Arabia
"Weeks of military activity by the government and the latest moves near Aleppo illustrated the “dramatic impact” of the Russian intervention so far, said Yezid Sayigh, an expert on Arab armies at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut.With relatively minimal effort, the Russians had managed to “boost regime and army morale”
Faraj Shahid, a Turkey-based rebel activist who is from the countryside south of Aleppo, said the area was the site of frequent attacks by insurgents on the government’s critical supply line from Hama in central Syria. Over the last four days, he said, government forces had taken control of at least three villages in the vicinity.
Zakaria Malahifji, a leader of a Western-backed rebel coalition, said that the government “chose this front because of its strategic location on the supply route, and its easy geography.” He added, “Airstrikes can be effective because of the flat battlefield, and attack helicopters are present all the time.”
"Rebel commanders have sent out panicked calls to fighters to end their divisions in the face of the latest threat. A rebel operations room in Aleppo issued a statement over the weekend calling on the rebels to put their “differences aside and turn the table on your enemy.”
Prior to the latest , not so positive report linked below, we had news of John Kerry negotiating... The diplomatic game- Hedging every bet. Playing every angle.There was also a report from PamArmenian News
PanARMENIAN.Net - Syrian troops backed by Russian air strikes have advanced in Aleppo, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Armenia’s Social Democrat Hunchakian Party told reporters Thursday, October 22, Tert.am reports.
Don't know how accurate the above report was, but, it was looking good! The latest news has the NATO/CIA Assets, collaborating as a team, attacking Syrian army supply lines
Islamic State fighters took control of a section of road southeast of Aleppo on Friday, threatening the Syrian army's only supply route into the city, a group that monitors the civil war said.
If this report is accurate this can't be good news.
Islamic State captured parts of a road running between the towns of Khanaser and Ithriya, said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. He said battles were continuing in the area.
Al Qaeda's Syria wing and other insurgents are also battling pro-government forces in surrounding areas, said Abdulrahman, who tracks the conflict using sources on the ground.
Islamic State said in a statement distributed online that it had taken control of eight army checkpoints on the road and cut off the army supply route to Aleppo, which was Syria's most populous city and commercial hub before the war broke out in 2011.
A report on Syrian state news agency SANA did not mention the road but said the army and local militia had taken control of four villages southwest of Aleppo on Friday. Areas around Aleppo have seen days of heavy fighting after Syrian troops backed by Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters launched an offensive last week to retake territory around Aleppo from rebels and jihadist fighters.
The offensive has concentrated so far on clearing insurgent-held areas south of Aleppo rather than the city itself, which is home to 2 million people and divided between government forces to the west and rebels in the east.
Strategic Importance of Aleppo:
GREENE: Remind us, if you can, why the city of Aleppo is so important strategically.TABLER: Aleppo is not only the second largest city in Syria but is the main urban center in the northern part of Syria. It's close to the Turkish border. The economy of Aleppo was one of the largest in the country. And it was also home to a number of tourist sites that people from all over the world would visit. So it's also the place where the United States had its longest representation in terms of diplomacy. So a lot's going on there. And unfortunately, large parts of the city have been destroyed as a result of the war.
When Tabler states Aleppo was the place the US had its longest representation in terms of diplomacy Tabler obviously and clearly means that the terrorist held area of Aleppo was where the US had most influence hence diplomatic representation
GREENE: When you hear about Syria being such a beautiful country with such a cultural heritage, a lot of that focus is on Aleppo.TABLER: Absolutely. You have the citadel there, but also just the number of Islamic sites. Lots of mosques have been destroyed. Lots of other parts of the city have been destroyed. The regime controls about 40 percent of it. And the rest have been controlled by a number of rebels over the last four years.GREENE: Well, the Assad regime, I mean, not able to take the eastern part of the city from the rebels for so long. Things seem to be changing now. Is this a big, big example of how Russia's helping the government?TABLER: Absolutely. The Russians are essentially providing air cover for the Assad regime and for Iranian-backed forces to try and encircle the city. They've been trying to do it for years, sort of finger or hand reaching up from the east towards the west to encircle the city and the rebels inside, and they've been unable to do it. They're going to again.
Finally: Those refugees flooding into Europe seem like quite the bunch of hooligan/criminals- Unsurprising. Cause I'm quite certain that NATO sent the worst to Europe with some families for window dressingSlovenia Refugees set fire to their accommodations:
RT: Should we be listening to migrants and their frustrations over the conditions they find themselves when they come into Europe? For example, we saw them in Slovenia allegedly setting fire to an asylum center because of their treatment.Marco Gasic: They obviously want us to listen, but there seems to be a certain lack of respect for European institutions in their behavior. They seem to sense a weakness on the part of European leaders as far as letting them in is concerned.
When my father immigrated to Canada from Italy after WW2, he got nothing from Canada.No accomadation. No taxpayer funded rent paid. No handout. No charity. Nadda. Nothing. Zip. Zero. He found a job and worked. My oh my how things have changed.