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Syrian Forces Winning the Strategically Important Battle of Aleppo
Stephen Lendman
Winning the battle of Aleppo (Syria’s commercial hub before Obama launched naked aggression in 2011) is key to controlling the country’s northwest along with strategic areas bordering Turkey - severing key supply routes, providing ISIS and other terrorist groups with weapons, munitions and other aid.
Greatly helped by Russian air power, Syrian forces gained full control over the main supply route from Turkey.
The Aleppo-Gaziantep Highway runs north to the Turkish border. Syrian forces liberated Ratyan and Mayer in northern Aleppo. Fighting continues in other contested towns and villages.
Syrian forces almost entirely encircled Aleppo areas still held by terrorist groups. According to International Institute for Strategic Studies senior fellow Emile Hokayem, their “downward slope is increasingly steep.”
Their eventual defeat looms. Liberating Aleppo and surrounding areas entirely will constitute the most strategic government victory in nearly five years of conflict.
Syrian forces clearly have the upper hand, thanks to supportive Russian air power. Anti-government fighters in Aleppo “will be killed or forced to surrender,” according to one analyst.
Another called winning the battle of Aleppo “a turning point in the war,” a major step toward defeating Washington’s regional imperial agenda, its aim for unchallenged control.
Syrian forces continue advancing in key Deir Ezzur and Homs provinces, as well as in other areas. ISIS and other terrorist groups reportedly are using child soldiers too young to fight effectively as cannon fodder, some pre-teens, a sign of desperation.
On Thursday, an unnamed US defense official was cited, saying ISIS forces are diminishing in size and strength in Syria and Iraq - at the same time, expanding elsewhere, notably in Libya, somewhat in Central Asia and elsewhere.
The battle to liberate Syria continues, a longterm struggle with no end in sight as long as Washington and its rogue allies continue supporting ISIS and other terrorist groups.
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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.htmlRadio Network
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