Syrian Civil War (Graphic Photos/Vid Not Allowed)

[ultron]

Syrian Army storms rebels' stronghold in Eastern Ghouta, Map update

 

[Solomon2]

Wounded Syrians Treated in Israel ‘Overwhelmed With Gratitude,’ Says IDF Medical Corps Deputy Surgeon General (INTERVIEW)
MARCH 8, 2016 11:17 PM
Author:

Ruthie Blum

IDF Medical Corps Deputy Surgeon General Col. Dr. Tarif Bader. Photo: Our Soldiers Speak video/Screenshot.

“At first, they were afraid to be treated by Israelis, whom they were taught their whole lives are their worst enemies,” the deputy surgeon general of the IDF Medical Corps told The Algemeiner this week. “But once they began to accept our medical help, they became overwhelmed with gratitude and their entire attitude towards us changed.”

Col. Dr. Tarif Bader was referring to the many wounded Syrians who have crossed the border into Israel from their war-torn country to receive top-tier care, both at the IDF field hospital set up along the border and at official medical centers in the north of the country.

Since 2013, Bader said, the IDF has been administering the same advanced care to Syrians injured in the fighting between President Assad’s forces (backed by Russia and Iran) and rebel groups as it does to Israeli civilians and soldiers. This, emphasized Bader, is “without selection or prying into their ethnic background or side in the conflict” that has led to the death of an estimated 200,000 combatants and civilians over the past five years.

“But this is in keeping with what we teach our teams in the military medical academy: that their job is to treat all injured people, regardless of who they are, and the only thing they have to do in primary triage is to treat those with the most serious injuries first, including if they are terrorists,” he said.

Where the Syrians are concerned, however, “Of course, we behave with caution. We don’t enter Syria or risk minefields in order to treat them; they come to us,” he said.

Asked whether this kind of indiscriminate care means that Israel could be treating wounded ISIS or other terrorists, Bader, a Druze who has served for more than two decades in the Israeli military, said that it was certainly possible. “But ISIS tends not to be fighting in the areas closest to Israel. Most of the people we treat are not from Damascus or Aleppo, the cities where the bulk of the combat is taking place, but rather from villages near the border.”

Still, he said, even those who live near the border can be coming from a few miles away. He recounted the story of a mother who carried her five-year-old child – with a partially amputated limb – by herself, on foot, for two miles to reach the field hospital.

Because the minutes following an injury are crucial, Bader explained, one of the challenges the Israeli medical personnel face is the amount of time that passes before a wounded Syrian is able to get help.

“Sometimes they come hours or even a full day after being wounded,” he said. “This is one of the challenges of treating them. There is a danger of infection. Indeed, aside from war wounds, many Syrians are afflicted with infectious diseases caused by their injuries. This sometimes forces us to hospitalize them for periods of time in Israel.”

Bader claimed that it is by word of mouth that more and more Syrians have begun to seek Israeli assistance. “Even those who were fearful and suspicious of Israelis initially took the risk of taking our medical help because it was either that or dying a certain death. So, rather than choosing to die on Syrian soil, they opted to try to be rescued by Israeli doctors. But every single one of them returns to Syria feeling extremely grateful and telling us so,” he said.

Bader, who is completing a lecture tour in America sponsored by the US-based NGO, “Our Soldiers speak” (where he has also been talking about heading the IDF’s aid mission to Nepal in 2015 and participation in its aid mission to Haiti in 2010), told The Algemeiner that “it is very important for the world to know that we do not have special teams for the Syrians. The same staff, aircraft, ambulances and medical supplies that we use for our own soldiers and civilians are provided for the Syrians. This is the IDF’s approach to any person in need of care.”

The same goes for the Israeli hospitals, he said. “There are no special wards for the Syrians. They lie side-by-side with Israeli patients. And they are so relieved to be healing that they have mixed feelings about going back home. They are grateful for being saved and fearful about returning to the war zone. But at the same time, they miss their families and want to go home.”

One challenge Bader said his personnel has had to overcome is the language and cultural barriers between the Israeli medical professionals and the Syrians they treat. Bader himself is fluent in Arabic – though his Israeli-Druze dialect is slightly different from that of the Syrians — and always makes sure that any team treating Syrians has at least one Arabic-speaker.

“The same goes for the hospitals,” he said. “But that’s a bit easier, because nearly a third of medical personnel in northern Israel are Arabs or Arabic-speakers.”

Asked whether he has come across Syrian Druze while treating the war-wounded, he pleaded ignorance. “I don’t know, because I don’t ask patients if they’re Muslim, Christian or Druze. I’m there to help them, regardless of who they are.”

Again, Bader emphasized, however, “Whoever they are, they are always grateful and usually surprised to discover what we Israelis are really like. One guy I talked to before he went back to Syria said he was so ashamed that he used to think of Israelis as the enemy. He said that when he saw the hospitality and professionalism with which he was greeted, he changed his whole outlook. So much so that he actually said, ‘If I had the possibility to raise the Israeli flag on top of my house, I would do it.’”

 

[ultron]

Wounded Syrians Treated in Israel ‘Overwhelmed With Gratitude,’ Says IDF Medical Corps Deputy Surgeon General (INTERVIEW)
MARCH 8, 2016 11:17 PM
Author:

Ruthie Blum

IDF Medical Corps Deputy Surgeon General Col. Dr. Tarif Bader. Photo: Our Soldiers Speak video/Screenshot.

“At first, they were afraid to be treated by Israelis, whom they were taught their whole lives are their worst enemies,” the deputy surgeon general of the IDF Medical Corps told The Algemeiner this week. “But once they began to accept our medical help, they became overwhelmed with gratitude and their entire attitude towards us changed.”

Col. Dr. Tarif Bader was referring to the many wounded Syrians who have crossed the border into Israel from their war-torn country to receive top-tier care, both at the IDF field hospital set up along the border and at official medical centers in the north of the country.

Since 2013, Bader said, the IDF has been administering the same advanced care to Syrians injured in the fighting between President Assad’s forces (backed by Russia and Iran) and rebel groups as it does to Israeli civilians and soldiers. This, emphasized Bader, is “without selection or prying into their ethnic background or side in the conflict” that has led to the death of an estimated 200,000 combatants and civilians over the past five years.

“But this is in keeping with what we teach our teams in the military medical academy: that their job is to treat all injured people, regardless of who they are, and the only thing they have to do in primary triage is to treat those with the most serious injuries first, including if they are terrorists,” he said.

Where the Syrians are concerned, however, “Of course, we behave with caution. We don’t enter Syria or risk minefields in order to treat them; they come to us,” he said.

Asked whether this kind of indiscriminate care means that Israel could be treating wounded ISIS or other terrorists, Bader, a Druze who has served for more than two decades in the Israeli military, said that it was certainly possible. “But ISIS tends not to be fighting in the areas closest to Israel. Most of the people we treat are not from Damascus or Aleppo, the cities where the bulk of the combat is taking place, but rather from villages near the border.”

Still, he said, even those who live near the border can be coming from a few miles away. He recounted the story of a mother who carried her five-year-old child – with a partially amputated limb – by herself, on foot, for two miles to reach the field hospital.

Because the minutes following an injury are crucial, Bader explained, one of the challenges the Israeli medical personnel face is the amount of time that passes before a wounded Syrian is able to get help.

“Sometimes they come hours or even a full day after being wounded,” he said. “This is one of the challenges of treating them. There is a danger of infection. Indeed, aside from war wounds, many Syrians are afflicted with infectious diseases caused by their injuries. This sometimes forces us to hospitalize them for periods of time in Israel.”

Bader claimed that it is by word of mouth that more and more Syrians have begun to seek Israeli assistance. “Even those who were fearful and suspicious of Israelis initially took the risk of taking our medical help because it was either that or dying a certain death. So, rather than choosing to die on Syrian soil, they opted to try to be rescued by Israeli doctors. But every single one of them returns to Syria feeling extremely grateful and telling us so,” he said.

Bader, who is completing a lecture tour in America sponsored by the US-based NGO, “Our Soldiers speak” (where he has also been talking about heading the IDF’s aid mission to Nepal in 2015 and participation in its aid mission to Haiti in 2010), told The Algemeiner that “it is very important for the world to know that we do not have special teams for the Syrians. The same staff, aircraft, ambulances and medical supplies that we use for our own soldiers and civilians are provided for the Syrians. This is the IDF’s approach to any person in need of care.”

The same goes for the Israeli hospitals, he said. “There are no special wards for the Syrians. They lie side-by-side with Israeli patients. And they are so relieved to be healing that they have mixed feelings about going back home. They are grateful for being saved and fearful about returning to the war zone. But at the same time, they miss their families and want to go home.”

One challenge Bader said his personnel has had to overcome is the language and cultural barriers between the Israeli medical professionals and the Syrians they treat. Bader himself is fluent in Arabic – though his Israeli-Druze dialect is slightly different from that of the Syrians — and always makes sure that any team treating Syrians has at least one Arabic-speaker.

“The same goes for the hospitals,” he said. “But that’s a bit easier, because nearly a third of medical personnel in northern Israel are Arabs or Arabic-speakers.”

Asked whether he has come across Syrian Druze while treating the war-wounded, he pleaded ignorance. “I don’t know, because I don’t ask patients if they’re Muslim, Christian or Druze. I’m there to help them, regardless of who they are.”

Again, Bader emphasized, however, “Whoever they are, they are always grateful and usually surprised to discover what we Israelis are really like. One guy I talked to before he went back to Syria said he was so ashamed that he used to think of Israelis as the enemy. He said that when he saw the hospitality and professionalism with which he was greeted, he changed his whole outlook. So much so that he actually said, ‘If I had the possibility to raise the Israeli flag on top of my house, I would do it.’”

Use 7N6 bullets. Those wounds cannot be treated.

 

[ultron]

East Ghouta broke in two

 

[Madali]

Wounded Syrians Treated in Israel ‘Overwhelmed With Gratitude,’ Says IDF Medical Corps Deputy Surgeon General (INTERVIEW)
MARCH 8, 2016 11:17 PM
Author:

Ruthie Blum

IDF Medical Corps Deputy Surgeon General Col. Dr. Tarif Bader. Photo: Our Soldiers Speak video/Screenshot.

“At first, they were afraid to be treated by Israelis, whom they were taught their whole lives are their worst enemies,” the deputy surgeon general of the IDF Medical Corps told The Algemeiner this week. “But once they began to accept our medical help, they became overwhelmed with gratitude and their entire attitude towards us changed.”

Col. Dr. Tarif Bader was referring to the many wounded Syrians who have crossed the border into Israel from their war-torn country to receive top-tier care, both at the IDF field hospital set up along the border and at official medical centers in the north of the country.

Since 2013, Bader said, the IDF has been administering the same advanced care to Syrians injured in the fighting between President Assad’s forces (backed by Russia and Iran) and rebel groups as it does to Israeli civilians and soldiers. This, emphasized Bader, is “without selection or prying into their ethnic background or side in the conflict” that has led to the death of an estimated 200,000 combatants and civilians over the past five years.

“But this is in keeping with what we teach our teams in the military medical academy: that their job is to treat all injured people, regardless of who they are, and the only thing they have to do in primary triage is to treat those with the most serious injuries first, including if they are terrorists,” he said.

Where the Syrians are concerned, however, “Of course, we behave with caution. We don’t enter Syria or risk minefields in order to treat them; they come to us,” he said.

Asked whether this kind of indiscriminate care means that Israel could be treating wounded ISIS or other terrorists, Bader, a Druze who has served for more than two decades in the Israeli military, said that it was certainly possible. “But ISIS tends not to be fighting in the areas closest to Israel. Most of the people we treat are not from Damascus or Aleppo, the cities where the bulk of the combat is taking place, but rather from villages near the border.”

Still, he said, even those who live near the border can be coming from a few miles away. He recounted the story of a mother who carried her five-year-old child – with a partially amputated limb – by herself, on foot, for two miles to reach the field hospital.

Because the minutes following an injury are crucial, Bader explained, one of the challenges the Israeli medical personnel face is the amount of time that passes before a wounded Syrian is able to get help.

“Sometimes they come hours or even a full day after being wounded,” he said. “This is one of the challenges of treating them. There is a danger of infection. Indeed, aside from war wounds, many Syrians are afflicted with infectious diseases caused by their injuries. This sometimes forces us to hospitalize them for periods of time in Israel.”

Bader claimed that it is by word of mouth that more and more Syrians have begun to seek Israeli assistance. “Even those who were fearful and suspicious of Israelis initially took the risk of taking our medical help because it was either that or dying a certain death. So, rather than choosing to die on Syrian soil, they opted to try to be rescued by Israeli doctors. But every single one of them returns to Syria feeling extremely grateful and telling us so,” he said.

Bader, who is completing a lecture tour in America sponsored by the US-based NGO, “Our Soldiers speak” (where he has also been talking about heading the IDF’s aid mission to Nepal in 2015 and participation in its aid mission to Haiti in 2010), told The Algemeiner that “it is very important for the world to know that we do not have special teams for the Syrians. The same staff, aircraft, ambulances and medical supplies that we use for our own soldiers and civilians are provided for the Syrians. This is the IDF’s approach to any person in need of care.”

The same goes for the Israeli hospitals, he said. “There are no special wards for the Syrians. They lie side-by-side with Israeli patients. And they are so relieved to be healing that they have mixed feelings about going back home. They are grateful for being saved and fearful about returning to the war zone. But at the same time, they miss their families and want to go home.”

One challenge Bader said his personnel has had to overcome is the language and cultural barriers between the Israeli medical professionals and the Syrians they treat. Bader himself is fluent in Arabic – though his Israeli-Druze dialect is slightly different from that of the Syrians — and always makes sure that any team treating Syrians has at least one Arabic-speaker.

“The same goes for the hospitals,” he said. “But that’s a bit easier, because nearly a third of medical personnel in northern Israel are Arabs or Arabic-speakers.”

Asked whether he has come across Syrian Druze while treating the war-wounded, he pleaded ignorance. “I don’t know, because I don’t ask patients if they’re Muslim, Christian or Druze. I’m there to help them, regardless of who they are.”

Again, Bader emphasized, however, “Whoever they are, they are always grateful and usually surprised to discover what we Israelis are really like. One guy I talked to before he went back to Syria said he was so ashamed that he used to think of Israelis as the enemy. He said that when he saw the hospitality and professionalism with which he was greeted, he changed his whole outlook. So much so that he actually said, ‘If I had the possibility to raise the Israeli flag on top of my house, I would do it.’”

You must know something is wrong with your country if they put so much media effort in trying to prove a few people like you.

 

[Solomon2]

You must know something is wrong with your country if they put so much media effort in trying to prove a few people like you.

Blind majoritarianism is Muslims' downfall. If five thugs gang up to rob somebody, is it the victim's fault? Without individual civil rights you encourage crime and genocide, since with rhetoric anyone can be made into minority, and either the majority pursue them out of claimed right, or the minority oppose via murder, seeking to become the majority themselves.

Wake up and smell the coffee, Mohammedans! Israel is the model to be embraced, not Syria, Lebanon, Iran, or Saudi Arabia.

 

[Madali]

Wake up and smell the coffee, Mohammedans! Israel is the model to be embraced, not Syria, Lebanon, Iran, or Saudi Arabia.

I guess first we need to find a country where we can invade, then pay money to people all around the world who are part of the same cult as ours to leave their country and come to the occupied land, kick out the local and give them their home.

Sounds like too much work to be honest.

 

[Beyonder]

Blind majoritarianism is Muslims' downfall. If five thugs gang up to rob somebody, is it the victim's fault? Without individual civil rights you encourage crime and genocide, since with rhetoric anyone can be made into minority, and either the majority pursue them out of claimed right, or the minority oppose via murder, seeking to become the majority themselves.

Wake up and smell the coffee, Mohammedans! Israel is the model to be embraced, not Syria, Lebanon, Iran, or Saudi Arabia.

May be time for you Barbarians to wake up and...end the occupation?

 

[rashid.sarwar]

East Ghouta broke in two

Can anyone tell how the rebels get their supplies when they are surrounded by SAA.

Tunnels?

 

[Parul]

Syrian army units active in the northern city of Aleppo found and destroyed a tunnel used by terrorists as an arms depot, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Wednesday.



"The Syrian army troops seized a long supply tunnel of the terrorists in one of the neighborhoods of Aleppo," Fars News wrote citing military sources on the ground.

"The tunnel could lead the militants toward the Syrian army's positions and concentration centers in Jamiyeh al-Zahra in Dawar al-Maliyeh neighborhood," the sources added.

© SPUTNIK/ ILIYA PITALEV
Down-and-Out: Syrian Army Wins Back Strategic Region in Homs in Blitz Offensive
On Tuesday the al-Nusra Front and Jund al-Aqsa terrorist groups confirmed the loss of at least 26 of their fighters killed and wounded and a number of their military vehicles destroyed following a series of failed attacks on the government forces' positions in Tal al-Eiss in southern Aleppo.


Meanwhile, the Syrian Army, backed by popular forces, restored security to eight newly liberated villages in the south of Aleppo province and was now advancing towards regions still under the terrorists’ control.

Syrian military forces also engaged in fierce firefights with the remnants of militants in the areas just liberated inflicting heavy losses and damage on the militants.



Read more: Syrian Army Destroys Daesh Tunnel Depot, Restores Security in Aleppo

 

[Parul]

 

[Parul]

Daesh is buckling under the pressure from the Syrian Arab Army and the Syrian Democratic Forces' advance; at the same the terrorist group is suffering significant damage due to increasing defections and inner strife, Stratfor, also known as "the shadow CIA," reports.



Although Daesh still poses an imminent threat to peace and stability in the Middle East, new cracks have appeared in the Islamist organization.

"Taking advantage of the cease-fire, loyalist forces supported by Russia and Iran have launched two significant offensives, one aimed at the city of al-Qaryatayn and the other at the ancient city of Palmyra. At the same time, the Syrian Democratic Forces are pursuing their offensive against the Islamic State [Daesh] in northern Syria, advancing into Deir ez-Zor for the first time and making inroads closer to Raqqa, the extremist group's self-declared capital," Strategic Forecasting Inc. (Stratfor), global intelligence company, reported on March 7.

The intelligence company, sometimes referred at as "the shadow CIA," draws attention to the fact that "perhaps most damaging" to Daesh is the dissent rising within the terrorist group.

© SPUTNIK/ MIKHAIL VOSKRESENSKIY
'Realistic Dream': Syrian Rebels Could Side With Damascus to Defeat Daesh
Indeed, on March 6 Alalam media outlet reported on intensifying clashes between citizens of Raqqa, the de facto capital of Daesh, and Islamists.


"One local source in Raqqa confirmed that around 200 suspect members of ISIS [Daesh] defected only in the last two days. Meantime, a group called "Faylak al-Sham" claimed that dozens of former ISIS militants joined the group in northern Aleppo," Alalam wrote, adding that the offensive of the Syrian Arab Army and their allies in the eastern part of Aleppo and northeast part of Hama province poses a significant threat to Daesh's "capital."

On March 7, Sputnik shed some more light on the event, citing an unnamed source with the knowledge of the matter.

"About 200 Syrian militants of Daesh [another name for Islamic State] took the side of residents of Raqqa, which forced the terrorists to organize roadblocks at the entrance to the city," the source told Sputnik.

The source narrated that residents of Raqqa clashed with Daesh fighters on Sunday and flew Syrian flags in five neighborhoods of the city.

© AP PHOTO/ RAQQA MEDIA CENTER
Fighters from the al-Qaida linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during a parade in Raqqa, Syria

© REUTERS/ STRINGER
200 Terrorists Take Side of Syria's Raqqa Residents Rebelling Against Daesh
Al-Masdar News specified that the civilian resistance groups "reportedly liberated the neighborhoods of Dawar Al-Sawama, Dawar Al-Durayah, Dawar Al-Meshlab, Bab Baghdad, and Dawar Al-Barazi before nightfall on Sunday."


"Based on the reports released by the Syrian government officials over the last 48 hours, the civilian resistance groups have liberated a total of 10 neighborhoods from the ISIS [Daesh] terrorists governing the provincial capital of the Al-Raqqa Governorate," the media outlet reported Monday.

Stratfor's analysts stress that reports of such incidents are "diverting much of the Islamic State's security forces at a time when the group desperately needs fighters at the front lines."

Meanwhile, armed opposition groups continue to join the Syrian truce, according to Russia's Ministry of Defense.

Neither the Russian, nor the Syrian Armed Forces have carried out strikes on units which have joined the ceasefire and informed Russian or the US centers about their location.

Although ceasefire violations continue to occur, the US-Russia brokered truce is largely holding in Syria, allowing civilians to restore damaged infrastructure, water and energy supply systems.

"The cease-fire's collapse, which would halt the negotiation process, is not in Russia's interest," Stratfor's report emphasizes.

According to the agreement inked by Moscow and Washington, the two coalitions continue to fight against Daesh, al-Qaeda affiliates and other Islamists in the region.

Interestingly enough, Stratfor remarks that a new front against Daesh is opening up in the desert of southern Syria. The armed group, backed by the US and the Gulf Cooperation Council, is preparing to launch an all-out offensive in Syria. The Jordan-based 'New Syrian Army' is supposed to expel Daesh from Deir ez-Zor, according to Stratfor.

© AP PHOTO/
Oil Revenue Dry-Up Leaves Daesh Reliant on Gulf Donations
The question remains open whether or not the new initiative will destabilize the fragile balance of power in the region.


"The Islamic State [Daesh] is far from defeated, and the group continues to stage successful local counterattacks and devastating terrorist operations in both Syria and Iraq. However, the consistent pressure has so diminished the Islamic State's capabilities that it is no longer clear whether the group will be able to capture significant territory in a strategic offensive," Stratfor analysts conclude.



Read more: Buckling Under Pressure: Will Daesh Cede Raqqa Soon?

 

[Barmaley]

ISIS being pushed by the SAA in Aleppo.

SAA continue its offensive towards Raqqa.

 

[T-72M1]

 

[Parul]

The Russian-Syrian humanitarian aid is delivered to partially seized by militants Syria's southern city of Al Tall in the Damascus province, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Friday.



AL TALL (Syria) (Sputnik) — Al Tall population is estimated at 60,000 people. The city center is under control of one of the Syrian armed groups, with which reconciliation is negotiated.

With the help of the officers of the Russian coordination center for reconciliation in Syria, a safe corridor for the delivery of humanitarian aid was organized in Al Tall. Each resident was given a humanitarian aid package including canned fish, beef stew, as well as rice, peas and beans.

© AP PHOTO/
Obama ‘Very Proud’ US Avoided Bombing Syria for Chemical Weapons 'Red Line'
According to the local residents, there is no food shortage in Al Tall, but due to a significant reduction in incomes and rising prices almost every family took the opportunity to receive humanitarian aid.


Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the government forces fighting several opposition factions and militant groups. The conflict has significantly damaged the country's economy and caused a humanitarian disaster.

The Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Syrian Arab Republic has delivered at least 4.2 tonnes of humanitarian aid, mainly foodstuffs, to the residents of the Al Tall settlement, according to the center.



Read more: Russian-Syrian Humanitarian Aid Delivered to Syria's Al Tall