As part of the fight against ISIS, the Syrian army's offensive in the northern area of Aleppo, which began on the opening day of the third Geneva Conference, represents a significant achievement in the military field. The strategic objectives of the Syrian offensive, as Bouthaina Shaaban, Bashar Assad's political and media advisor pointed out in an interview, are the seizure of the area between Aleppo and the border with Turkey, plus the securing of Aleppo.
It is undeniable that the Syrian army has achieved success in particular in the liberation of the besieged Shiite cities of Nubl and Zahraa and also cutting off supply routes for terrorists from and to Turkey. The Syrian Armed Forces, with the support of the Russian Air Force, Iran, Hezbollah and Shiite volunteer militias, would be tightening their meshes to quickly reach the targets. The developments on the ground are a blow to the Al-Nusra Front, a branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria whose infrastructure is also threatened in the vital region of Idlib. However, the ISIS strongholds in the west of the Euphrates River (Al-Bab - Manbij - Jarabulus) still stand.
To pay the highest price for the clashes between pro-Assad forces and terrorists (both ISIS and other Islamist rebel groups) is the Syrian population, forced to flee to emigrate abroad or take up arms to defend themselves. In this context it was necessary to reach the agreement of Munich, with the aim of guaranteeing the immediate beginning of a humanitarian intervention, accompanied by the end of hostilities within a week. In a joint press conference, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov also announced the establishment, under the UN umbrella, of a working group led by Moscow and Washington, which will work on the goal of transforming the ceasefire to provisional moment in a solid and lasting truce.
"We have decided on a process and set a timetable and we agree to do everything possible to achieve the goal"said Kerry. Lavrov stressed that one of the most important decisions taken in Monaco is the coordination between Russian and US-led coalition military operations.
"What we need is to see actions on the ground in the coming days. Without a political transition, it is not possible to achieve peace"Kerry also argues. State Secretary Kerry's statement deals with the close relationship between the Government of Bashar Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian investment in the Middle East is an important bet both on the domestic front and on in light of the role Moscow is returning to play in the world.
The ceasefire would still represent the basis for new objectives: greater isolation of ISIS terrorists, through a future and not yet possible pacification between government forces and anti-Assad rebels; safeguarding the defenseless population that flees Syria; protection of ethnic minorities; peaceful confrontation between Sunnis and Shiites in the political field; reconstruction and foreign investment plans to restart the country's economic machine.
Returning to the war objectives achieved by the anti-ISIS forces, in Iraq the army continues to clean up the eastern neighborhoods of Ramadi. ISIS, for its part, continues its guerrilla war against Iraqi forces and Shiite militias that support it in the province of Al-Anbar with the use of suicide bombers.
According to the US Department of Defense, there would have been bombing by the American-led coalition both in Syria and in Iraq. In Syria they would concentrate in the areas of Al-Raqqah, Manbij, Daraa, Al-Hasakah and Deir al-Zor. In Iraq the air attacks would be concentrated in the areas of Falluja, Habbaniyah, Mosul, Ramadi, Sinjar, Sultan Abdullah, Tikrit, and Kisik.
However, it is widely believed that bombing is not enough to win the war against ISIS. This is why Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to plan a more effective fighting strategy, announced that Ottawa would like to stop air raids in Iraq and Syria starting in February 22. This plan would allow Canadians to increase the presence of special departments to train Iraqi forces. According to the Canadian premier, air strikes would only lead to short-term results without guaranteeing long-term stability for local communities.
However new players in the field could support the international coalition. We are the official statements of course.
According to Saudi sources, Riad would be able to put together a contingent of 150.000 soldiers, flanked by forces from Egypt, Sudan and Jordan. Other countries such as Kuwait, Qatar, Emirates and Bahrain (as declared by the Ambassador of Manama in Great Britain), would be ready to deploy land forces in Syria as part of an international coalition.
But if ISIS is losing power in Syria and Iraq, the attempt to strengthen itself in Libya to attempt terrorist sorties in neighboring countries is now well known.
According to senior Libyan army intelligence officers, ISIS is the creation of an "army of the poor" in Libya, with the hiring of fighters from African countries. ISIS would offer 1.000 dollars to migrants from countries like Chad, Mali and Sudan to enlist. Official sources in Libya have admitted that they have no means to stop the flow of aspiring militia migrants. The formation of new terror fighters, in a context of total urban and territorial insecurity such as the Libyan one, could acquire a strong momentum. It must therefore be affirmed that as international actors are acting to contain this threat on the Syro-Iraqi area, so Libya would be subjected to interventions of support for the populations and above all to the creation of a line of defense of the countries bordering the Mediterranean . Right now the anti-ISIS actors are observing the implications of the crisis in Libya, but as soon as a greater involvement of the Libyan people and its representatives will be possible, in common agreement, in the fight, the first raids against the posts will officially start. of the Libyan Islamic State terrorist group. It must therefore be argued that a new battle front is about to open in Libya, with future prospects that are still unpredictable and obscure.
(Photo: web)
