ISIS queue: Palmyra resumed in Syria, resists also in Mosul in Iraq

(To Giampiero Venturi)
12/12/16

While the world focuses on Aleppo, where the fall of the last pockets of rebel resistance is a matter of days, the warlike capacities of the Islamic State, given repeatedly for dying, return to the news.

The most striking news is the reconquest of Palmira (where Online Defense had been in October). About 5000 militiamen of the Caliphate were able to wrest control of the historic center of the city from the Syrian soldiers. The retreat of the loyalist forces, supported by heavy bombardment by the Russian air forces, settled on the T-4 air base. In these hours the Syrian General Staff is bringing in reinforcements in view of the counter-offensive for the second liberation of the city. Paramilitaries from the tribal areas of the South would have arrived in these hours on the defense lines.

In that respect, it is necessary to clarify some aspects. The Syrian Armed Forces after six years of war have a real problem of actual. Contemporary exposure on so many fronts has worn over time the ability to mobilize fresh forces and with sufficient training. The final offensive in Aleppo has absorbed the greatest effort, further smoothing the other fronts. Once the second Syrian city has been released, the availability of forces in different parts of the country will be presumably different.

To understand better just think that the Syrian garrison stationed in Palmyra did not exceed the 1000 men and had old T-55. Substantially unable to continue the offensive to the north west it represented a bastion of the southern front, on the Caliphate line that joins the besieged city of Deir Ezzor to Raqqa, virtual capital of the Islamic State.

The surprise is not given by the withdrawal of the Syrians, but by the ISIS's ability to mobilize 5000 well-armed and well-equipped militias.

Damascus's reaction will be crucial in the next few hours, to prevent fortifications and minefields being distributed in the area of ​​the inhabited center, the theater of the upcoming imminent battle.

It should be remembered that Palmira is essentially uninhabited and surrounded by mountains and desert. Despite the relative weight of the city, its symbolic value remains high. As already happened in March 2016, the support of the Russian special forces, present in the mountainous area near the city, will be decisive.

The end of the Caliphate, for some sign of weakness and a desperate attempt to lengthen its agony, is also reflected in Iraq. The Mosul offensive initiated with emphasis by the anti-ISIS Coalition forces in the second half of October is proving to be more complicated than expected.

The December 9 militia jihadists would force the Iraqi forces to withdraw from the newly conquered Al Salam hospital. The December 10 "friendly fire" US would have centered Iraqi posts, causing the death of 90 Baghdad soldiers. The news, reported by Arab newspapers but not confirmed in the West, would be the basis of statements by Ashton Carter, the outgoing Defense Secretary, according to which all the offensive on Mosul should be reviewed by redistributing the tasks to the different land forces participating in the offensive . US soldiers currently present on Iraqi soil are about 5000, as special forces and advisor. While the Caliphate announces the demolition of an American drone, in the south-western region of Al-Anbar, further developments are expected both in the Syrian and in the Iraqi front in the coming days.

(photo: SAA)