Earlier today, we took a closer look at Vladimir Putin’s seemingly abrupt decision to partially withdraw the Russian military from Syria.
The prevailing view seems to be that Moscow somehow intended to put more pressure on Assad to be amenable to a negotiated, political solution and indeed that may be a part of the plan. However, as we noted, it’s not exactly as if The Kremlin is leaving the Syrian leader high and dry.
Submitted by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,
Hans-Georg Maaßen, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV), warned that the Islamic State was deliberately planting jihadists among the refugees flowing into Europe, and reported that the number of Salafists in Germany has now risen to 7,900. This is up from 7,000 in 2014 and 5,500 in 2013.
Syrian Democratic Forces move in closer to the gates of Raqqa, the de-facto ISIS capital in Syria. The armed groups, made up mostly of Kurds from the YPG and YPJ fighting units, along with Arabs and Christians, are now just 20 miles from Raqqa Times of India reports: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been celebrating a string of victories as they reclaim villages from ISIS control. In the hopes of retaking communities from Isis those suspected of being Isis militants are arrested and men are often taken aside for questioning.
“Putin is a wily guy. He is showing he’s a statesman. Russia is also sending a message to Assad who has been sounding too confident.”
That’s from Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma, and a frequent commentator on Syria’s five-year conflict.
Putin has ordered his military to start the withdrawal of the main part of Russia’s forces from Syria on Monday, saying that the Russian military intervention had largely ‘achieved its objectives’.