War

Turkey have open-fired on Kurdish YPG militia and Russian troops operating within the Syrian-Turkish border, as military tensions escalates between Russia and Turkey in Syria.  Turkey have asked the United States for military assistance in a ground operation as Russian troops advance closer to its borders. Thestar.com.my reports: A large-scale joint ground operation is still unlikely: Washington has ruled out a major offensive. But the request shows how swiftly a Russian-backed advance in recent weeks has transformed a conflict that has drawn in most regional and global powers.

Israel are claiming that Hezbollah are now able to shoot down Israeli jets flying over parts of the Middle East.  According to an IDF source, Russia’s presence in Syria has given Hezbollah the ability to shoot down Israeli planes. Uprooted Palestinians reports: Those same IDF sources estimate that the increased Hezbollah provocations are the result of the tightening relationship between Russia and Hezbollah, as part of the campaign against ISIS in Syria.

Syrian army and paramilitary forces are moving into the ISIS capital of Raqqa in Syria. Syrian army units are seizing strategical areas along the Salamiyah-Raqqa road as they head into the Islamic State stronghold. RT reports: On Sunday, Syrian government forces and Palestinian armed militia captured the strategically important Tal Masbah hilltop, the last entrenched Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) position.

Dick Cheney, Lindsey Graham and even George W Bush crawled out from under their stones to have a go at Donald Trump following his comments about 9/11 The GOP presidential front-runner accused former President George W. Bush of lying about the terror attacks in order to force the US into war in Iraq. “He sounds like a liberal Democrat to me,” Cheney told Fox News “He’s wrong, and I think he’s deliberately promoting those views in order to advance his own political interests.” Daily Kos reports: Lindsay Graham said that Trump sounded like Michael Moore. Just throwing that in there.