Submitted by Burak Bekdil via The Gatestone Institute,
Washington should think more than twice about allowing Turkey and Saudi Arabia, its Sunni allies, militarily to engage their Shiite enemies in Syria. Allowing Sunni supremacists into a deeper sectarian war is not a rational way to block Russian expansion in the eastern Mediterranean. And it certainly will not serve America's interests.
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.