Hundreds dead as ISIS makes gains in strategic Syrian city

[bananas]

Source: CNN

Fierce battles continue around the strategic city of Deir Ezzor in northern Syria between regime forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), according to human rights groups.

Hundreds of combatants and civilians have been killed over the past week, and Russian aircraft have been dropping supplies to beleaguered army units.

The regime of President Bashar al-Assad is battling to retain a foothold in the area. It still controls the military airport to the south, but ISIS claims to have overrun several regime-held districts at the beginning of the week, taking advantage of a sandstorm that grounded military aircraft. But in the last few days, Russian and possibly Syrian warplanes have carried out airstrikes against ISIS areas, while the already desperate situation of civilians has worsened.

The Institute for the Study of War -- a Washington-based group that analyzes the conflict in Iraq and Syria -- said Russia had shifted the focus of its air campaign to Deir Ezzor in the face of the major ISIS assault on parts of the city still held by the regime. "The shift in Russian air operations serves to forestall the immediate defeat of regime forces in Deir Ezzor, one of the last remaining regime outposts in Eastern Syria," the Institute said.

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Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/22/world/syria-isis-deir-ezzor/index.html

[Turbineguy]

1. ISIS has the advantage

in these sorts of battles since they actually want to die.

[Igel]

2. More like they'd rather die than lose.

[karynnj]

3. Syria is a mess

Though I wish CNN would move from using neo con think tanks as their go to experts in the middle east ( ie Kimberly Kagan's Institute for the Study of War), it seems clear that Russia is learning the difficulty of supporting their proxy in this civil war.

I wonder if this setback for Assad, might actually make the Russians even more willing to accept that this proxy war has led to a disaster and everyone could benefit from the political solution that Lavrov and Kerry have been working hard to find. The only way forward is working to end the US/Russia and Iran/Saudi Arabia proxy wars which provided the space for ISIS to grow.

On the surface, the fall of that city would be a big victory for ISIS - which has not had many in the last half year. If, it were to make everyone see that they really are better giving in on some things than continuing the civil war, it could long term be the begining of the end of ISIS.

[MariaThinks]

4. more islamic state destruction.