Category: Syria

Antichrist Protects Iraq’s Borders

The Iraqi Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. File photo.

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Shia cleric and militancy leader Muqtada al-Sadr has urged the Iraqi government to ensure protection for its borders with Syria after a controversial deal between Islamic State militants and Lebanese militia Hezbollah helped the group redeploy there.
“The Iraqi government is required to secure the borders with Syrian al-Boukamal region,” Sadr tweeted on Thursday. “We are fully prepared to cooperate with it (the government)”.
A deal between Hezbollah and Islamic State fighters, approved by the Syrian government, has gone into force, granting IS militants a safe exit from the Syrian-Lebanese borders towards the Syrian Al-Boukamal city, near the borders with Iraq’s Anbar.
Baghdad has lambasted the agreement, saying it endangers its security. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called for an investigation by Damascus into the controversial deal.
Speaking to Alsumaria News, Naeem al-Kaoud, chairman of the Anbar province’s security committee, said IS had already deployed members coming from Syria at the province’s western areas. “Daesh (Islamic State) terrorist group has deployed a large number of their fighters coming from Syria at the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaim”. He deemed the situation “violation of Iraq’s sovereignty”.
IS has held the three towns since 2014, and the government marks them as future targets of its military action seeking to end the group’s existence.

The Syrian Truth Finally Comes Out

Assad says US ‘not serious’ about fighting terrorism

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said a suspected chemical weapons attack was a “fabrication” to justify a US strike on his forces, in an exclusive interview with AFP in Damascus.
The embattled leader, whose country has been ravaged by six years of war, said his firepower had not been affected by the attack ordered by US President Donald Trump, but acknowledged further strikes were possible.
Assad insisted his forces had turned over all their chemical weapons stocks years ago and would never use the banned arms.
The interview on Wednesday was his first since a suspected chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun.
“Definitely, 100 percent for us, it’s fabrication,” he said of the incident.
“Our impression is that the West, mainly the United States, is hand-in-glove with the terrorists. They fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack,” added Assad, who has been in power for 17 years.
At least 87 people, including 31 children, were killed in the alleged attack, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.
But Assad said evidence came only from “a branch of Al-Qaeda,” referring to a former jihadist affiliate that is among the groups that control Idlib province, where Khan Sheikhun is located.
Images of the aftermath, showing victims convulsing and foaming at the mouth, sent shockwaves around the world.
But Assad insisted it was “not clear whether it happened or not, because how can you verify a video? You have a lot of fake videos now.”
“We don’t know whether those dead children were killed in Khan Sheikhun. Were they dead at all?”
He said Khan Sheikhun had no strategic value and was not currently a battle front.
“This story is not convincing by any means.”
A handout picture released by the Syrian presidency's press office shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during an interview with AFP in the capital Damascus on April 12, 2017© Provided by AFP A handout picture released by the Syrian presidency’s press office shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during an interview with AFP in the capital Damascus on April 12, 2017The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has begun an investigation into the alleged attack, but Russia on Wednesday blocked a UN Security Council resolution demanding Syria cooperate with the probe.
And Assad said he could “only allow any investigation when it’s impartial, when we make sure that unbiased countries will participate in this delegation in order to make sure that they won’t use it for politicised purposes.”
He insisted several times that his forces had turned over all chemical weapons stockpiles in 2013, under a deal brokered by Russia to avoid threatened US military action.
“There was no order to make any attack, we don’t have any chemical weapons, we gave up our arsenal a few years ago,” he said.
“Even if we have them, we wouldn’t use them, and we have never used our chemical arsenal in our history.”
The OPCW has blamed Assad’s government for at least two attacks in 2014 and 2015 involving the use of chlorine.
The Khan Sheikhun incident prompted the first direct US military action against Assad’s government since the war began, with 59 cruise missiles hitting the Shayrat airbase three days after the suspected chemical attack.
Assad said more US attacks “could happen anytime, anywhere, not only in Syria.”
But he said his forces had not been diminished by the US strike.
“Our firepower, our ability to attack the terrorists hasn’t been affected by this strike.”

Iran Threatens Response To Trump’s Attack

Shia CrescentIran, Russia Threaten ‘Lethal Response’ to Further U.S. Action in Syria

BY: Adam Kredo Follow @Kredo0
April 10, 2017 5:00 am
Joint Russia-Iranian forces operating in Syria warned the Trump administration over the weekend that further American strikes on the war-torn country will unleash a “lethal response,” according to official statements aimed at ratcheting up tension with the United States following a string of fresh airstrikes on Syrian strongholds.
Iranian and Russian forces working together in Syria on behalf of embattled leader Bashar al-Assad issued a stern warning to the United States and threatened to take their own action against American military forces.
“We will respond to any aggression powerfully, as Russia and Iran would never allow the U.S. to dominate the world,” read a statement issued by the Syria-Iran-Russia Joint Operations Room, a combination of forces operating on behalf of Assad in Syria. The statement was first published in Iran’s state-controlled media.
The statement raises the stakes of continued U.S. intervention in Syria, as Iran and Russia become further entrenched in the battle to bolster Assad and keep him in power. Iran and Russia also announced this weekend new military alliances aimed at bolstering Tehran’s fleet of amphibious airplanes.
While the Trump administration has not ruled out further military intervention in Syria, it remains unclear how willing the White House will be to isolate further Iranian and Russian forces operating together inside Syria. U.S. coalition forces in nearby Iraq also remain vulnerable to reprisal attacks by the thousands of Iranian forces operating in that country alongside local militias.
The joint Russian-Iranian group in Syria hinted that it believes the United States may be behind the chemical attack that prompted military action.
“We believe that the events [chemical weapons use] in [Syria] have been plotted by certain states and bodies to be used as a pretext to attack Syria,” according to the statement, which suggests the United States may have orchestrated the attack in order to justify military intervention.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also condemned the U.S. strike on Sunday, warning the Trump administration about further military action.
“What Americans did was a strategic mistake, and they are repeating the same mistakes done by their predecessors,” Khamenei was quoted as saying during a meeting with senior Iranian armed forces commanders in Tehran.
Khamenei also said that U.S. forces in the region were conspiring with anti-Assad terrorist forces.
“Former U.S. officials created ISIL or helped it, and present officials are reinvigorating ISIL and similar groups,” Khamenei alleged.
Multiple Iranian military officials adopted a similar stance over the weekend and vowed to continue fighting alongside Russia on behalf of Assad in Syria.
A delegation of more than 220 Iranian lawmakers also moved to condemn the U.S. attack over the weekend and demanded an independent investigation into the measures.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in a phone conversation Sunday with Assad, vowed to continue Iranian support for the Syrian president.
“The Iranian people are still standing by the Syrian nation,” Rouhani was quoted as telling Assad.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the latest strike by the United States could serve to push Russia and Iran closer in their alliance, which has grown since the landmark Iran nuclear deal.
“In the aftermath of the recent Tomahawk cruise missiles strikes by the U.S., Iranian officials have voiced their condemnation of the U.S. as was expected, but will also seek to capitalize on a recent highly public trip by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Moscow,” Ben Taleblu said.
“While not a formal alliance, the Syrian theater is one area where Russian and Iranian interests overlap,” he explained. “With the expiration of a United Nations mandated arms ban in 2020, we can expect to see this Russo-Iranian relationship deepen significantly. U.S. policymakers would be wise to exploit whatever cleavages exist in the relationship until then.”

Syrian Chemical Attack Not Due To Assad

Ex-UK Ambassador To Syria Questions Chemical Attack; “It Doesn’t Make Sense, Assad Is Not Mad”

 
by Tyler Durden
Apr 7, 2017 3:58 PM

 The former UK ambassador to Syria, Peter Ford, has joined the chorus of folks implying that the chemical attack in Syria wreaks of a ‘false flag’ operation.  Speaking on BBC Radio earlier, Ford said there is “no proof that the cause of the explosion was what they said it was” and that it simply wouldn’t make sense for Assad to launch such an attack as it would be “totally self-defeating.”
“There is no proof that the cause of the explosion was what they said it was.  Remember what happened in Iraq…I’ve seen testimony alleged from witnesses who said they saw chemical bombs dropping from the air.  Well, you can not see chemical weapons dropping from the air.  Such testimony is worthless.”
“But think about the consequences because this is not likely to be the end of it. It doesn’t make sense that Assad would do it.  Lets not leave our brains outside the door when we examine evidence.  It would be totally self-defeating as shown by the results…Assad is not mad.”
 

As we pointed out yesterday, Ford’s comments seemingly align with the opinion of former Representative Ron Paul who argued that there was a 0% chance that Assad deliberately launched a chemical weapons attack on Syrian citizens.

 “Who benefits?”
“It doesn’t make any sense for Assad under these conditions to all of a sudden use poison gases – I think there’s zero chance he would have done this deliberately,” said Paul.

Meanwhile, this CNN anchor was left speechless Wednesday during a televised interview when a congressman questioned the mainstream narrative that Bashar al-Assad attacked his own people with chemical weapons.

“It’s hard to know exactly what’s happening in Syria right now. I’d like to know specifically how that release of chemical gas, if it did occur — and it looks like it did — how that occurred,” Representative Thomas Massie told CNN’s Kate Bolduan. 
“Because frankly, I don’t think Assad would have done that. It does not serve his interests. It would tend to draw us into that civil war even further.”
“I don’t think it would’ve served Assad’s purposes to do a
chemical attack on his people…It’s hard for me to understand why he
would do that — if he did.”

The War of Iranian Hegemony (Daniel 8:4)

The Real War in ‘Syria’ and the Strategy for Long-Term Victory

BY MICHAEL LEDEEN APRIL 6, 2017

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad (Reuters, RTX34BQA)
Of course I loathe Assad. And of course I despise the Obamans for that phony red line and the subsequent retreat-and-bogus-Russian-deal. But just carrying out vengeance against Assad isn’t good enough. It fails to address the central problem of our time: the global anti-American alliance.
There is no Syria any more, and the enemy forces on the Middle Eastern battlefield come from various jihadi groups, and three regimes: Moscow, Tehran, and Damascus. We have to defeat them all, and other members of the enemy alliance, including Cuba and North Korea. Nikki Haley has it right: “The truth is that Assad, Russia and Iran have no interest in peace.”
Indeed, they are waging war, and the principal force driving that war is not Assad, but Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Khamenei’s killers have been alongside Assad’s from the very beginning, as the survival of the Syrian dictator is crucial to Iranian ambitions and quite likely also the survival of the Islamic Republic itself. Listen to Defense Secretary James Mattis a few days ago (from Reuters):

Asked about comments Mattis made in 2012 that the three primary threats the United States faced were “Iran, Iran, Iran,” Mattis told reporters that Iran’s behavior had not changed in the years since.

“At the time when I spoke about Iran I was a commander of US central command and that (Iran) was the primary exporter of terrorism, frankly, it was the primary state sponsor of terrorism and it continues that kind of behavior today,” Mattis said.
True, and Mattis’ characteristically strong language points the way to the best American action in the region, namely bringing down the Tehran regime. Lashing out at Assad isn’t nearly good enough. After all, what strategic objective would we accomplish by smashing, even removing, Assad? The Iranian and Russian fighters would still be there, as would the Islamist forces. The demands on our military would dramatically expand. We do not want to occupy a significant land mass in what used to be called Syria, nor do we seem to have sorted out what we want to do with the Turks and the Kurds.
Punishing Assad would be satisfying, but we’ve got a big war to win. It’s smarter and more effective to go after the regime in Tehran. Not militarily, but rather supporting the tens of millions of Iranians who detest the Khamenei regime. Call it political warfare, or subversion, or democratic revolution. It worked against the Soviet Empire, and there are good reasons to believe it would work in Iran as well. Most Iranians, suffering under the failed regime, want a freely chosen government that will address their problems instead of dispatching their husbands and sons sent to the battlefield.
Regime change in Iran would be devastating to Assad and Putin, and its positive effects would be felt in North Africa and our own hemisphere, striking at the Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah in Latin America. And it would remind the tyrants that America’s greatest weapon is political. We are the most revolutionary country in the world, and we should act like it.

Assad Not Behind Chemical Attack

Ron Paul: Chemical Weapons Attack in Syria Likely a False Flag

Ron Paul: Chemical Weapons Attack in Syria Likely a False Flag

“Zero chance” Assad behind attack, says former Congressman

Paul Joseph Watson | Infowars.com – April 6, 2017 1089 Comments

According to former Congressman Ron Paul, the chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun that killed 30 children and has led to calls for the Trump administration to intervene in Syria could have been a false flag attack.
Pointing out that the prospect of peace in Syria was moving closer before the attack, with ISIS and Al-Qaeda on the run, Paul said the attack made no sense.
“It looks like maybe somebody didn’t like that so there had to be an episode,” said Paul, asking, “who benefits?”
“It doesn’t make any sense for Assad under these conditions to all of a sudden use poison gases – I think there’s zero chance he would have done this deliberately,” said Paul.
The former Congressman went on to explain how the incident was clearly being exploited by neo-cons and the deep state to enlist support for war.
“It’s the neo-conservatives who are benefiting tremendously from this because it’s derailed the progress that has already been made moving toward a more peaceful settlement in Syria,” said Paul.
Many have questioned why Assad would be so strategically stupid as to order a chemical weapons attack and incite the wrath of the world given that he is closer than ever to winning the war against ISIS and jihadist rebels.
Just five days before the attack, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, “The longer-term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people,” implying a definite shift in U.S. foreign policy away from regime change in Syria.
Why would Assad put such assurances in jeopardy by launching a horrific chemical attack, allowing establishment news outlets like CNN to once against use children as props to push for yet another massive war in the Middle East?
In addition, the last time the deep state attempted to exploit a chemical weapons attack to launch military strikes on Assad’s government, the incident was later proven not to have been the work of the Syrian government.
The narrative for the August 2013 attack in Ghouta, which Barack Obama cited as the pretext for a long awaited U.S. attack on government targets in aid of jihadist rebels, completely collapsed after it emerged that the casualties were the result of an accident caused by rebels mishandling chemical weapons provided to them by Saudi Arabia.
The United Nations’ Carla Del Ponte also said that evidence suggested rebels had used sarin nerve gas.
As journalist Seymour Hersh reported in December 2013, intelligence officials told him that the entire narrative was a “ruse” and that “the attack was not the result of the current regime.”
Hersh also revealed how then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was instrumental in approving the transportation of Libyan chemical weapons stockpiles to be handed to jihadist rebels in Syria.
It’s particularly rich to see the same establishment media who were responsible for peddling fake news about “moderate rebels” for years now pushing the same agenda for another giant, endless, bloody war in the Middle East while acting like they have the moral high ground by exploiting images of dead and dying children.
The Obama administration’s intervention in Syria led directly to the refugee crisis and the rise of ISIS.

If the Trump administration falls into the trap of following that same disastrous policy, many more innocent people will die than those who sadly lost their lives in Khan Sheikhoun.

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor at large of Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com.

The unifying power of the Antichrist

A battered nation, tagged as one of the most volatile countries in the world is not new to war – violence – antagonism – failure or divisive power blocs and has been desperately beseeching a much peaceful countenance even though a ‘façade’, which seems to having being eluding the nation for long. Amidst all this gloom in October, 2016, a meeting between Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraqi Shiite cleric, and several other major Shiite military leaders in the nation yielding atypical statements of unity is a distant light of a hopeful balance at least. Though this bringing together of the Shiite leaders is for the upcoming 2017 elections, and with each participant uniting and supporting the cause for its own ulterior motive is still a better scenario for the beleaguered country.
Shiite rivalries within the country have too been a matter of concern with the already fractioned country growing further apart. But this unusual reunion has caused the Iraqi’s and the world thinking as to how long will this union prosper and to what outcome. The ambiguity lies mostly because of the prominent leader Al-Sadr being a part of the ‘united we stand together’ stance, as has been a divisive figure throughout drastically turning from a rabid warlord to his new avatar of an Iraqi Gandhi. Sadr has vehemently opposed apart from other things foreign – foreign occupation in the region and foreign military influences which finds its supporters among the crowds of the country and surprisingly has other Shiite leaders resonating to similar tunes, bringing the leaders closer on grounds of such issues. Even if they are not at par with each other on levels within, the Shiite rival factions need to present themselves as a much more cohesive unit to make gains from the sceptical voters of Iraq, who are tired of the increasing corruption and blatant politics in the nation.
This is exactly what the October meeting of the Shiite leaders aim to do with its extravagant demonstrations of harmony and camaraderie at the press conference held soon after the meeting. At Al-Sadr’s the press conference saw the likes of other prominent Shiite leaders from – Popular Mobilization Forces – Hadi al-Amiri from Iran backed Badr organisation – Qais al-Khazali, commander of the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, all singing praises about each other and their new found understanding, stating it to be at “its highest level”. Such demonstrative show of emotions hint towards both a strong political pragmatism of the leaders also of a greater and a grander plan.
However, Al-Sadr’s stance against any foreign occupation or aid from Turkey has been constantly questioned with the cleric accepting military aid from Iran, where he did his clerical studies when required, is highly problematic. What is worse that Iran can very quietly increase its influence in the region with Al-Sadr given his massive following and influence. To make matters worse in the held press conference all leaders together again presented a chorus decrying any sort of foreign occupation and abiding by Baghdad’s leadership on the matter, with no opposition to Al-Sadr’s double-dealing. However, for the new found unity among these Shiite leaders it’s still a long-long journey to cover before reaching a solid unbreakable ground.
As lay dormant among them lingering enmities which are to erupt soon destroying the façade created, of all the one most apparent being the one between the former Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki – an ally of many of the Shiite leaders and Al-Sadr. Both have on occasions condemned each other. Al-Sadr on many occasions has called the former Prime Minister corrupt but his present moves to secure ministerial posts prove him no better. However, for now it seems they are all ‘united’ as ‘one’ and are working together for the municipal election nearby , at least ending the war between one faction among many in the beleaguered nation.
Photo Credit : Shutterstock

The Antichrist and the Clueless West

saddam_executionIraq insurgency and the clueless West

Ten years since the execution of Saddam Hussein and the Shia-Sunni divide is deeper than ever, while the West is still clueless.
Gábor Somlai
It is somewhat weird that no major media outlet prepared any special report about the fact that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was executed exactly 10 years ago, on December 30, 2006. His death was both cheered and mourned by millions, resulting mainly from either political blindness or religious frenzy. The Shia cheered, the Sunni mourned and the West tried to rejoice and look optimistic despite the growing number of American soldiers killed in Iraq.
Following the invasion of Baghdad, the whereabouts of Saddam became unknown. There were rumors about him finding refuge at the Russian embassy, more bizarre rumors about him fleeing to Russia and some military experts insisted on the story that he was in Iraq, controlling the insurgency and guerilla war that spread throughout the country after the American invasion.
In the end everybody turned out to be wrong: he was found hiding, but clearly not in a condition or position to supervise insurgency; hiding in a hole not far from Tikrit, armed with a pistol, an AK-47 and 750 thousand US dollars.
His death resulted in no positive change regarding the situation in Iraq which continued to worsen. The country fell apart, suicide bombings, beheadings and mass executions occurred on a daily basis, the government basically had no control on a number of areas where many religious and insurgent terrorist groups were operating and the most well-known terrorist group, ISIS, came out of the ashes of the former Iraqi army and other radical militant Sunni organizations.

After all, the bad dictator is defeated, so the people should be happy, elect a new government and live happily ever after, isn’t it that simple?
The West was clueless since the whole situation was unexpected; we all remember the citizens of Baghdad cheering the American troops and celebrating during the destruction of Saddam’s famous statue. Nobody thought that Iraq, a land with one of the biggest proven oil reserves in the whole world, would soon become a place thrown into a bloody civil war. After all, the bad dictator is defeated, so the people should be happy, elect a new government and live happily ever after, isn’t it that simple?
No, it isn’t and this is what the West still doesn’t understand. The fabricated states based on the pre-World War I colonial borders are in deep trouble especially where there is a mixed Shia and Sunni population. Iraq has become a failed state, so has Syria and the situation might seem to improve for a while, but without dealing with the root cause, no matter how many bombs are dropped on Homs and Aleppo, there will not be peace. The only thing today that unites Islam is the content of the last words of Saddam Hussein; just before his death he shouted: “Allahu Akbar” and “Palestine is Arab”.
The Shia-Sunni divide is deeper than ever and the insurgency erupting in Iraq following the American invasion was the first sign of the so-called Arab Spring, which is not about democracy and human rights but instead about refusal and rejection. Islamists are not willing to accept anything other than their own beliefs, not even the other branches within Islam. They, of course, reject Western values, but this is something that it is considered not polite to admit so nothing is about to change. And the UN, a powerless and impotent organization preoccupied with putting the blame on Israel for everything, will continue to be a useless joke.
The West learned nothing since the execution of Saddam despite the fact that, unlike 10 years ago, today terrorism is clearly present in Europe and will continue to worsen.

Antichrist Calls for Change in National Iraqi Alliance

ASHARQ AL-AWSAT
6 hours ago 47
Baghdad, London – Two days after Shi’ite Supreme Religious Authority Ali Sistani refused to receive the National Iraqi Alliance delegation, Sadrist Movement Leader Muqtada al-Sadr said this was a “public rejection” for the current alliance.
Sadr issued a statement saying that coalition should reconsider the reasons for this rejection, and he presented 12 suggestions for the alliance in order to work for a better Iraq. He also showed his willingness to cooperate to reconstruct the alliance in a new form.
In his statement, Sadr called for change in the political alliance as well as internal and public policies. He asked for the corrupt to be held accountable for their actions and called the officials at the alliance to listen to the demands of the people.
In addition, Sadr asked for the support of the Iraqi army and security forces.
He further stressed that the Religious Authority represents people, and thus its rejection to meet with the delegation, means a public rejection.
He concluded his statement with his offer to cooperate for building a better Iraq, and said: “I have offered once before my support to establish the coalition in a different manner with new faces in power, if you are willing, I am fully ready to cooperate again even though I am not a member of the coalition.”
On Friday, Religious Authority refused to be involved in the “historical settlement” plan that was presented by the coalition, which some parties later recanted. The plan was then adopted by the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq led by Ammar al-Hakim.
Sistani refused to meet the delegation chaired by Hakim and called the coalition to listen to the demands of the protests.
Hamed al-Khaffaf, spokesman of Sistani, stressed in a statement that the presidency of the National Iraqi Coalition and its delegation requested an appointment to meet with Sayyid Sistani, who apologized as he has always done before.
Khaffaf added that the Religious Authority refused to meet with the delegation for the same reasons he had decided to boycott all political powers, which were mentioned in the statement issued following the first demands movement.
The spokesperson added that the coalition wanted to include the Religious Authority in the settlement, which Sayyid Sistani didn’t see beneficial nor helpful.
Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat is the world’s premier pan-Arab daily newspaper, printed simultaneously each day on four continents in 14 cities. Launched in London in 1978, Asharq Al-Awsat has established itself as the decisive publication on pan-Arab and international affairs, offering its readers in-depth analysis and exclusive editorials, as well as the most comprehensive coverage of the entire Arab world.

Russian Nukes In Syria (Daniel 7)

Pravda.ru
Russian nuclear submarines armed with cruise missiles set off to Syria. 
Three Russian submarines armed with cruise missiles joined a group of Russian warships led by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier. The submarines are heading to Syria, The Sunday Times wrote with references to naval sources.
According to the publication, the UK Royal Navy detected two “Akula” (“Shark”) class nuclear submarines and a “Kilo” class diesel-electric submarine as the subs were entering the North Atlantic from the direction of Russian naval bases in the Murmansk region.
The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier and its support group reportedly remain in the “standby mode” off the coast of North Africa, the newspaper said. NATO military officials fear that the “Caliber” cruise missiles that the submarines carry may strike targets in Syria.
On Friday, 28 October, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, citing a source, reported that the patrol ship “Smetliviy” (“Sharp-witted”) of the Black Sea Fleet was heading to Syria. However, officials with the Russian Defense Ministry said that the ship set off to the Greek port of Piraeus.
The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier and its support group set off for a journey to the Mediterranean Sea was in mid-October. The group that consists of the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Peter the Great, large anti-submarine ships Severomorsk and Vice-Admiral Kulakov and smaller maintenance vessels. The goal of the mission, as it was said, was to “ensure Russia’s naval presence in operationally important areas of the oceans.”
Pravda.Ru