Only US negligence allowed this to happen. // Lennart
> > > Now this could get interesting, ISIL now has an air force. > BR note > > ============================================== > > > Atlas Shrugs > August 25, 2014 > > “Islamic State captures Tabqa air base in Syria,” > > DW.DE, August 25, 2014 > > Islamic State fighters have captured a major military air base in > northeastern Syria. The facility was the last government-held outpost in a > province otherwise dominated by the Islamist group....... > > After several failed attempts to breach the facility in recent days, fighters > from the “Islamic State” (IS) managed to storm the Tabqa air base Sunday, > according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. > > The SANA state news agency also confirmed that the government had lost the > air base, saying troops “are successfully reassembling after evacuating the > airport and are continuing to strike precise blows at the terrorist groups in > the area.” > > The battle for the airfield has left at least 346 extremists dead and > hundreds more wounded since the offensive was launched on Tuesday, according > to the Observatory. It said more than 170 government troops also were killed > Sunday alone. There were reports that another 150 may have been captured. > > The airfield – home to several warplane squadrons, helicopters, tanks, > artillery, and ammunition bunkers – is located some 45 kilometers (25 miles) > from the extremists’ stronghold in the city of Raqqa along the Euphrates > River. > > Tabqa is the latest in a string of bases to fall to the Islamic State group > as it expands the boundaries of its self-styled caliphate straddling the > Syria-Iraq border. Their steady push in Syria, as well as their lightning > advance across Iraq since June, has brought under their control a stretch of > territory from Syria’s northern border with Turkey as far as the outskirts of > Iraq’s capital Baghdad. > > The Islamic State’s offences have been aided by large quantities of advanced > US-made weaponry and armoured vehicles it has seized from fleeing Iraqi > forces, and an influx of recruits. > > Regional efforts against IS > > On Sunday, Arab foreign ministers met in Saudi Arabia to discuss the rise of > IS. The Saudi state news agency SPA said the closed-door talks took place in > the Red Sea city of Jeddah, attended by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi > Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, as well as an advisor to > Jordan’s foreign minister. > > The ministers agreed on “the need to seriously work to deal with these crises > and challenges to preserve security and stability in Arab countries,” said > the news agency. > > Meanwhile, Iraq’s prime minister-designate Haider al-Abadi held talks with > visiting Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday to get the > neighboring Shiite country’s support against Sunni militants. > > “Abadi pointed to the presence of many dangers posed in the region as a > result of the existence of the terrorist gang Islamic State which requires > regional and international efforts to exterminate this terrorist > organization,” his office said in a statement after the talks with Zarif. > > Zarif said that Tehran had no intentions of sending its soldiers to Iraq > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
