Operation Featherweight: Month 53, Week 3, Day 6.

Really a continuation of this post; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2018/10/operation-featherweight-month-52-week-3.html

In that post I discussed how the Syrians took full control of both the East Ghouta/East Qalamoun Mountains pocket and the Yarmouk River Basin area.

The last group to surrender in the Yarmouk River Basin area were the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) Army of Khalid Ibrahim al-Walid/Jaish Khalid Ibrahim al-Walid. On July 31st (31/7/18).

Just before they surrendered ISIL issued one more giant "F*ck You!" to humanity. On July 25th (25/7/18) they conducted a large-scale marauding attack against Suweida City and the surrounding towns of villages.

Predominately a Druze city Suweida City is the capital of Suweida Province. It sits around 95km (60 miles) south of Damascus and around 40km (25 miles) north of Syria's border with Jordan.

ISIL's attack of July 25th (25/7/18) saw multiple teams of gunmen wearing suicide vests maraude through the towns of Duma, Tayma and al-Matouna before reaching Suweida City. There they detonated a carbomb in the city's packed vegetable market.

The attack lasted for almost a full day. By the time it had come to an end 258 civilians had been killed and further 180 wounded. Crucially ISIL also kidnapped some 30 Druze women and children.

Under the terms of the surrender ISIL were allowed to leave the area with those hostages. They were transferred to the area around the Bobby Sands base close to al-Tanf.

As I mentioned in my previous post the area bounded by Damascus, Palmyra, Al-Boukamal/Abu Kamal and Syria's south-eastern border is deep within the Syrian Desert/Badiya al-Sham.

This roughly 60,000kmsq (36,000 milesq) area is almost completely deserted. Making it extremely difficult to locate exactly where ISIL are holding those hostages.

The Syrians however have been able to track ISIL and their hostages to the al-Safa Volcanic Plateau with a high degree of certainty. This is a roughly 25kmsq (15 milesq) area sitting around 65km (40 miles) North-East of Suweida City and around 95km (60 miles) South-East of Damascus.

It took until August 8th (8/8/18) for the Syrians to fully secure the Yarmouk River Basin area. From there they almost immediately started an operation to rescue the Druze hostages from ISIL on the Safa Plateau. The first clashes were reported on August 21st (21/8/18).

The problem is that the Safa Plateau is an extremely challenging battleground.

It is essentially a large rock formation created by molten lava breaking through the Earth's Crust and then cooling. On its surface it is a mixture of peaks, valleys, crevices and crags.

It contains no fewer than 15 of what are known as; "Volcanic Cones." These are what most people would consider a Volcano. A giant hill out of which lava spews during an eruption.

It is these Volcanic Cones which give you a clue as to the real challenge of fighting on the Safa Plateau. Beneath the surface you have warrens of chambers, caves and natural tunnels. Which ISIL have no doubt added to with their own, man-made tunnels.

Part of what has taken me so long to address the issue is that I've been trying to research exactly what sits beneath the surface of the Safa Plateau. The result of that research is that no-one seems to know. It is almost completely unmapped.

I often write about how difficult and nasty urban warfare is. The big battles to liberate cities such as Mosul or Raqqa. This type of fighting prevents you from using armoured vehicles. It also forces you to get up close to your enemy as you inch your way through narrow streets and the corridors between rooms in buildings.

The type of fighting needed for somewhere like the Safa Plateau is closer to tunnel warfare. This is far more difficult and far nastier than urban warfare. You have all the same problems of having to inch your way through narrow streets and passageways. Except you've got to do it in the dark with absolutely no chance of air support.

You may remember that over the summer the World was gripped by efforts to rescue a youth football team from a cave system in Thailand. The battle for the Safa Plateau is a lot like that. Only with people shooting and lobbing hand grenades at you.

The nearest thing I can think to compare it to is the 2001 battle for Afghanistan's Tora Bora Mountains. In military circles this is considered one of the greatest battles of the entire Afghanistan campaign.

However very little is known about it by the public. That's because it was fought almost exclusively by highly elite Special Operations Forces (SOF's). Such as the US Navy SEALs, Britain's Special Boat Service (SBS) and Germany's Special Forces Command (SKS).

Despite the extreme difficulty of the task the Syrians been making a sustained effort in liberating the Safa Plateau.

By August 23rd (23/8/18) they had succeeded in surrounding the Safa Plateau. Cutting it off from other ISIL forces in the area. The Syrians then established a four person, Druze led committee to negotiate with ISIL over their surrender and crucially the release of the hostages.

On August 29th (29/8/18) the Syrians liberated the Hatil Dam. Sitting to the west of the Safa Plateau this represents the last major water source available to ISIL. Particularly in the desert it is extremely difficult to fight without access to water.

The following day on August 30th (30/8/18) the Syrians took control of the Oum Marzakh area at the north-west of the plateau. Effectively splitting ISIL forces into two areas isolated from each other.

To give you an idea of how hard the terrain is between August 30th (30/8/18) and September 6th (6/9/18) the Syrians only managed to advance a further 2km (1.2 miles). South-East onto the plateau from Oum Marzakh.

At around 17:25 on 25/10/18 (UK date) I'll pick this up later.

Edited at around 19:00 on 25/10/18 (UK date) to add;

From there the pace started to pick up. On September 8th (8/9/18) the Syrians advanced a further 1km (0.6 miles) liberating several caves. On September 11th (11/9/18) they liberated the Eastern Araji region.

These gains though did not come without loses. On September 12th (12/9/18) 14 Syrian troops were killed in a single ISIL ambush.

The Syrians sustained similarly heavy loses on September 17th (17/9/18). They lost 21 soldiers in the process of liberating the Arda Qaa Banat region to the North-West of the plateau.

On September 25th (25/9/18) the Syrians suffered a significant setback. Amid a large ISIL counter-attack they lost both Qaa Banat and Qabr Sheikh Hussein. Qabr Sheikh Hussein is a region around 2km (1.2miles) onto the plateau from the western edge.

The Syrians were though able to re-liberate Qabr Sheikh Hussein on September 27th (27/9/18). The following day they were able to advance a further 1km (0.6 miles).

The success of the Syrians progress was really highlighted on October 4th (4/10/18).

ISIL released a video in which they beheaded one of the Druze hostages. A 15 year old boy by the name Thawat Fadil. In the video ISIL went on to demand that they would kill all the hostages unless the Syrians ended their operation by October 6th (6/10/18).

That is obviously not the sort of demand you make if you are winning the battle.

The vulnerability of ISIL's position was exposed on October 5th (5/10/18). The Syrians once again liberated Qaa Banat.

The Syrians did then pause their operation. However not to meet ISIL's demand but to regroup and bring in reinforcements.

Annoyingly at around 19:50 on 25/10/18 (UK date) I'm going to have to pick this up again tomorrow.

Edited again at around 12:50 on 26/10/18 (UK date) to add;

In the battle for the Safa Plateau ISIL are not the only problem the Syrians face.

Contrary to the way it has been described in the western media the conflict in Syria has never been about liberal reformists trying to remove a repressive regime. It has always been about Sunni extremists trying to remove a secular government and replace it with a repressive regime.

Those Sunni despise having to live in a country where rights are given to non-Sunnis. They are particularly disgusted by having a President who is a member of the Alawite sect of Shia Islam.

Due to the sectarian and hate filled motives of the; 'moderate opposition' Syria's non-Sunnis have remained loyal to the Syrian government and its secular values. This is particularly true of Syria's Druze population.

The exception is a group of Lebanese Druze led by Walid Jumblatt. Describing themselves as the; "Men of Dignity/Rijal al-Karama" they have stopped just short of formally allying themselves with the Sunni extremists. However they use every opportunity to aid those Sunni groups by putting pressure on the Syrian government.

For example on September 25th (25/9/18) an agreement was reached for 400 ISIL fighters and their families to surrender the Ruqban camp and be transferred to the Sudetenland.

The following day Walid Jumblatt released a scorching statement condemning the move as an attempt to; "blow up" the Sudetenland agreement between Russia and Turkey. He even went so far as to compare it to the July 25th (25/7/18) ISIL attack on Suweida.

The Men of Dignity have very firmly latched themselves onto the fate to the Druze hostages as a way to further agitate against the Syrian government.

Immediately following the execution of Thawat Fadil by ISIL on October 4th (4/10/18) Walid Jumblatt issued another blistering statement accusing the Syrian government of instructing ISIL to kill the hostage. He baselessly claimed that this was done to derail negotiations being conducted by Sheikh Yahya al-Hajjar on behalf of the Men of Dignity.

On October 5th (5/10/18) the Men of Dignity organised a demonstration which stormed and occupied the Town Hall in Suweida City.

On October 9th (9/10/18) gunmen, likely linked to the Men of Dignity, opened fire on the Town Hall protest. Giving the Men of Dignity an excuse to further barricade themselves in the building while giving the impression they were being oppressed by the Syrian government.

On October 10th (10/10/18) the protest at the Suweida Town Hall issued the Syrian government with an ultimatum. Giving them 24hrs to secure the release of all the Druze hostages held by ISIL.

That is not just an unreasonable demand but a totally impossible one.

The hostages are being held by ISIL. So it falls to them to release them.

All the Syrians can do is try to rescue the hostages. That is something the Syrians are certainly trying their hardest to do. Conducting a three month military operation which has seen large numbers of Syrian soldiers killed.

The only thing I can think of that the Syrians can do to speed up that military operation is to copy what the Americans did in Afghanistan's Tora Bora Mountains in 2001. That operation began with an air raid. An air raid that went on continuously for three full days.

It's still not known exactly how many hundreds of tonnes of high explosives the US dropped on the Tora Bora caves during those 72 hours. However they did use several of their BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter" bombs. The typical bomb Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR) use in Syria and Iraq weigh 127kg. The Daisy Cutter weighs 6,800kg.

The purpose of the Tora Bora air raid was to simulate an earthquake. To destroy the caves and everything in them.

Obviously that is not a tactic you can use if you are trying to rescue hostages being held in the caves. So instead the Syrians are being forced to send in troops to face down ISIL snipers and slowly comb through the extremely difficult terrain.

That means the Syrians are literally exchanging the lives of their soldiers for the lives of the Druze hostages. I honestly cannot think of anything more you can ask them to do.

On October 12th (12/10/18) the 4th Mechanised Division arrived in Suweida to join the battle for the Safa Plateau. It is led by Maher al-Assad - the brother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Maher al-Assad met with the leaders of the Men of Dignity protest to reassure them over efforts to rescue the hostages. He also raised the issue of the roughly 30,000 Druze who are evading military service who would be very useful in those efforts to rescue the hostages.

On October 14th (14/10/18) Syrian operations resumed on the Safa Plateau. Amid heavy shelling they gained some territory around Qabr Sheikh Hussein although reports are that they were not able to hold onto all the gains. October 16th (16/10/18) saw another day of heavy losses with the Syrians losing 11 men in a single engagement.

The resumption of Syria's operations did though seem to have a positive effect on the negotiations with ISIL. On October 17th (17/10/18) both sides entered into a 24hr ceasefire.

On October 21st (21/10/18) ISIL released 6 hostages. In exchange for 25 women and child who were being held prisoner by Syria as family members of ISIL fighters.

ISIL also provided the names of 90 other women an children they want considered for release. As negotiations for the release of the remaining Druze hostages continue.

14:00 on 26/10/18 (UK date).