Operation Featherweight: Month 54, Week 5, Day 1.

Within the conflict in Syria there are currently five main areas;

Shangri-La, Garvaghy Road, Afrin Canton, the Sudetenland and Central Syria.

Central Syria: 

This is really all areas of the country which are not otherwise designated. It is tempting to refer to it simply as; "Syria."

However that risks creating further confusion by implying that Shangri-La, Garvaghy Road, Afrin Canton and the Sudetenland are no longer parts of Syria. Something that would violate a host of international laws. Not least the Charter of the United Nations (UN).

The liberation of Central Syria was the result of a nearly year long operation by the Syrians. In both the north and the south of the country this saw them advance from west to east.

In the north of the country the Syrians set out from Aleppo City in May 2017. By late July 2017 this northern axis had arrived at and liberated the town of Dalhah which sits on the southern bank of the Euphrates.

To the south of the country the Syrians set out from the Syrian capital Damascus. Also in May 2017. By early June 2017 this southern axis had reached the border between Syria and Iraq at the town of al-Tanf.

From al-Tanf the Syrians then advanced on the city of Palmyra which sits almost exactly in the centre of Syria. Palmyra had been liberated from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) by the Syrians in March 2017.

In August 2017 Syrian forces from both Palmyra and Dalhah converged on the town of as-Suknah. From there they began the operation to liberate the southern banks of the Euphrates.

In December 2017 the Syrians liberated Al Boukamal/Abu Kamal which sits on the Euphrates as it enters Iraq from Syia. This allowed them to declare the southern bank of the Euphrates fully liberated from ISIL.

There remained though several pockets within this area which remained outside of Syrian control;

The first one of these was an area around the town of al-Tanf. This remained under the partial control of ISIL.

This ISIL pocket has been created by the US-led coalition, Combined Joint Taskforce: Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR). They operate a base close to al-Tanf designated; "Bobby Sands" which they use to train the Islamist Revolutionary Commando Army/Maghawir al-Thawra (MaT).

The second larger pocket was the East Ghouta suburb of the capital Damascus. This area was long under the control of the Army of Conquest. The dominant members of the coalition in the area being Al Qaeda and the Army of Islam.

The third pocket was the Yarmouk Camp for Palestinian refugees which sits around 5km (3 miles) south-west of the East Ghouta suburb. The Yarmouk Camp for Palestinian refugees was long under the control of ISIL. 

To the west and south-west of the Central Syria area there was also the Yarmouk River Basin area. This area is the basin of the Yarmouk River in the very south-west of Syria. It includes Daraa Province, Quneitra Province and As-Suwayda Province.

The Army of Conquest had a presence in the area. Again with Al Qaeda and the Army of Islam being the locally dominant factions within the coalition.

The ISIL affiliate the Army of Khalid Ibrahim al-Walid/Jaish Khalid Ibrahim al-Walid also operated in the Yarmouk River Basin.

The main group in the area though was the Southern Front. This is a loose coalition of FSA fragments which did not join the Army of Conquest. Backed by particularly Britain and Jordan they are a difficult group to place ideologically. So fragments are secular like the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD). Others are deeply Islamist and owe more to the Army of Conquest.

In late February 2018 the Syrians launched an operation to liberate the East Ghouta suburb itself. This succeeded in liberating East Ghouta on April 12th (12/4/18). By April 25th (25/4/18) the Syrians had also succeeded in liberating the surrounding East Qalamoun Mountains area.

On April 15th (15/4/18) the Syrians and their Palestinian allies launched an operation to liberate the Yarmouk Camp for Palestinian refugees. This objective was achieved on May 22nd (22/5/18).

On June 19th (19/6/18) the Syrians launched a fresh operation to expand the Central Syria area into the Yarmouk River Basin area. By liberating it from the ISIL, Army of Conquest and Southern Front groups active there.

On July 31st (31/7/18) ISIL's Army of Khalid Ibn al-Walid agreed to surrender all their positions and be transferred to the small pocket around the Bobby Sands base close to al-Tanf. With ISIL's Army of Khalid Ibn al-Walid being the last group to surrender this allowed the Syrians to declare victory in the Yarmouk River Basin area on August 2nd (2/8/18).

The majority of the Central Syria area is made up of the Syrian Desert or Badiya al-Sham. This is the World's ninth largest desert and strictly speaking covers an area of 500,000kmsq (200,000 milesq) encompassing almost all of Syria along with parts of Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

The area in the South-East of Syria along the borders with Jordan and Iraq is really where the desert is at its most extreme. Within the roughly 60,000kmsq (36,000 milesq) area between Damascus, Palmyra, Al-Boukamal/Abu Kamal and Syria's south-eastern border there is almost nothing except for sand dunes and, if you're lucky, gravel.

Due to the desolate nature of the area it is almost impossible to tell if it is completely clear of ISIL. While they don't control any population centres, roads or any other strategic locations ISIL are able to operate a number of small, mobile camps. Which makes them very hard to locate and destroy.

This problem is being made significantly worse by the fact the US continues to operate the Bobby Sands base at al-Tanf. The presence of now exclusively US troops at Bobby Sands means that the Syrians cannot engage ISIL fighters within a roughly 11,500kmsq (6,900 milesq) zone the US has designated around the base.

This area around Bobby Sands includes the Ruqban Camp for Internally Displaced People (IDP's). Control of this is shared between ISIL and Maghawir al-Thawra (MaT). The Islamist group trained and supported by the US.

ISIL are able to use the civilian population of the Ruqban Camp as both human shields and as a revenue producing tax base. ISIL are also able to use the area as a base to conduct operations against the Syrians across the Syrian desert. Then flee back to the area where they receive US protection.

Just before being forced to surrender the Yarmouk River basin area  ISIL lashed out against Syria's civilian population with their trademark brutality.

On July 25th (25/7/18) ISIL 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 marauder 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. Like the Yezidis ISIL consider followers of the Druze religion to be devil worshippers. Worse even than Christians and Jews.

Having surrendered the Yarmouk River Basin area ISIL took these Druze hostages to somewhere in that area of the Syrian desert bounded by Damascus, Palmyra, Al-Boukamal/Abu Kamal and Syria's south-eastern border with Jordan.

The most logical place for ISIL to hide those hostages would be the al-Safa Volcanic Plateau.

Sitting around 65km (40 miles) North-East of Suweida City and around 95km (60 miles) South-East of Damascus the al-Safa Plateau is a roughly 25kmsq (15 milesq) volcanic rock formation. On its surface it is a mixture of peaks, valleys, crevices and crags. Beneath the surface it is a warren of chambers, caves and natural tunnels.

This makes for an extremely tough battleground. One which is extremely easy to defend making it almost the perfect place to hide out with hostages.

ISIL certainly led the Syrians to believe that it was holding its Druze hostages on the Safa Plateau.

On August 17th (17/8/18) the Syrians launched an operation against ISIL on the Safa Plateau. By August 23rd (23/8/18) this had forced ISIL into negotiations with a Syrian Druze led committee over the fate of the hostages. All of this committee's work was focused on the Safa Plateau.

Due to the difficulty of the terrain along with the Syrians desire not to needlessly endanger the hostages its operation on the Safa Plateau was a slow, stop-start affair. Despite making gains only to see them overturned the Syrians had managed to gain the upper hand by early October.

So on October 4th (4/10/18) ISIL released a video. It showed them executing one of the hostages - a 15 year old boy named Thawrat Fadil - and threatening to kill the remaining hostages unless the Safa Plateau operation was halted within 24 hours. Further contributing to the belief that ISIL were holding the hostages on the Safa Plateau.

Syria's response on October 12th (12/10/18) was to dispatch its 4th Mechanised Division to intensify its operation on the Safa Plateau on October 14th (14/10/18). This massively ramped up the pressure on ISIL.

So on October 17th (17/10/18) a 24 hour ceasefire was implemented. To allow for negotiations between ISIL and Syrian Druze led committee.

The negotiations quickly bore fruit. The following day on October 18th (18/10/18) ISIL announced that it would release 6 of the hostages. On October 20th (20/10/18) those 6 hostages, two women and four children were duly released. In return for Syria releasing 25 of the wives and children of ISIL fighters.

I have to say that this was a remarkable achievement on the part of the Syrians.

The early days of the war against ISIL were almost defined by the group releasing videos of them beheading hostages. Foreigners such as the Britons David Haine and Alan Henning and Americans such as James Foley and Peter Kassig. Along with Syrian and Kurdish fighters they'd captured on the battlefield.

The videos would often include other hostages being held by ISIL. Who would promise to execute those hostages unless their demands were met.

The demands ISIL were making though were so ludicrous it was clear that not only had they no intention of ever freeing the hostages they weren't even prepared to enter into serious negotiations. They just really wanted to kill people in the most brutal and public way possible.

ISIL have obviously been significantly weakened since then. However the release of those 6 hostages on October 20th (20/10/18) is certainly the first and only example I can think of ISIL voluntarily releasing hostages. Particularly members of a religious minority ISIL so despise.

During this exchange of hostages ISIL slipped up. They revealed to the Syrians that the remaining hostages were not being held of the Safa Plateau at all.

Instead the hostages were being held in a desert camp close to Hamima. This sits around 135km (80 miles) south-east of Palmyra. It also sits around 70km (40 miles) north-east of the exclusion zone the US has established around the Bobby Sands base.

On November 8th (8/11/18) Syrian and Russian Special Operations Forces (SOF's) raided this ISIL camp near Hamima. 

Sadly in the course of this operation 2 child hostages were killed. However 19 other hostages were successfully rescued. Added to the 2 hostages who'd been executed by ISIL and the 6 that were released on October 20th (20/10/18) this accounts for all of the Druze hostages kidnapped from Suweida back on July 25th (25/10/18).
 
No longer having to hold back for the sake of the hostages the Syrians then massively intensified their operations on the Safa Plateau. This featured a heavy bombardment which included the unveiling of Syria's new, previously secret Golan-1000 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).

As a completely new weapons system the capabilities of the Golan-1000 MLRS are not widely known. However it appears to fire three 500kg (1,100lb) from a vehicle mounted, apparently remote controlled launch unit. Mounted to the chassis of T-72 tank it seems to combine the mobility of the BM-21 Grad missile system with the much more powerful Scud-C missile.

It is not the sort of weapons system that Israel wants on its border. Particularly as its name is a reference to the Golan Heights. Part of which continues to be occupied by Israel and which Syria seems to want back.

ISIL found themselves unable to cope with this enhanced Syrian bombardment. On November 17th (17/11/18) the group surrendered their positions on the Safa Plateau.

By November 20th (20/11/18) the Syrians had been able to fully secure all positions in a 380kmsq (230 milesq) area including and surrounding the Safa Plateau. Allowing them to declare victory.

There are though concerns that ISIL continue to maintain a presence in the mountains surrounding the Safa Plateau. Along with across the area of Syrian desert bounded by Damascus, Palmyra, Abu Kamal and Syria's south-eastern border with Jordan.

I will continue this tomorrow.

20:30 on 3/12/18 (UK date).