"Syrian army, allies press assault to secure capital's ..." Topic

…water supply.

"The Syrian army and its allies pressed ahead on Friday with a two-week-long offensive to seize a strategic valley where a key spring provides supplies to four million people in the capital, Damascus, residents and rebels said.

Aerial bombing and shelling from the army as well as Hezbollah fighters stationed in the mountains that overlook the valley on the northwestern edge of the capital had intensified in the last forty-eight hours, they said.

Scores of jets pounded the area around the Ain al-Fija springs and the villages of Baseimah, Kafr Zayt and al Husseineh, which form part of a cluster of ten villages controlled by rebels in the valley that lies at the northwestern edge of the capital…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Didn't realize they had "scores" of jets available for sorties.

I doubt that they do, honestly. However, the Russian and Syrian Air Forces have been known to maintain surprisingly high sortie rates, with pilots and aircraft sometimes regularly flying 2 or even 3 sorties per day. That might account for what people are seeing from the ground.

Probably they do. They had over 200 Mig-21s to begin with, let alone more modern types.

They have to hold Damascus for obvious reasons. And continue to clear out other locales, like Raqqa, for Assad to reclaim Syria. Even if peace talks works out(?) between Assad and the rebels. Daesh [and probably AQ] still have to be dealt with. One way or another. Particularly in places like Raqqa, the Daesh Syrian Capital.

I know they have, or had a lot of them, though I figured between serviceability issues, not to mention losses to the rebels, that number would have been trimmed, considerably.

I suspect most sorties are still being flown by their Russian allies.

Hope they eventually start pounding Raqqa with abandon.

Hope they eventually start pounding Raqqa with abandon.

That may be coming sooner than later. It is Assad's land. And as we see, how "bloody" effective the air strikes were on Aleppo. Sadly it came down to numbers and time. And a lot of CD, it seems.