COMPLACENT TURKS TAKE A TANKING IN SYRIA

As predicted here a few days ago, Turkey's military incursion into Syria is going badly because of problems with its German-supplied tanks. On Saturday (3rd) at least one tank was destroyed by Kurdish forces defending the Kurdish-controlled Afrin Pocket.

As reported by Kurdistan24:

The Turkish army on Saturday announced the killing of seven of its soldiers taking part in Ankara’s “Operation Olive Branch” offensive to dislodge US-backed Kurdish forces from the Afrin enclave in northwestern Syria.

“One of our tanks joining the operation in the northeast of Afrin was hit by PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG... elements. Five of our comrades in arms were martyred,” a statement by the Turkish General Staff said.

Giving joy to feminists was the fact that the tank appears to have been wiped out by a Kurdish woman:

"A video released by the YPG’s all-women branch, Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), showed a direct hit to the tank several miles away as a fighter who used an anti-tank missile could be heard celebrating."

This should be worrying for the Turks because it means the Kurds now have effective tank-killing weapons that can be operated by relatively unskilled military personnel. 

It seems that President Erdogan's boastful rhetoric about sweeping out the Kurds from Turkey's borders has ill prepared the Turkish military for what is an existential struggle for the Kurds in Syria.

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TURKEY'S GERMAN-BUILT TANKS UNABLE TO SUPPORT REGIONAL AMBITIONS

Turkey's ambition to become a major power in the Middle East by expanding its zone of influence in Syria is under threat after an ISIS video revealed alarming weaknesses in its top battle tank, the Leopard II, which is now being deployed against Kurdish forces in Northern Syria.

Over a week ago, the Turks launched a major offensive -- Operation Olive Branch (LOL) -- against the Kurds, who have been armed by the US. But so far the Turks and their Arab allies have failed to capture more than a few tiny villages. 

One reason for this relative failure seems to be the shortcomings of the Leopard II tank. The Turkish army has 354 of the tanks, which were built by Germany for a cost of $6 million each and then sold on to Turkey for a cheaper price. These impressive-looking tanks are the reason why Turkey has a strong military reputation in the region. 

But it seems that this may be vastly overrated. As reported by the Daily Mail:

"A German-made tank, which Berlin once dubbed one of the best in the world, has had its shortcomings embarrassingly exposed on the battlefield in Syria. Photos from the Turkish military operation dubbed 'Euphrates Shield', which began in August 2016, show the charred remains of one of the Leopard 2 tanks which was reportedly blown up with mines. The images - taken from an ISIS video published in January 2017 - show the tank with its turret completely blown off. Other pictures from the same conflict show Leopard 2s standing idle in ditches and snow after being severely damaged."

Leopard II destroyed by ISIS

Although it has a V12 twin-turbo engine, a armoured shell made from hardened steel and tungsten, and top speed of 42mph, the tank is clearly vulnerable to 4G warfare tactics, as ISIS has destroyed at least eight of them, using comparatively unsophisticated weapons. 

Leopard II tanks have now been seen in Syria, but, as this video shows, they are being used very cautiously for fear of losing more of them. 

The weakness of Turkey's armoured forces means that the Kurds and Turks are much more evenly matched than military analysts previously thought. As result it may be time for Turkish President Recep Erdogan to scale back his imperialistic rhetoric. On Friday (26th) he pledged to sweep Kurdish forces from the entire length of the border with Syria and capture the strategic town of Manbij:

"We will clear Manbij of terrorists," Erdogan told local leaders of the governing AK Party in Ankara. "No one should be disturbed by this because the real owners of Manbij are not these terrorists, they are our Arab brothers. From Manbij, we will continue our struggle up to the border with Iraq, until no terrorist is left."

These big words may be hard to carry out if Kurds can inflict the same losses on his tank forces that ISIS formerly did, which seems likely with their superior US-supplied weapons.

RUSSIANS DEFEAT MASSIVE TERRORIST DRONE STRIKE

In what looks like a major breakthrough in guerrilla military operations, Jihadi rebels in Syria, possibly with the backing of foreign powers, have launched a massive, coordinated drone strike on targets in Syria. The attack, involving 13 drone aircraft, targeted the Khmeimim air base and Tartus navy base, which are used by Syrian and Russian forces.  

The attack was thwarted by Russian air defences, according to ZeroHedge.com:

As the drones approached both bases, Russia unleashed the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and Electronic Warfare Units. Seven [unmanned aerial vehicles] UAVs were destroyed by the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile system, and another six UAVs were hacked with radio equipment. Three of the UAVs landed in a safe area just outside the base, but the others exploded on various landing attempts. The Defense Ministry notes that the defense systems eliminated all threats with no casualties or damages.

It was the “first time that terrorists massively used unmanned combat aerial vehicles of an aircraft type that were launched from a distance of more than 50 kilometers, and operated using GPS satellite navigation coordinates,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Defense Ministry said experts are analyzing the aircraft’s flight components and bomb ordnances for clues. Flight data from the GPS indicates the UAVs could have been launched at a range of 100 kilometers (62 miles). If so, this would be the first long-range drone attack by militants in the Syrian War.

Further, the Defense Ministry says the extremists may have been aided by a “technologically advanced state,” as Russian specialist are now attempting to determine where the flight systems of the drones originated from.

In recent days, Syrian government forces have been attacking areas still held by rebels in the North of the country, and making significant advances. This raises the possibility of total victory for the government of Bashar al-Assad, which is regarded by Israel -- and thus the United States -- as hostile to its interests. 

The recent unsuccessful attempt by America to support an uprising in Iran is also thought to be aimed at influencing the result of the Syrian conflict, as Iran has provided most of the ground support for Syrian government forces fighting against ISIS and other Jihadi elements in the country, which have, at various times, been supported by Israel and the USA.