Rao Komar
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Articles by Rao Komar
How to Digitally Verify Combatant Affiliation in Middle East Conflicts - bellingcat
The spread of social media and smartphones throughout the Middle East has created a truly enormous amount of publicly available documentation of conflicts in the region. Whether in the form of videos or photos, from combat footage to potential war crimes — a lot of things are routinely documented and uploaded to various sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. These photos and videos present a double-edged sword to journalists, analysts, and others researching these conflicts.
Trump's New Syria Strategy is Woefully Unrealistic
On January 17, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson laid out the Trump administration’s Syria strategy for the first time at Stanford University’s Hoover Institute. Tillerson’s speech cleared up much of the uncertainty regarding whether the United States would stay in Syria after the defeat of the Islamic State, confirming that the administration would maintain a military presence in the country for the foreseeable future.
Trump's New Syria Strategy is Woefully Unrealistic
On January 17, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson laid out the Trump administration’s Syria strategy for the first time at Stanford University’s Hoover Institute. Tillerson’s speech cleared up much of the uncertainty regarding whether the United States would stay in Syria after the defeat of the Islamic State, confirming that the administration would maintain a military presence in the country for the foreseeable future.
The Danger of Conflict Between the Syrian Regime and Y.P.G.
Both the Trump and Obama administrations have made defeating ISIS the United State’s number one priority in the Middle East. In Syria, this focus led the United States to support the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (Y.P.G.) against ISIS. One of the major contributing factors behind this decision was that the Y.P.G. was not actively hostile to the Syrian regime, unlike the Syrian opposition.
How Turkey Is Governing in Northern Aleppo
At the end of major combat operations in Syria’s north, the Turkish government faces many challenges governing areas it now controls. Atlantic Council’s Aaron Stein, Hossam Abouzahr and Rao Komar tracked stabilization projects and violence in Aleppo’s northern countryside. On March 30, the Turkish military, backed by Syrian rebel groups, ended its seven-month military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield in northern Syria.
Post Conflict Stabilization: Turkey and the End of Operation Euphrates Shield
On March 30, the Turkish military, backed by Syrian rebel groups, ended its seven month military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield in northern Syria. The Turkish aims were twofold: force the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) from the border and prevent the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from pushing west from its territory in nearby Manbij.
The al-Tanf Bombing: How Russia Assisted ISIS by Attacking an US Backed FSA Group with Cluster Bombs - bellingcat
Russia’s intervention in the Syrian Civil War has been controversial to say the least. For instance, Russia has denied bombing hospitals and clinics in rebel held parts of Syria and then blamed the US for the bombings despite evidence to the contrary. Adding to the list of controversies involving the Russian intervention in Syria, in this article we will be proving that Russia intentionally bombed the US backed New Syrian Army with cluster munitions.
In Syria, Turkey Finds Itself Boxed In: What's Next?
After months of halting and costly progress, the Turkish military and allied Syrian rebels are in a good position to take the Syrian city of al-Bab from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). With the capture of al-Bab, Turkey will have accomplished the clearly defined goals of its “Operation Euphrates Shield” intervention in northern Aleppo governorate: driving ISIL from the Turkish border and blocking hostile Kurdish forces from linking their territory to Turkey’s south.
The Blackwater of Jihad | RealClearDefense
Heavily armed and expertly kitted with body armor and ballistic helmets, the men can be seen defending bunkers, storming buildings, and even posing by whiteboards giving tactical lessons. Though the titles of these YouTube videos are written in Russian Cyrillic, their background music is an a cappella Islamic chant known as a nasheed, which is often used by extremist groups in propaganda films. But the men are no ordinary jihadis.
The Blackwater of Jihad
Heavily armed and expertly kitted with body armor and ballistic helmets, the men can be seen defending bunkers, storming buildings, and even posing by whiteboards giving tactical lessons. Though the titles of these YouTube videos are written in Russian Cyrillic, their background music is an a cappella Islamic chant known as a nasheed, which is often used by extremist groups in propaganda films. But the men are no ordinary jihadis.
The Blackwater of Jihad
Heavily armed and expertly kitted with body armor and ballistic helmets, the men can be seen defending bunkers, storming buildings, and even posing by whiteboards giving tactical lessons. Though the titles of these YouTube videos are written in Russian Cyrillic, their background music is an a cappella Islamic chant known as a nasheed, which is often used by extremist groups in propaganda films. But the men are no ordinary jihadis.
Syria’s Pakistani Shiite fighters
Syria is no stranger to foreign fighters. From the litany of foreign jihadists with ISIS and other Sunni extremist groups to the Shiite Afghans and Iraqis fighting to uphold the Syrian regime, dozens of countries ranging from Japan to Macedonia have seen their citizens fight in Syria. Every side of the conflict in Syria has foreign fighters, whether it be the regime, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), ISIS or the rebels.
Turkey's Syria Intervention: No Guarantee of Easy Victory at al-Bab
With all eyes on the Battle of Mosul, fewer observers of the war against ISIL are paying attention to a major anti-ISIL offensive underway in Syria that may soon reach a crescendo. With the capture of the town of Dabiq from ISIL in northern Aleppo, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels taking part in Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield operation have secured a 20-kilometer deep Syrian buffer zone along the Turkish border.
The al-Tanf Bombing: How Russia Assisted ISIS by Attacking an American Backed FSA Group with Cluster Bombs
Russia’s intervention in the Syrian Civil War has been controversial to say the least. For instance, Russia has denied bombing hospitals and clinics in rebel held parts of Syria and then blamed the US for the bombings despite evidence to the contrary. Adding to the list of controversies involving the Russian intervention in Syria, in this article we will be proving that Russia intentionally bombed the US backed New Syrian Army with cluster munitions.
The Thuraya Network: A Satellite Data Network for the Syrian Rebels
Communication networks are an often overlooked aspect in open source analysis of non-state actors in Syria. There are a variety of reasons for the lack of analysis on communication networks by the open-source community. While some might say this is due to a lack of analysts that specialize in communication devices and their usage in Syria, a more obvious reason is the simple lack of photos of radios and other communication equipment on social media.
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