(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syria’s regime president Bashar al-Assad openly and directly acknowledged that the groups subordinate to Brigadier General Suhail Hassan suffered heavy losses in their battles in Deir Ez Zor countryside as they headed towards al-Bu Kamal. Al-Assad’s comments verified news published by Zaman al-Wasl in early December.
The official record published by the Russian presidency (the Kremlin) includes the facts of Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Bashar al-Assad at Khmeimim air base.
According to the record, al-Assad said (verbatim), “A few days before the liberation of al-Bu Kamal, I had a telephone call with Brigadier General Suhail (Hassan) at the time when the Islamic State forces attacked him and his soldiers using several cars stuffed with explosives.”
“On that day, those mobile jihadists killed around 60 of his people (Suhail groups),” al-Assad said, “Suhail had lost about the same number of people on each of the two previous days.”
Al-Assad’s statements in the Khmeimim meeting indicate that Suhail al-Hassan lost over the course of three days, about 180 of his fighters, at the lowest estimate. The number is close to that revealed by Zaman al-Wasl in its report that Suhail’s forces fighting in the east of Syria suffered “heavy losses with around 250 dead and 280 wounded when trying to cover a short distance of about 21 kilometers between the towns of al-Ashra and al-Salihiya in Deir Ez Zor countryside.”
As al-Assad admitted, those losses were caused by car bombs and Zaman al-Wasl had pointed out clearly that the scorched earth policy implemented by Hassan did not work during the battles in that area. “Suhail Hassan was surprised by the nature and size of the ambushes and car bombs that the Islamic State forces relied on to avoid losing control over the area between al-Meydan and al-Bu Kamal.”
Suhail Hassan was the only Syrian officer to be present during al-Assad’s meeting with Putin which was attended by several Russian officers. According to the official record, Putin began his speech after the welcome notes by referring to Suhail Hassan, who was sitting opposite him. Putin praised Hassan for his “effectiveness” and “achievements” on the ground, but the record did not include Putin’s comments after the praises.
Video footage from the meeting shows that after his comment to Hassan, Putin turned to one of the Russian officers sitting alongside him and introduced him as the Brigadier advisor who works with Suhail Hassan. Putin then addressed the Russian officer saying, “did you not evacuate Brigadier General Suhail Hassan when he was injured?” Putin’s comment insinuates he was referring to his role in saving al-Assad and preventing the collapse of the regime.
According to the official record, al-Assad claimed that Suhail Hassan, “has not seen his family at all, he has been living on the battlefield for years.” Putin replied to al-Assad’s comment with, “Yes, he should see them (his family),” to which Hassan said, “I hope after the victory.”
The most noteworthy aspect of the meeting is that the Kremlin deliberately deleted the entire footage that accompanies the record (about 20 minutes) although the footage was present with the official record until a few hours ago. Zaman a-Wasl managed to review both the footage and the record. Important parts of the meeting also suddenly disappeared from YouTube and social media sites. Zaman al-Wasl will shortly publish more about what the meeting reveals.
Among the paragraphs that were deleted from most of the open access, one paragraph was referring to Suhail Hassan’s rescue by Major General Ivanov, the Russian advisor. The paragraph was deleted as it contradicts Moscow’s general approach of propping up Suhail Hassan to appoint him to a sensitive position.
Moscow’s plans for Hassan can only be guessed at, but Putin allowing him, among all al-Assad’s officers, to attend the Khmeimim meeting and address him directly at the beginning of the conversation cannot be solely a matter of protocol or chance but carries many indicators that will be revealed in coming days.
Zaman A Wasl
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