Attack on Militant Point-Defense Area in Adra: Reconnaissance
We arrived in Adra to make a documentary on Syrian army operation aimed at clearing the city of terrorists there. In the following morning, we set out to do terrain-oriented reconnaissance prior to the combat battle that was to take place the following day.
SAA Officer: “The operation will begin from here, from this city square. I am going to explain to you today how we will operate tomorrow. Three tanks are going to move in from this spot down here. As soon as the right-hand side opens up move away to the right immediately. You can not move along on the road pavement. Three battle tanks on one level.
“As soon as you moved to the right… The first tank should take to right. The second one takes a little further to the right. The third tank, as soon as you turn right, open fire immediately. Do not linger.
“As soon as you have spotted your target, all those located to right of it are your enemy. Any movement you spot there, strike at it right away. All those are enemies there. Do not let them pop their heads out.”
We climbed the staircase to the upper floor to make ourselves familiar with the terrain of the imminent combat area by looking at it through an opening in the wall. We compared what we had seen on the maps with the real world.
In a nearby school building the militants had created their point-defense position there. All the buildings around the area have been made into one single sprawl of defense area fortifications. Running all along a concrete fence, there must be a trench there.
Abandoned cars and vans on the city streets bespoke the surprise attack by the terrorists some time earlier. The vehicles would have certainly been taken away by their owners if they had only had a chance to do so.
That city square would certainly render the battle tanks uncovered and exposed to enemy fire. That is why it is so important to work out details of coordination between the tanks’ crew members and their future cooperation with the infantry units on the ground.
The oil cisterns had been shelled some time before by the militants and after that a number of fires broke out in the area. Back then, the smoke of the burning gasoline and oil could be seen even in Damascus city, 40 kilometers away from here.
We have to make a short run to the fence keeping our heads down for a militant sniper was said to be doing his job controlling this area from the school building.
This is the road that the battle tanks will take moving into the battle area. Now the tank men are about to make visual observations of the front line and discuss their future actions. Tomorrow, the battle tanks are going to enter combat from this very spot.
We made a quick dash for the oil trucks parking lot and took cover by the vehicles against a possible shot by a sniper. The tank men surreptitiously took peeks of the area where they would have to maneuver their battle tanks the following day.
I quickly set my camera forward and immediately retracted it back. There is no time for proper filming. The danger here is real it is imperative to do one’s job in a prompt, time-wise manner.
The militants are said to be actively masking their anti-tank landmines as curbstones. The area on to the remains of those two red plastic wire chairs is said to be checked. Further along that way, one has to move away from the road and accelerate one’s closing in with the enemy.
We are coming back from the front line.
Tomorrow, the battle tanks will be doing their job pounding the nearby buildings with fire strikes. There is a lower level ground behind the concrete fence over there which causes additional difficulties to the battle tanks exposing their lower front plates. The SAA commanding officers have to take all those nuances into account and also foresee the possible actions of the enemy in order to make sure than the lives of their soldiers will be spared and the future mission will be accomplished.
We are moving back to the battle tank base. The tank men display neither fear nor depression. Tomorrow is going to be just another day of work. It is going to be all in another day’s work of protecting one’s country against terror.
Andrey Filatov, Victor Kuznetsov, Marat Musin.
ANNA-News. Adra, Syria
No comments:
Post a Comment