This content details a significant military engagement in Syria during January-February 2018, where US Special Forces and their Kurdish allies successfully defended the Konoko natural gas refinery against an assault by Syrian government forces and Russian Wagner Group mercenaries, resulting in heavy enemy casualties and a decisive US victory.
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exposed rushing inside the perimeter the
US Green Beret and Marines jle around in
their heavy mraps the five vehicles move
up behind the sand burm that forms the
main American fighting position the
Delta Force operators Rangers and their
Kurdish Partners ears still ringing from
the massive artillery bombardment greet
the reinforcements and haul the fresh
ammo and supplies from the armored truck
fixed on the thermal imaging displays of
the MP's remote weapon systems the
Gunners searched the open desert between
the konoko refinery and the town of
kasham clear as day the signatures of
armed men appear white Hol against the
cool KN Russian Vagner mercenaries and
their Syrian allies rallying to face the
next attack approximately 40 American
forces and their allies the rebel
Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces Group
or SDF prepared to defend themselves
Green Berets bring the remote weapon
stations to Bear the long barrels of the
50 caliber machine guns point accusingly
at the approaching Fighters along the
burm the dismounted Special Forces ready
their light machine guns and Javelin
missiles the Green Beret Sergeant known
only as chy Keys the radio let's open up
and let them know we're
here through January 2018 us
surveillance assets observe hundreds of
Syrian soldiers and dozens of armored
vehicles steadily amassing in the city
of D resor the bulk of this force is
assessed to be elements of the Syrian
fourth Armored Division but us signals
intelligence intercepts radio traffic
that is unmistakably in Russian the
Russian Vagner mercenary group has
played a considerable role in aiding Pro
assat forces providing leadership
advising and often participating
directly in combat us Central Command
uses the deconfliction phone line with
Russia to discuss the buildup but the
Russian Armed Forces claim to know
nothing of the operation
with a group we aren't allowed to
mention on YouTube henceforth referred
to as organization ice largely defeated
in the region the eyes of Assad's
government in Damascus turned to
securing Syria's former wealth
traditionally oil and natural gas
reserves were a Cornerstone of the
Syrian economy Syria has been
negotiating with Kurdish leaders for
access to these oil fields but to no
avail yeni progan the now late leader of
the Vagner group tells Syrian officials
that he has approval from an unnamed
minister in the Russian government to
conduct an offensive to improve a sad
situation their objective is the Kurdish
held Kono natural gas Refinery just over
the agreed demarcation line between
Kurdish and Syrian
territory the konoko plant is held by a
small Kurdish Force supported by an
advisory team from the US 75th Ranger
regiment suspicious of the Syrian and
Vagner buildup us Central Command moves
a team of Delta Force operators to the
plant to assess the threat bringing the
Garrison to around 30 Americans the
nearest Allied ground forces are a
Detachment of US Army Special Forces and
a platoon of US Marines occupying a
mission support site around 20 M away
near Al suah at 5 a.m. on the morning of
the 7th of February 2018 US forces watch
as a large group of 250 Syrian Fighters
cross a pontoon bridge over the
Euphrates towards Kurdish
territory after a warning shot is fired
by us forces the syrians largely from
the fourth Division and tribal militias
withdraw back across the
bridge later at 3 p.m. Syrian and Vagner
forces begin to move up towards another
crossing point to the north as the hours
tick by US forces watch as they steadily
move across the Euphrates as Darkness
Falls senton places US Air Assets in the
Middle East on alert the green beray and
Marines at the mission support site
prepare to act as a quick reaction force
and pack their wraps with additional
ammunition thermal images medical
supplies and food a Black Hawk arrives
shortly after bringing blood and more
medical equipment to treat any
casualties as night falls the Syrian and
Vagner forces settle into the Villages
of kasham and tabia the Russian
mercenaries are under No Illusion that
they will be facing American forces as
well as Kurdish forces who the Syrian
and Russian sources habitually claim are
organization ice Vagner Fighters alleged
that their officers are given a final
briefing by Russian Ministry of Defense
Personnel who promised both air defense
and close air support from a pair of S35
flankers at 8:30 p.m. they moved to
their start line marked by the railway
that skirts the edge of
kasham Syrian troops from the fourth
division Iranian backs tribal militias
and Vagner group mercenaries mingle as
they form into columns on the edge of the
the
village like most militaries bord is the
most common emotion and one Vite knocks
on the hatch of ayrian t62 looking for
food the hatch swings open and he is met
with a wave of fragrant smoke either
from tobacco or other substances a hand
emerges from the swirling MK with a
Syrian off-brand Snickers bar orbiting
above a US Air Force mq9 UAV watches the
buildup streaming its video back to the
jck team at the refinery they watch as
over the next 2 hours sir and Vagner
artillery Crews practice loading shells
and sighting their guns and a platoon of
t-72s snakes up to the small settlement
less than a mile from the American
position at 10:30 p.m. in the dead of
night all hell breaks loots the Thunder
of howitzers announces the Syrian attack
122 mm shells rain down on the US and
Kurdish Outpost Farner mortars bombard
the Coalition fighting position and the
forward t-72s open up the crack of the
125 mm guns completing the destructive
Symphony Kurdish Fighters and Delta
Force operators Brave the withering hail
of shellfire and take cover behind the
protective sand burm around the refinery
and inside the armored hides of their
emirats springing into action the Airmen
operating the orbiting mq9 Reaper flip
their Master arm switch to on and begin
stalking the battlefield searching for
artillery 20 mi away the Green Berets
and Marines at the missions of support
site scramble aboard their mats and
mraps load their weapons and move out a
Kurdish truck
following the going is slow as the quick
reaction force is blacked out driving
with their night vision goggles and
having to snake through the sand burms
and roadblocks obstructing the
road as they push on through the night
us Central Command and the Pentagon
urgently raised their Russian
counterparts us signals intelligence is
still hearing Russian voices in the
radio traffic around kasham complication
the American response further Russia's
longrange S400 surfac to a missile
system is active causing sencom to hold
its responding aircraft back in case the
Russian Air Defense Forces are
supporting the attack while back Channel
diplomacy continues the mq9 crew smashes
four of the Syrian and Vagner howitzers
with Hellfire missiles the US Special
Forces reply as best they can at such
range with light machine guns and
Javelin anti-tank missiles from the
village of taba a pair pair of bm21
grads open fire no sooner has their
barrage started it is cut short by a
salvo of GPS guided highas Rockets from
distant Marine Corps artillery called in
by the American Special
Forces at around 1:00 a.m. the Green
Berets and Marines arrive near the
refinery and are AED by the sight of
shells bursting around the US and
Kurdish positions and the burning traces
from anti-aircraft guns employed in
direct fire flicking over the buildings
and sand turns the site is more than
enough for the driver of the Kurdish
truck who about turns and speeds off
chony Muses that he is the smartest man
on the
battlefield as the torrent of Russian
and Syrian shells subsides the Delta
Force Commander guides the qrf inside
the refinery grounds with his infrared
laser in quick order the Green Berets
and Marines position their mats online
behind the sandburn between the fresh
shell craters scarring the American line
most of the mraps are armed with a 50
caliber Browning M2 fitted to a remote
weapon system with thermal imaging
capability these weapons will allow the
Americans to deny the open ground
between them and
kasham z23 anti-aircraft guns rasp again
spitting deadly but inaccurate streams
of 23 mm high explosive rounds over the
Americans heads Vagner has only just
started through their thermals The
Operators Manning the 50 cal watch as
groups of white Silhouettes Advance
towards them across the sand these men
are clearly the forward element of the
combined Vagner and Syrian assault and
evidently believed the Americans to be
suppressed the remote weapon systems
slew onto targets Gunners lzs to find
their range and upon tron's order open
fire the M2 brownings explode to life
chattering steadily as they pour bursts
of lead into the oncoming
Fighters the leading Syrian soldiers
crumple under the brutal weight of fire
dunk in forward of kasham the rest of
the Syrian Force
replies a torrent of heavy machine gun
fire RPGs and other heavy weapons
showers the American fighting position
what the Syrian shooting lacks in
accuracy it makes up for in volume the
Special Forces give as good as they get
the Ensemble of 50 Cals keeps up the
punishment rhythmically hammering out
rounds to past 2 km substantially over
its usual effective
range Marines start between the mraps
rushing more ammo to the ravenous
machine guns green beray Dodge incoming
fire and 23 mm shells to frantically
reload the big ammunition Drums of the
50 Cals along the burn Delta operators
and Rangers Salvo javelins at distant
Russian and Syrian positions striking a
handful of
vehicles Russian officials on the other
end of the hotline disavowed the Vagner
Force entirely and powered down the S400
system in
lakia the United States informs the
Russians that they are going to take
action and the Russians do not object
Aviation forces are now on the way the
baguer Defenders of the konoko refinery
just need to survive until help
arrives team Sergeant chony is working
in the back of his matv drawing up the
team's next move as the vehicle's
interior reverberates with the D of the
Browning barking angrily on the mount
above them one of his Green Berets calls
in hey I got eyes on these really big
vehicles at first they are hard to
identify but 10 Blobs of heat soon
sharpen to the distinctive shape of main
battle tanks a company of 10 tanks are
leading a new attack along with Syrian
militants from taba trying their luck
chony directs the other Green Beret to
engage the lead vehicle the other mrap
obliges with a burst of 50 caliber fire
the rounds Arc lazily towards the T 72
and either Ricochet or shatter uselessly
against the thick armor plate the
company of Syrian tanks continues
forward closing the distance to less
than 2 km it appears that the American
special forces have expended all of
their Javelin anti-tank missiles their
only salvation now can be air support
but the Green Beret team leader known as
Andrew is unable to raise any support on
the radio nonetheless he knows they have
to keep fighting keep shooting and
marking any anything armor with traitors
for when the aircrafts check in lacking
thermal sits or modern night vision the
fourth armor division's t-72s advance
closer still the bright orange shots of
their 125 mm guns briefly Illuminating
the darkness H frag rounds tear overhead
the unnerving crack and the pressure
wave of the supersonic rounds remind
them how exposed they and their thinly
armored mats are the Gunners keep
hammering away with their 50 Cals Trails
of Tracer rounds suppressing any
accompanying infantry and peppering the
oncoming t-72s now practically at
spitting distance less than 1,000 M away
and showing no sign of stopping one
Green Beret reflects everything that
we've accomplished and this is where
everything ends against Russian
mercenaries with tanks not even the
enemy that we came to fight we had to
make peace with the possibility of not
making it back but it was easier to
swallow knowing we were defending our
friends and doing what needed to be done
the lead tank erupts in a ball of flame
and exploding ammunition the bewildered
Special Forces operators look up to see
their saviors from the north four ah-64e
Apache Attack Helicopters sweep over the
refinery slinging another Hellfire into another
another
t72 rolling into a bank over the desert
the lead Apache opens up with its 30 mm
Cannon a withering hail of high
explosive shells crackles across the
Vagner and Syrian fighting positions as
the first pair Thunders around to re
attack the second pair PS on the fire
hitting tanks and fighting positions
with hellfires and Laser guided apkws
Rockets one Vagner fighter describes the
aerial barrage as a merrygoround with
heavy caliber machine guns but as the
tide Turns The Operators at the refinery
receive more grave news from the
officers Manning the watch stations at
us Central Command just be advised
incoming bomber the American Command
Center warns Roger team leader Andre
replies no dude Russian bomber
inbound Andre passes this Stark warning
onto his men as he envisions their
position being obliterated by 500lb
bombs there is little they can do but
get in their vehicles and brace for
impact on the edge of kasham in front of
the buildings a Vagner column sits
waiting to advance the mercenary sitting
on top of tanks and lighter Vehicles
hear the rumble of jet aircraft above
and morale grows hours have arrived the vagit
vagit
guess they are made known of their error
as the lead vehicle in the column is
vaporized F15 strike Eagles of the 336
Fighter Squadron the rocketeers have
arrived knowing what's coming the
Infantry scatter a 500lb jdam smashes
into the t72 at the rear of the column
throwing off the main battle Tank's
turret with the lead and rear Vehicles
knocked out the gas trucks and brdm2
Armored Cars trapped in between are
destroyed one after another despite the
still raging firefight between the
American Special Forces the syrians and
their Vagner allies an Air Force
tactical air controller stands on the
burn exposing himself to enemy fire to
direct the incoming air
support the air crew circling above can
hear him running out of breath from
vectoring so many strikes in quick
succession the Apaches keep up the
barrage cutting down the Syrian Fighters
that attempt to flee back to kasham and taba
taba
Russian Air Force su30sm flankers are
actually on Route towards Dara or it is
not known if they have orders to engage
but they choose to keep their distance
aside from the F-15 e pounding the
Syrian and Vagner forces there is
another threat umber notes to anyone on
the ground a flight of F22 Raptors are
perched high above the battlefield
stealthily watching the Russian Fighters
and RAM missiles at the ready after an
hour of punishment the devastated Syrian
and Vagner forces received the order for
a general Retreat the dismounted
Infantry flees back across the railway
line through kasham they avoid friendly
tanks and vehicles realizing that they
only serve to draw American bombs more
aircraft arrive on station Vagner
mercenaries hear the Drone of turbo
props and realizes what lurks above them
an a130 whiskey Stinger 2 takes over
from the orbiting Apaches in its dark
and crowded cargo bay weapons operators
load the first of many shells into the
breach of its 105 mm Cannon and let
fly the powerful high explosive rounds
collapsed the buildings where the Syrian
and VG troops are taking cover now a
B-52 Strat Fortress tops off the aerial
Armada upgraded since its original
specifications B-52 H's no longer carpet
bomb enemy positions but instead linger
for hours at high altitudes acting like
an orbital battle station steadily
dispensing its massive arsenal of laser
and GP s guided bombs onto targets
throughout the battle Syrian tank Crews
break into buildings to try and hide
from the bombardment an ammunition
Warehouse is set a blaze and any
vehicles in the open are
destroyed thoroughly beaten the Vagner
and Syrian Fighters make the nearly 6 km
escape to the crossing over the
Euphrates stopping briefly only to
shelter from incoming bombs and
shellfire using the deconfliction line
Russian authorities negotiate a
ceasefire with US forces by 4:00 a.m.
despite reporting in the immediate
aftermath of the battle it is unlikely
that 200 Vagner Fighters were killed the
United States estimates that between 200
to 300 of the 500 strong force were
killed though most of these casualties
will have been soldiers of the Syrian
Army's fourth Division and tribal
militias estimates of Vagner group
casualties range between 20 and 80
killed depending on the source
regardless of the numbers losses were
heavy enough for the group to commission
a memorial Comm commemorating the defeat
no American Personnel are harmed and
only one Kurdish SDF fighter is injured
one of the survivors is the t62 crew
that handed the Vagner Fighter the
Snickers bar with a faulty radio and in
their own world of music and smoke they
did not realized that there was a battle
raging for over an hour upon realizing
they flee only to be found 2 days later
in another
Village speaking to the US Senate armed
services committee on the 26th of April
2018 then Secretary of Defense James
Mattis summarized the Battle of kasham
for the assembled Senators the Russian
high command in Syria assured us it was
not their people and my direction to the
chairman was the force then was to be
annihilated and it
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comments to shout out this week Rob
Crocker says I called for it to be
annihilated and it was was a spectacular
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