From Moon of Alabama:

Al-Qaeda in Syria, renamed to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, currently controls Idleb governate and Idleb city in north-west Syria. On September 19 it launched a large scale attack on Syrian government positions in north Hama, south of Idleb provinces. The al-Qaeda forces gained significant grounds before being stopped and forced to retreat. Nearly all the heavy weapons, tanks and artillery, that al-Qaeda had in the area were used and in the attack.

The spokesperson of the Russian military said (vid with English subtitles) that, according to Russian intelligence reports, al-Qaeda’s attack was made on behalf of the U.S. to slow down the Syrian-Russian campaign in the eastern province Deir Ezzor. A subtask for the terrorists was to capture a platoon of Russian soldiers. This is, to my knowledge, the first time that Russia made such a direct and extremely grave accusation against the U.S. forces and intelligence services in Syria.

From the cited Russian military statement:

For the last 24 hours, aviation and artillery units have eliminated 187 objects, 850 terrorists, 11 tanks, 4 IFVs, 46 pickups, 5 mortars, 20 trucks, and 38 ammunition storages…

“According to the reports that the Syrian commanders have been sending from the frontline, most serious counter-attacks and mass shelling on the Syrian troops come from the north,” he said. “It is the area where units of the Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as the US special operations units, are deployed, who, according to CNN, are providing medical aid to these militants instead of participating in the operation to liberate Raqqa,” [Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor] Konashenkov said.

From MOA:

The U.S. wants to keep Syrian government forces away from the oil fields north of the Euphrates. It has plans to build and control a Kurdish proto-state in north-east Syria and control over the eastern Deir Ezzor oil would give such a state the necessary economic base.

But the U.S. has too few proxy forces available to actually take the oil area away from the Islamic State.

From the comments:

The Brits are the primary operators in Ildeb as a part of this coalition…

The reason they have no state is because in the Islamic canon the existence of a Kurdish entity is a harbinger of Judgement Day…

SDF has made a huge mistake. Up to now they have been immune to Russian air and the SAA, now they will find out what hell is like…

The water problem was nothing to do with the Syrians. It was due to the Turks building too many dams on the Euphrates, and keeping all the water for themselves…

As for proof of al-Ciada being directed by CIA, the historical record shows the continuance of extremely poor com security such that both Syrian and Russian intel have long known what external groups are/were directing their proxies…

I can think of no more infuriating act to the Russian government and Russian military than a scheme to have a couple dozen of her soldiers taken hostage, brutalized, used as PR or ‘bargaining chips’ and eventually beheaded (with slick, London-produced YouTube video of the ceremony). The fact that this attempt was unsuccessful is meaningless. The Russians now understand the depths of depravity the US will employ to reverse our defeat in Syria. Does Tillerson really think he can negotiate with Russia at this point?..

Syria had to absorb at least a million Iraqi refugees after the 2003 invasion of Iraq…

The attempt on the Russian forces is a tacit admission of loss. The US is now trying to terrorize Russian society to build popular resentment against Russian involvement in Syria…

‘Partners’ are taking out the trash. 850 Nusra terrorists squashed with only 3 Russian casualties. 30 Chechens held out as bait, delivering AQ’s best into a cauldron and the rest is history as they say…

[T]hanks to Iran’s position of strength and agreement by Turkey, Iraq and Syria there will be NO Kurdistan.

From The Saker:

Something rather unprecedented just happened in Syria: US backed “good terrorist” forces attempted a surprise attack against Syrian government forces stationed to the north and northeast of the city of Hama.  What makes this attack unique is that it took place inside a so-called “de-escalation zone” and that it appears that one of the key goals of the attack was to encircle in a pincer-movement and subsequently capture a platoon of Russian military police officers deployed to monitor and enforce the special status of this zone.  The Russian military police forces, composed mainly of soldiers from the Caucasus region, fought against a much larger enemy force and had to call for assistance.  For the first time, at least officially, Russian special operations forces were deployed to rescue and extract their comrades.  At the same time, the Russians sent in a number of close air support aircraft who reportedly killed several hundred “good” terrorists and beat back the attack…

This is unprecedented on many levels.  First, the Russians clearly believe that this attempt to kill or capture a platoon of the Russian military police was planned by the United States.  The fact that they are making this accusation officially shows the degree of irritation felt by the Russians about the duplicity of the Americans.  Second, this is the first time, at least to my knowledge, that Russian Spetsnaz forces had to be sent in to rescue a surrounded Russian subunit.  All Spetsnaz operators survived, but three of them were wounded in the operation (the Russians are not saying how badly).  The close air support by very low flying SU-25 aircraft was obviously coordinated by Spetsnaz forward air controllers and probably saved the day.  In other words, this was a close call and things could have ended much more badly (just imagine what the Takfiri crazies would have done, on video, to any captured Russian serviceman!).  Finally, a US-organized attack on what was supposed to be a “de-confliction” zone combined with an attempt to capture Russian soldiers raises the bar for American duplicity to a totally new level…

My fear now is that the incompetent, arrogant, not too bright and generally ignorant commanders at the Pentagon and the CIA will simply ignore clear warning signs coming from the Russians, including the public announcement that the Kremlin has given the authority to use force to protect Russian personnel to the local Russian commanders in Syria…

I feel sincerely sorry for the first US unit to make contact with the Iranians or Hezbollah forces.

From Larchmonter445 in the comments:

Russia, though far from home, has planted two bases in Syria for the next half-century. These are no more vanity bases than Sochi is a one-off development of Putin’s.

The bases, like Sochi, are integral to Russia as an economic power. And Syria is now a Russian environ.

Over the coming decades many Syrians will learn to speak Russian, will study Russian history, and will marry Russians. The relationship will become genetic, not just geopolitical or military.

And so, interlopers and invaders in Syria will be treated as if they were transgressing Russia itself.

Doesn’t much matter what flag or flags they fly, US, Israel, NATO, French, British, Saudi, Kurd, whatever, the invaders will be dealt with by Russian force if they don’t stand down and leave.

Everything has changed in Syria and thus, the ME.

From Auslander in the comments:

As for US forces, each and every serving American armed forces member who does anything involving this illegal war against a sovereign state, Syria, is in violation of numerous sections of UCMJ, the US Armed Forces Universal Code of Military Justice, and as such is open to prosecution and imprisonment for these actions. This responsibility goes from the lowliest mess hall server all the way up to the top brass in Pentagon and stops at that tastefully ornate desk in the Oval Office…

EVERY sitting head of a nato country involved in this illegal war and slaughter in Syria is just as responsible for every death in Syria as the lowest ranker in their armies and everyone in between. As an aside, the ‘I was just following orders’ gig went out the window at Nuremburg starting in June of 1945…

Considering the locale the slaughter was epic and the ‘old sergeant’s jungle telegraph’ is espousing that some special foreigners bit the big one in this debacle, just as some ‘special people’ did not make it out of Debaltsyevo in early ’15. You can’t fix stupid and stupid they were…and are.