Al Mayadeen’s correspondent explained that the targeting of the two US bases occurred approximately two months after attacks on the US bases in eastern Syria stopped.
Al Mayadeen‘s correspondent in Aleppo reported on Monday at dawn that four missiles struck the US military base in the al-Omar oil field and the American Kharab al-Jir base in eastern Syria was targeted with three missiles and a drone.
Al Mayadeen‘s correspondent confirmed that the targeting of the two US bases comes approximately two months after attacks on US bases in eastern Syria stopped. Our correspondent mentioned reports suggesting direct casualties within the US base in Kharab al-Jir.
Our correspondent reported that the two most significant US military bases in eastern Syria were targeted less than an hour apart. The first incident occurred with explosions heard from the US base in the Green Village near the al-Omar oil field in the countryside of Deir Ezzor in the eastern part of the country. Subsequently, three explosions were heard in the vicinity of the US base at Kharab al-Jir airport north of al-Hasakah.
Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies eliminated more than 2000 NATO-sponsored Al Qaeda terrorists in 30 days in the northwestern provinces of Idlib, Aleppo, Hasakah, and Hama, multiple sources reported.
Following up our chronological reporting of the ongoing Syrian war on the US-led NATO-sponsored terrorism of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and their affiliated terrorist groups in the northwestern region of Syria, bordering the southeastern NATO flank, the following are the updates from 19 September until the time of this report:
19 September 2023, 12 noon, SAA heavy artillery continued since early morning shelling the posts of the Nusra Front (Al Qaeda Levant aka HTS) in western Aleppo countryside, and across the Al Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside.
12:10 noon, SAA heavy artillery shells a post of the Nusra Front on the outskirts of Ain Eissa town in the northern Latakia countryside.
Local Syrian sources and military analysts monitoring the latest escalation in the region stated that in the past 30 days, (20 August through 19 September 2023), there are at least 160 confirmed killed terrorists reported by the colleagues of those terrorists, excluding the foreign terrorists who burned their passports upon joining the ranks of the NATO foreign legion to destroy Syria (al Qaeda, ISIS, Uighur, et al) who estimates put the minimum number of the eliminated ones of them at 40, especially on the southern Idlib countryside axis.
20 September 2023, 00:05 am, SAA heavy artillery, and missiles bomb the posts and gatherings of the Nusra Front on the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside and on the axis of eastern Idlib city.
01:00 am, SAA bombs the posts of Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) on the outskirts of Al Fatirah town in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
01:05 am, local sources reported that so-called Muhammad Talal Al-Haj Ahmad aka Abu Jaafar Zammar, a field commander in the Nusra Front was among the killed in the SAA heavy artillery bombing of their posts on the Kafr Ta’al axis in Aleppo’s western countryside. Unnamed foreign terrorists were also eliminated with this terrorist.
09:30 am, SAA heavy artillery and grad MLRs bomb posts of Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) on the outskirts of Kafr Awayed and the town of Al Fatirah in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
12:30 pm, SAA heavy artillery and grad MLRs missiles bomb the posts of Ansar Tawhid on the outskirts of Kansafrah in southern Idlib countryside.
The SAA units expanded their bombing to target the posts of Ansar Tawhid and Nusra Front on the outskirts of Fatirah, Sufuhun, Kafr Awayed, Flaifil, and the hill of Tareesha in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
21 September 2023, 04:35 pm, SAA heavy artillery eliminates several Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) terrorists in a bombing of one of their makeshift posts in Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
08:45 pm, SAA artillery bomb posts of Al Qaeda on the axis of Ain Eissa in the northern Latakia countryside.
10:55 pm, SAA heavy artillery and grad MLRs bomb the posts and gatherings of Ansar Tawhid on the outskirts of Al Fatirah town in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
22 September 2023, 00:05 am, SAA expands the shelling of Ansar Tawhid posts on the outskirts of the towns of Fatirah and Ruweiha in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
Local sources reported direct casualties among the Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) in the SAA bombing.
11:30 am, SAA heavy artillery resumes bombing Ansar Tawhid posts on the outskirts of Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside after repeated attempts of the NATO Turkey-sponsored terrorist group to infiltrate the outposts of the Syrian Arab Army defending the Syrian villages in the region.
23 September 2023, 01:55 pm, SAA missiles bomb the fortifications of the Turkestani Islamist Party (Uighur and Central Asia terrorists) on the Zaqqum – Karkour axis in the western Hama countryside.
08:00 pm, SAA artillery destroys a mortar and inflicts direct casualties among the Nusra Front terrorists operating it in the fields to the north of the town of Afis in Idlib’s eastern countryside.
09:55 pm, SAA heavy artillery, and MLRS bomb the Nusra Front posts in eastern Idlib countryside and Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside with confirmed casualties among the terrorists.
11:10 pm, SAA targets with intensified missiles new posts of Ansar Tawhid and their gatherings in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
24 September 2023, 00:05 am, SAA bomb with grad MLRS the posts and gatherings of Nusra Front terrorists on the outskirts of the town of Sarmin in eastern Idlib countryside.
00:45 am, SAA intensifies the bombing of the posts of Ansar Tawhid on the outskirts of al Fatirah town in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
11:15 am, SAA heavy artillery bombs the gatherings of the Nusra Front on the axis of Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside and on the outskirts of the town of Sarmin in Idlib’s eastern countryside.
11:45 am, SAA artillery bomb the posts of a Nusra Front affiliate on the outskirts of Al Nayrab town in the eastern Idlib countryside and the Kafr Ammah and Kafr Ta’al axis in the western Aleppo countryside.
12:10 pm, SAA shoots down a kamikaze drone sent by Nusra Front terrorists over the Al Ghab Plains in the western Hama countryside.
12:20 pm, the posts and gatherings of the Nusra Front terrorists on the outskirts of Al Fatirah, Kansafra, Al Nayrab, Sarmin, Maarat Naasan, Kafr Ta’al, and Kafr Ammah are at the receiving end of the SAA artillery bombing since the early morning hours.
25 September 2023, 08:15 am, Al Qaeda Levant (Nusra Front) terrorists bomb the town of Suqalbiyah and the village of Al Ashareh in the western Hama countryside with kamikaze drones, several civilians were injured in the terrorist attack including children, the injured were rushed to the Hama National Hospital for treatment.
10:00 am, several sorties of Russian fighter jets bomb the posts and quarters of the Nusra Front terrorists on the outskirts of the villages of Ankawi, Fatatirah, and Haloubah.
03:05 pm, SAA heavy Krasnopol guided artillery and MLRS missiles bomb the posts and gatherings of Nusra Front terrorists in Idlib countryside.
06:20 pm, Nusra Front terrorists fired two shells on the villages in Latakia countryside resulting in a fire in the farmlands.
In response, the SAA heavy artillery and MLRS missiles bomb the posts and gatherings of Nusra Front terrorists in the city of Jisr Shoghour in Idlib’s southwestern countryside.
06:40 pm, Nusra Front terrorists bomb the village of Naour Shahta in western Hama countryside with a drone killing a civilian and injuring several others including a child who was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
26 September 2023, 02:00 pm, the Syrian Ministry of Interior mourns the martyrdom of Syrian Police Honorary Major Ali Jawdat Dib of the Special Task Force who was martyred in Hasakah province, northeast of Syria, succumbing to the wounds he sustained during his duty earlier.
27 September 2023, 09:00 am, Russian fighter jets bomb Nusra Front posts on the outskirts of the village of Ankawi in the Al Ghab Plain in the northwestern Hama countryside and the outskirts of the village of Halloubah in the Al Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside.
11:00 am, SAA heavy artillery bomb the gatherings and posts of Ansar Tawhid (NATO Turkey-sponsored ISIS remnants) on the outskirts of the village of Binin in the Al Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside.
08:35 pm, SAA heavy artillery shells the fortifications of the Nusra Front (NATO Turkey-sponsored Al Qaeda Levant) and Turkestani Islamist Party (Uighur) terrorists on the Kabbani Hills axes in the northern Latakia countryside.
28 September 2023, 10:00 am, Nusra Front terrorists bomb with rockets several villages in the western Hama countryside inflicting material damage to the properties of the villagers.
09:05 pm, Syrian and Russian aircraft destroyed underground bunkers used by the NATO-sponsored Al Qaeda terrorists to store their weapons, munition, military gear, and personnel in Idlib countryside.
09:20 pm, SAA bombs a post used by an Iranian terrorist group in the town of Tuffahiya in the Latkia northern countryside. The terrorist group calls itself the ‘Iranian Sunnah Migrants Movement’, and it’s part of the Syrian opposition!
29 September 2023, 10:35 am, SAA units bomb with laser-guided Krasnopol heavy artillery the posts of Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants sponsored by NATO, the ‘defensive’ alliance) in the vicinity of the towns of Kafr Awayed, Kansafrah, and Fatirah in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
07:40 pm, the Syrian Ministry of Defense stated that the Syrian Arab Army shot down 2 drones in the northern Latakia countryside and a third in the western Aleppo countryside from the drones used by the NATO-sponsored terrorists to bomb the villages in these areas.
The Syrian MoD statement added that the Syrian Arab Army units responded to these terrorist attacks by bombing the quarters of the terrorists inflicting serious damage and eliminating several terrorists and their commanders, a so-called Abu Marwan Azzo, a commander in the Nusra Front (NATO-sponsored Al Qaeda Levant) among the killed terrorists, in addition to destroying a 4 x 4 vehicle with the terrorists in it in the western Aleppo countryside.
09:35 pm, SAA shells with MLRS grad missiles the posts of Ansar Tawhid on the outskirts of Al Fatirah town in the Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside after the terrorists fired a drone at the SAA units on the Mallajah axis, the drone was shot down by an SAA sniper.
10:45 pm, SAA shells with artillery and missiles the posts and gatherings of Nusra Front terrorists on the axes of Al Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside, the Al Ghab Plains in the northwestern Hama countryside, and the northern Latakia countryside.
30 September 2023, 11:15 am, SAA artillery and grad missiles guided by surveillance drones targeted the gatherings of the Nusra Front on the Karkour village axis in the Al Ghab Plains, Hama northwestern countryside.
12:20 pm, the Russian Reconciliation Center in Hmeimim (the Russian Army command in Syria) stated that its military destroyed the dens used to manufacture and store drones in Idlib used by the terrorists to target the Syrian forces and the civilians in addition to underground bunkers in the towns of Halloubah and Ankawi, vowing to escalate further against the terrorists in future retaliations.
End of the updates.
The recent debacle at the Canadian parliament, where a standing ovation was given to glorify a Nazi SS war criminal in the presence of the Canadian prime minister, the Jewish Zionist president of Ukraine, and a number of ambassadors of NATO member countries, including the German ambassador, exposes the true nature of the NATO “defensive” alliance.
In addition, declassified and leaked reports from the past few years confirm the role of the US CIA, UK MI6, and other NATO spy agencies in creating and commanding terrorist groups and committing terrorist attacks around the world, especially against Arabs, Slavs, Africans, Chinese, and Latin Americans, and even against their own who do not follow their agenda, such as the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy.
Furthermore, the presence of tens of thousands of Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists in areas occupied by the US and Turkish armies in Syria, ISIS, and Al Qaeda terrorists were treated by the Israeli army medics with state-of-the-art medical equipment provided to them for free by US taxpayers, debunks the US and NATO claims to be fighting terrorism.
In light of this evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that the US and its Western allies were never committed to combating terrorism, but are instead using terrorist groups to achieve their own sinister and hegemonic geopolitical goals.
If there’s such a person, it’s safe now if you’re living in a NATO member country, it seems, to come out from the closet and declare your terrorist Zionist Nazi reality.
The Syrian people and their armed forces and allies are fighting to defend themselves, their families, their homes, their culture, their heritage, their values, and their future on their land; explain what the US Army is doing halfway across the planet in Syria other than stealing Syrian oil and wheat and to whose benefit other than the AntiChrist as they believe in their biblical prophecies.
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Live broadcast – a dialogue about the latest developments and the latest events of the news hour 01.10.2023
Israel, ISIS, Al Qaeda, and the other NATO armies and proxy forces waged their coordinated attacks on Syria, it reached its climax yesterday with Israel bombing Syrian Army posts on the outskirts of Damascus, ISIS remnants attacking the Syrian Army posts in Daraa countryside, Al Qaeda bombing posts of the Syrian and Russian armies in the northeast, the US Army with its Kurdish SDF separatist groups stealing more loads of Syrian oil and wheat while continuing to beef up the US troops, and the Turkish regime continues to block the water of the Euphrates and the water of the Alouk pump in Hasakah.
All the above followed the attempt of a small local group to redo Daraa’s March 2011 protests in the city of Sweida in southern Syria, the crowds that gathered to stop the instigators outnumbered the protesters by over 50 to 1 as per local sources.
The Israeli bombing of the Syrian Arab Army posts injured a Syrian soldier and inflicted material damage, a military spokesperson was quoted by the Syrian news agency SANA:
“At approximately 11:55 this evening (Monday 21 August 2023), the Israeli enemy carried out a guided missile attack from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting some points in the vicinity of the city of Damascus. The aggression resulted in the injury of a soldier and some material losses.”
Local sources reported hearing the sounds of explosions in the south and southeast of the Syrian Capital Damascus.
Multiple official and unofficial reports refuted rumors spread by some ‘activists’ on social media and some Arab news outlets of the bombing of Damascus International Airport; the reports confirmed the airport was not targeted in this Israeli aggression and that it is operating as scheduled.
While Israel was bombing the outskirts of Damascus, remnants of the US-sponsored ISIS terrorists attacked with heavy machine guns the posts of the Syrian Arab Army on the outskirts of the town of Nawa in the northern countryside of Daraa, south of Syria, around 40 kilometers to the southeast of Damascus.
Local sources reported that the attacks on the Syrian Army posts on the outskirts of Nawa lasted several hours and the Syrian Arab Army repelled the attacks with artillery and heavy machine guns.
The Syrian Army units operating in the countryside of Hama and Idlib shot down 3 kamikaze booby-trapped drones fired by the NATO Turkey-sponsored Al Qaeda terrorists in Idlib on their way to bomb the Syrian towns in the two northwestern Syrian provinces.
Movements of the Al Qaeda groups in Hama and Idlib were spotted and dealt with by the Syrian and Russian armies delivering a severe blow to the terrorists and their sponsors in the NATO ‘defensive’ alliance.
NATO member state Turkey continues to block the water of the Euphrates from flowing into Syria and subsequently into Iraq and the water of Tigris from flowing into Iraq in a war crime, a crime against humanity, and a blatant violation of International Law and bilateral and trilateral agreements between the three countries.
In addition to blocking the flow of the Euphrates into Syria, the forces of the Turkish (NATO ‘defensive’) alliance repeatedly bomb the Alouk water pump and the electrical stations feeding the pumps depriving over 2 million Syrians in the province of Hasakah including its main Al Qamishli city.
All the above while the US Army is busy with its proxy, the Kurdish SDF separatist terrorists stealing Syrian oil and wheat and smuggling them into neighboring Iraq, not only stealing the food and fuel of the Syrian people but also violating the sovereignty of both countries, Syria and Iraq, a hypocritical act by the permanent member of the United Nations Security Council which leads the Western cackle of hyenas dragging the world into a nuclear conflict and the annihilation of mankind over their incessant ‘defending’ of the sovereignty of Ukraine which they turned into their proxy forces to ‘inflict harm on Russia’ in order to dismantle the world’s largest country to allow them to steal its resources.
Is the US-led NATO ‘defensive’ alliance trying to compensate for their losses on the global level by continuing their plot to destroy Syria, after realizing their failure in Syria led to their debacles across the globe thanks to the heroism and unmatched steadfastness of the Syrian people for over 12.5 years? Or the leaders of the US-led NATO ‘defensive’ alliance just doubling on their war crimes believing in their ‘exceptionalism’ and ‘entitlement’ to the world’s resources while effectively ‘de-populating’ the world in their never-ending wars and conflicts, or it is all simply the grand scheme of the Antichrist, the core believe of the Evangelical megachurch and its Zionist masters who believe that serving the Antichrist to ‘rebuild’ the alleged ‘temple’ in the holy lands to expedite the return of Jesus Christ?
We, Syrians would love to understand whether the citizens and taxpayers of the USA and its Western minions understand this grand scheme of their ‘elected’ politicians in their ‘democracies’ across the Western hemisphere and their loyal despots around the globe.
While the wholesale theft of Syria’s natural resources continues under the watch of illegal US troops, the Russian project of resurrecting ISIS-destroyed Palmyra stands as a stark reminder that ruins can rise again – if Syria’s friends help pave the way.
The war on Syria has vanished from the collective West ethos. Yet it’s far from finished. Multitudes across the Global Majority may feel the deepest empathy towards Syrians while acknowledging not much can be done while the Western Minority refuses to leave the stage.
In parallel, there are slim chances the New Development Bank (NDB) – the BRICS bank – will start showering Damascus with loans for Syria’s reconstruction. At least not yet, despite all the pledges by Russians and Chinese to help.
Under the lame excuse of “degrading the position for ISIS,” the US State Department de facto admits that the Empire’s illegal occupation of a third of Syria – the part rich in oil and minerals currently being stolen/smuggled – will persist, indefinitely.
Cue to virtually non-stop oil looting in northeastern Hasakah province, as in processions of dozens of oil tankers crossing to northern Iraq via the al-Waleed or al-Mahmoudiya border crossing, usually escorted by US-backed Kurdish separatist militias.
As if any reminding was needed, the Global Majority is fully aware ISIS is essentially an American black op, a spin-off of al-Qaeda in Iraq, born in camps at the Iraq-Kuwaiti border. The Syrian “Democratic” Forces (SDF) is hardly a democratic US proxy, predictably assembled as a “coalition” of ethnic militias, mostly run by Kurds but also incorporating a few Arab tribesmen, Turkmen, and Salafi-jihadi Chechens.
As if the non-stop looting of oil was not enough, the Pentagon keeps dispatching truckloads of ammo and logistical equipment to Hasakah.
Convoys run back and forth to illegal US military bases in the Hasakah countryside, with particular relevance to a base at the al-Jibsah oilfields near the town of al-Shaddadi.
Recently, 39 US military tankers crossed the – illegal – al-Mahmoudiya border towards Iraqi Kurdistan loaded with stolen Syrian oil.
Despite these crude facts, Russia remains excessively diplomatic on the issue. Mikhail Bogdanov, Putin’s special representative for the Middle East and Africa, recently told al-Arabiya, “Washington uses the pretext of combating terrorism to be present east of the Euphrates in economically important areas, where crude oil and strategic natural reserves are abundant.”
He highlighted US troops deployed at al-Tanf in southern Syria and American “support” for the SDF in northern Syria. Yet that’s not exactly a ground-breaking reveal that would light a fire under the Americans.
We steal your oil because we can
According to Damascus, Syria’s energy sector as a whole was robbed by an astonishing $107 billion between 2011 and 2022 by a toxic mix of US occupation, “coalition” bombing, and theft or looting by terrorist and separatist gangs.
There are no less than a dozen US military bases in Syria – some bigger than the proverbial lily pads (less than 10 acres, valued at less than $10 million), all of them de facto illegal and certainly not recognized by Damascus. The fact that 90 percent of Syria’s oil and gas is concentrated east of the Euphrates in areas controlled by the US and its Kurdish proxies makes Empire’s job much easier.
The de facto occupation hits not only energy-rich areas but also some of Syria’s most fertile agricultural lands. The net result has been to turn Syria into a net importer of energy and food. Iranian tankers routinely face Israeli sabotage as they ship much-needed oil to Syria’s eastern Mediterranean coast.
Complaining does not register a whit with the Hegemon. Earlier this year, the Chinese foreign ministry urged the Empire of Plunder to give Syrians and the “international community” a full account of the oil theft.
This was in connection to a convoy of 53 tankers transporting stolen Syrian oil to US military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan in early 2023.
At the time, Damascus had already revealed that more than 80 percent of Syria’s daily oil production was stolen and smuggled by the Americans and its proxy “democratic” forces – only in the first half of 2022.
Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh, has repeatedly denounced how the Empire of Plunder’s “theft of resources, oil, gas, and wheat” has plunged millions of Syrians into a state of insecurity, reducing a large part of its population to the status of displaced persons, refugees and victims of food insecurity.
The prospects for Syrian reconstruction are slim without expelling the western marauders. That will have to happen via detailed, concerted cooperation between Russian forces, the Syrian Arab Army, and the IRGC’s Quds Force units.
By itself, Damascus can’t pull it off. The Iranians constantly attack the Americans, via their militias, but results are marginal. To force the Empire out, there’s no other way apart from making the human cost of stealing Syrian oil unbearable. That’s the only message the US understands.
Then there’s the Sultan in Ankara. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is going all out to imprint the notion that relations with Moscow are always developing, and that he hopes to have his counterpart Vladimir Putin visit Turkiye in August. That’s not likely.
When it comes to Syria, Erdogan is mum. The Russian Air Force, meanwhile, keeps up the pressure on Ankara, bombing its proxy Salafi-jihadist terror gangs in Idlib, but not as heavily as it did between 2015 and 2020.
Palmyra reborn
Countering so much doom and gloom, something nearly magical happened on July 23. Six years after the liberation of Palmyra – the legendary Silk Road oasis – and overcoming all sorts of bureaucratic hassles, the restoration of this pearl in the desert has finally started.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova found a way to celebrate the moment in a fitting comparison with Ukraine:
“To fight with monuments and fallen Soviet fighters, the Ukrofascists are the best. It is useless to appeal to the conscience or historical memory of the current Kiev regime – there are none. After the goals of the special military operation are achieved, all destroyed monuments in Ukraine will be restored. In Russia, there are specialists in post-war restoration. An example of their selfless work and professionalism is the restoration of Palmyra in Syria.”
Russian specialists unearthed and reset the ancient source of Efka, which used to irrigate the gardens of Palmyra since the Bronze Age.
They also managed to find the Roman aqueduct that once fed Palmyra with potable water, 12 km away from the city. The Romans had dug a tunnel of nearly human size, then covered it in stone, and the ensemble was buried. It was found nearly intact.
In the 20th century, when the French built the Meridien Hotel in Palmyra, they blocked the aqueduct, so there was no water flowing by. Russian archeologists quickly set to work, and the aqueduct was cleaned. The problem is the French ruined this source of potable water: The aqueduct is totally dried up.
Plans for Palmyra include the restoration of the legendary theater before the end of 2023. The restoration of the arch, blown up with dynamite by ISIS, will take two years. The 1st century AD temple of Bel and other historical infrastructure will be restored. Archeologists are already looking for financial sources.
Somebody should place a call to the NDB in Shanghai.
Of course, the restoration of Syria as a whole is an enormous challenge. It could start by making it easy for Syrian companies and abolishing domestic taxes.
Russia and China can help by setting up a structure to buy Syrian products, with uniform quality control, and sell them in their markets, alleviating the bureaucratic burden on the shoulders of the average Syrian worker and trader. Russians could also exchange Syrian products for wheat and agricultural machinery.
Solutions are possible. Restoration is at hand. Global Majority solidarity, in Syria, should be able to soundly defeat the Empire of Chaos, Plunder and Lies.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.
A senior Iranian advisor comments on the US aggression on Deir Ezzor and reveals details about the US aggression.
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows a crater after an explosion hit a building, in Deir Ezzor, Syria, March 8, 2023 (AP)
The US occupation on Thursday waged aggression on civilian sites in Deir Ezzor from an occupied area in Al-Tanf, a senior Iranian advisor said Friday.
“The targets that were hit are food stores and service centers,” the advisor told the UNews news website. “This aggression left seven martyrs and injures seven other innocents who did nothing wrong except for serving the locals, their people, in the area.”
“We are fully aware that the US occupation is trying to cause injuries among our ranks under false pretexts that it has long used to justify its criminality,” he added. “Based on that, we underline that our mission, through our legitimate presence in Syria, has been to help the Syrian state to confront the terrorists and the takfiri project led by ISIS.”
“For years, the region has been under attack from the American occupation, in an attempt to impose an equation of force, and their pretext has always been that they are returning fire. In the end, it turned out that they are seeking to attack precision weapons and systems that Iran is transporting, which pose a threat to their protégé, Israel,” the top Iranian advisor said.
The Iranian defense official threatened that in light of the attack launched from the US-occupied Syrian region of Al-Tanf by the Americans, “we warn the US enemy that we have the upper hand, and we are able to respond in the event that our sites and forces are targeted on Syrian soil.”
The statements come after the US military said it carried out “precision airstrikes” in eastern Syria on Thursday in response to an alleged drone attack that killed one American and injured five US service personnel.
The US military controls parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Raqqa, Aleppo, and Deir Ezzor, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located. The Syrian government has repeatedly called the US military presence in the provinces an occupation aimed at plundering the country’s oil.
A Department of Defense statement claimed that the casualties fell “after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria.”
The US has for long employed the alleged “ISIS threat” as a pretext to continue its illegal occupation of northeastern Syrian territories, frequently looting oil and gas from Syrian fields and transporting them to other occupation bases in Iraq via illegal crossings.
The US shelling came after media reports said Friday that missile strikes targeted a US occupation base in the Al-Omar field, the largest oil field in Syria located in the governorate of Deir Ezzor in the country’s northeast.
Two occupation soldiers injured during the attack were treated on site, while three others were evacuated to the medical facility in Iraq along with a wounded contractor, The New York Times said.
It was reported earlier in the day that armed groups fired about a dozen rockets at a US base while attacking a second base in the area, but the strike led to no casualties.
Two military bases of the US occupation army in Syria came under heavy attack late on 24 March, leaving multiple casualties among the troops stationed at Al-Omar and Conoco oil fields in Deir Ezzor governorate.
BREAKING NEWS: US bases directly targeted by drones and missiles in oil rich northeast Syria.
According to local reports, flames rose from inside the occupation base at Al-Omar, Syria’s largest oil field.
No group has taken responsibility for the daring operation. According to the Pentagon, one attack was carried out with rockets, while the other “involved multiple Iranian drones.”
Friday night’s attack marked the third armed operation against US troops within 24 hours.
Late on 23 March, a drone strike hit the US occupation base at Kharab al-Jir military airport in Hasakah governorate, leaving at least one US contractor dead and several troops injured.
US jets bombed several locations in the city of Deir Ezzor in retaliation, targeting the Syrian army and Iranian advisors. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the F-15 jets were deployed from the Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
In response to the airstrikes, a rocket barrage hit the US base at Al-Omar just hours later.
Commenting on Friday’s airstrikes, US President Joe Biden said his country is “prepared for us to act forcefully to protect our people,” adding that the US will “continue to keep up our efforts to counter terrorist threats in the region.”
He also stressed that the US “does not, does not seek conflict with Iran.”
His comments come at a time when both Iran and Syria have welcomed overtures from Washington’s most valued Gulf ally, Saudi Arabia, under the auspices of Russia and China.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has played an instrumental role in helping the Syrian and Russian armies push back against ISIS and other extremist groups in Syria over recent years.
US military bases in Syria regularly come under attack by local resistance groups, as popular discontent has grown significantly over their ongoing theft of Syria’s natural resources.
Earlier this month, the US Congress voted against ending Washington’s illegal occupation of Syria.
US President Joe Biden says the US will “act forcefully” to ‘protect its personnel’ in Syria amid extensive attacks against US occupation bases in Northern Syria.
An Army carry team loads into a vehicle a transfer case containing the remains of Spc. Antonio I. Moore, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware after being killed in Deir Ezzor province, Syria. (AP)
After a senior Iranian advisor revealed how the US shelled Deir Ezzor, Syria, US President Joe Biden warned Iran, on Friday, that the US, to protect its occupation forces and interests in Syria, will “act forcefully”.
“Make no mistake: the United States does not … seek conflict with Iran, but be prepared for us to act forcefully to protect our people,” Biden said in a briefing while on a visit to Canada.
Moreover, Biden was asked whether Iran would face a more severe blow, to which Biden replied, “We’re not going to stop.”
It is worth noting that according to the Pentagon, as reported by Reuters, US F-15 jets, that flew out of al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, initially targeted facilities in Deir Ezzor pertaining to groups affiliated with the Iranian Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC). However, a senior Iranian advisor told the UNews news website that “the targets that were hit [by the US] are food stores and service centers,” adding that “this aggression resulted in seven martyrs and injured seven other innocents who did nothing wrong except for serving the locals, their people, in the area.”
“We are fully aware that the US occupation is trying to cause injuries among our ranks under false pretexts that it has long used to justify its criminality,” he added. “Based on that, we underline that our mission, through our legitimate presence in Syria, has been to help the Syrian state to confront the terrorists and the takfiri project led by ISIS.”
“For years, the region has been under attack from the American occupation, in an attempt to impose an equation of force, and their pretext has always been that they are returning fire. In the end, it turned out that they are seeking to attack precision weapons and systems that Iran is transporting, which pose a threat to their protégé, ‘Israel’,” the top Iranian advisor said.
Al Mayadeen’s Damascus Bureau chief reported that over 15 rockets targeted US occupation bases and facilities throughout the night. There is no conclusive report on the extent of the damages. However, at least five were wounded, three of whom were transferred to the US base in Iraq, and one contractor was pronounced dead.
One of the officials explained that the Avenger missile defense system on the base, RLZ, may have been experiencing some unexpected maintenance issues, although the fact that the troops were on high alert given the frequent attacks they are subjected to in light of their occupation of Syrian territory, the report said.
The US military currently has no knowledge as to why the system did not work as it should, and the circumstances are being investigated at present, the report said, citing two officials.
It was reported earlier in the day that about a dozen rockets were fired at a US base, with a second base in the area being targeted, but the strikes did not result in casualties.
The US military occupation controls parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Raqqa, Aleppo, and Deir Ezzor, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located. The Syrian government has repeatedly called the US military presence in the provinces an occupation aimed at plundering the country’s oil.
The US military said it carried out “precision airstrikes” in eastern Syria on Thursday in response to an alleged drone attack that killed one American and injured five US service personnel.
A Department of Defense statement claimed that the casualties fell “after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria.”
The US has for long employed the alleged “ISIS threat” as a pretext to continue its illegal occupation of Syrian territories, frequently looting oil and gas from Syrian fields and transporting them to other occupation bases in Iraq via illegal crossings.
يبدو أن هناك تنسيقاً روسيّاً – إيرانيّاً غير معلن للتصعيد ضدّ الوجود الأميركي في سوريا (أ ف ب)
الحسكة | لم يمضِ وقت قصير على إعلان الولايات المتحدة اختراق الطائرات الروسية – أكثر من 20 مرّة – الأجواء فوق «قاعدة التنف»، وتالياً انتهاك اتّفاق غير معلَن بين البلدَين في سوريا، حتى تعرّضت قاعدة «التحالف الدولي» في خراب الجير في ريف الحسكة الشمالي الشرقي، لاستهداف صاروخي، أَوقع خسائر بشرية في صفوف الأميركيين، للمرّة الأولى منذ بدء «المقاومة الشعبية» باستهداف القواعد الأميركية غير الشرعية في البلاد، في حزيران عام 2021. وفيما كانت الطائرات الروسية تواصل عمليّات الرصد والمراقبة في أجواء منطقة الـ55 كلم و«قاعدة التنف»، نجحت إحدى الطائرات المسيّرة التي يُرجّح أنها تابعة لفصائل سورية مدعومة من إيران، في استهداف «قاعدة ومطار خراب الجير» في ريف اليعربية، بعدد من الصواريخ، وهو ما خلّف خسائر بشرية ومادية فيها.
ويبدو ممّا تقدَّم، أن هناك تنسيقاً روسيّاً – إيرانيّاً غير معلن للتصعيد ضدّ الوجود الأميركي في سوريا، بهدف الضغط على الولايات المتحدة لإجبارها على اتّخاذ قرار بالانسحاب من القواعد التي تتواجد فيها شمال البلاد وشرقها. والظاهر أيضاً أن الجانب الروسي ركّز اهتمامه على مراقبة وتعقّب تحرّكات الأميركيين في التنف جنوب البلاد، فيما تولّى الجانب الإيراني مهامّ مراقبة واستهداف القواعد الأميركية في محافظتَي الحسكة ودير الزور، في الشمال الشرقي منها. وفي هذا الإطار، أفادت مصادر ميدانية، «الأخبار»، بأن «طائرة مسيّرة تابعة للمقاومة الشعبية السورية المدعومة من إيران، نجحت في اختراق نظام مراقبة خاص نشرتْه الولايات المتحدة في عموم قواعدها في سوريا، واستهدفت بعدّة صواريخ هنغاراً هو عبارة عن غرف منامة، ما أدّى إلى وقوع خسائر بشرية ومادية»، مشيرة إلى أن «الاستهداف وقع بعد ظهر الخميس، من دون تحديد الوجهة التي انطلقت منها الطائرة المسيّرة». ولفتت المصادر إلى أن «نجاح الطائرات المسيّرة في إسقاط قتلى في صفوف الأميركيين، يُعتبر تطوّراً نوعيّاً في عملها»، متوقعةً أن «تصعّد المقاومة من عمليّاتها حتى الوصول إلى هدفها الرئيس في الضغط على قوات الاحتلال الأميركي، لمغادرة المنطقة نهائيّاً».
وبعمليّتها هذه، تكون «المقاومة الشعبية» قد تمكّنت من خرْق نظام مراقبة عالي التقنية، يتضمّن رادارات وكاميرات حراريّة ونظام دفاع جوياً نصبته الولايات المتحدة في جميع قواعدها في سوريا. كما أن استهداف «مطار خراب الجير» خصوصاً، وإنْ لم يكن الأوّل من نوعه، يمثّل نجاحاً إضافيّاً للمقاومة، لكون المنطقة تقع تحت سيطرة «قسد»، منذ أكثر من 10 سنوات، فيما تبعد أقرب نقطة من أماكن وجود المقاومة المفترضة في دير الزور، عنه، أكثر من 200 كلم. ومن هنا، ثمّة ثلاثة احتمالات لنقطة انطلاق المسيّرة، وجميعها كارثيّة بالنسبة إلى الأميركيين: فإمّا أنها نجحت في قطْع أكثر من 200 كلم من مناطق سيطرة الجيش السوري في دير الزور متجاوزةً سلسلة من القواعد الأميركية في الدير والحسكة، أو أنها انطلقت من محيط القاعدة، أو أنها انطلقت من داخل الحدود العراقية الملاصقة للقاعدة، وهو احتمال يبدو ضعيفاً.
ساد التخبط صفوف القوات الأميركية الموجودة في «قاعدة التنف»
وأمام هذه السيناريوات، ساد التخبّط صفوف القوات الأميركية الموجودة في القاعدة، والتي نفّذت، بالتعاون مع «قسد»، سلسلة اعتقالات بحقّ مدنيين في القرى والتجمّعات السكنية المحيطة، بتهمة تسريب معلومات عن تحركات القوات الأميركية ومراكزها في المنطقة. كذلك، شهدت أجواء محافظتَي الحسكة ودير الزور، تحليقاً متواصلاً للطيران الأميركي الحربي والمسيّر، في موازاة استنفار داخل القواعد ونشر دوريات تابعة لـ«قسد» في محيط «العمر» و«كونيكو»، تخوّفاً من وقوع هجمات مشابهة لهجوم «خراب الجير». وبعد مرور 12 ساعة على الاستهداف، وتأكيد وقوع خسائر بشرية في صفوف الأميركيين، نفّذت طائرات حربيّة أميركية، غارات جويّة على عدّة مواقع لقوات محلية سورية مدعومة من إيران في مدينة دير الزور وبادية البوكمال. وأعلنت وزارة الدفاع الأميركية («البنتاغون»)، في بيان، «شَنّ غارات محدودة ودقيقة ضدّ جماعات مدعومة من إيران شرق سوريا، رداً على هجوم طائرة من دون طيار أسفر عن مقتل متعاقد أميركي وإصابة خمسة جنود». وأشار البيان إلى أن «أجهزة الاستخبارات حدَّدت أن المسيّرة من صنع إيراني»، مضيفاً أنه «تمّ تنفيذ الغارات الجوية، رداً على الهجوم الذي وقع الخميس، بالإضافة إلى سلسلة من الهجمات الأخرى ضدّ قوات التحالف الدولي من مجموعات تابعة لإيران».
من جهتها، أكدت مصادر ميدانية سورية في دير الزور، في تصريح إلى «الأخبار»، أن «طائرات تابعة للاحتلال الأميركي اعتدت بعدّة غارات على بناءين عسكريّين توجد فيهما قوات رديفة في منطقة هرابش، بالقرب من مطار دير الزور العسكري، ما أدّى إلى ارتقاء خمسة شهداء وأربعة جرحى»، مضيفاً أن «العدوان طاول أيضاً نقطة عسكرية لقوات رديفة في بادية القورية في ريف الميادين، ما أدّى إلى استشهاد عنصرَين وجرح خمسة أفراد من القوات الرديفة». وعادت «المقاومة الشعبية» للردّ على الاعتداءات الأميركية مجدّداً، باستهداف صاروخي لقاعدة حقل «العمر» النفطية، شمال شرقي دير الزور، بعد ظهر الجمعة، من دون معلومات عن حجم الخسائر، ووسط استمرار حالة التوتّر في عموم المنطقة.
في هذا الوقت، حذّر «المركز الاستشاري الإيراني»، في بيان، أمس، الأميركيين من استهداف مراكزه وقواته، قائلاً: «نملك اليد الطولى ولدينا القدرة على الردّ في حال تمّ استهداف مراكزنا وقواتنا على الأراضي السورية». كما أوضح أن العدوان استهدف «نقاطاً مدنية» هي عبارة عن «مخازن تغذية ومراكز خدمات»، لافتاً إلى سقوط «عدد من الشهداء والجرحى الأبرياء الذين لا ذنب لهم». كما أشار البيان إلى أن الاحتلال الأميركي يحاول، من خلال اعتدائه على المنطقة منذ سنوات، «فرْض معادلة، ولطالما كانت ذريعتهم أنهم يردّون على مصادر نيران»، مضيفاً أنه «تبيّن أنهم يسعون، بحسب ما يعتقدون ويُشيعون، إلى استهداف أسلحة دقيقة وتجهيزات حسّاسة تنقلها إيران، وتُشكّل خطراً على ربيبتهم إسرائيل». وفي أعقاب إطلاق التحذير الإيراني، تمّ استهداف القاعدة الأميركية في حقل العمر النفطي في ريف دير الزور الشرقي، بعدة قذائف صاروخية.
It’s getting harder to ignore. The persistent ISIS presence in the Syrian desert only serves US aims to continue its military occupation and support for Kurdish separatism.
In March 2019, former US President Donald Trump startled Washington’s war establishment by announcing that the mission of “eliminating terrorism” had been accomplished in Syria.
Seven months later, Trump solidified his claims by celebrating the assassination of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by a US special forces operation in rural Idlib, in the north of the country.
In reality, the US president had been angling to exit Syria for some time, and the absence of terrorism provided that excuse. Trump had promised his voter base to wind down expensive foreign military adventurism, and viewed the high cost of military deployment in Syria as disproportionate to the gains realized.
But while withdrawing US forces from various locations in Syria’s north and northeast, the American president was pressured to maintain a small number of troops in the oil-rich countryside of Hasakah and Deir Ezzor, and in the Al-Tanf base, an area crucial to Israel’s strategic interests as it is located on the border with of Iraq and Jordan, and on the hypothetical road that connects Tehran to Beirut.
Trump, known for his brazen proclamations, publicly stated that “oil interests” were the reason for keeping this small contingent of US troops in the embattled Levantine state. The wholesale exit of US forces would have paved the way for Syrian and Russian troops to take back control of the northeast, and for Moscow to move forward with its peace plan through the Astana Process with Iran and Turkiye.
The facade of ‘fighting terror’
With the arrival of Democratic President Joe Biden to the White House, Washington shifted its priorities and sought to maintain a protracted presence in Syria under the pretext of “fighting terrorism.” ISIS cells were magically reactivated in the Syrian desert, a development heavily circulated in US media through “intelligence sources.” This prompted accusations from Moscow that Washington is supporting terrorism from its Al-Tanf base, which Russian planes bombed last July.
Amidst escalating hostilities between the US and Russia over Ukraine, Syrian field sources have informed The Cradle of the existence of communication channels between the Al-Tanf base and ISIS cells that carry out scattered attacks in the Syrian Desert against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allied, Iran-backed factions.
The sources have also noted a marked shift in both ISIS tactics and the terror group’s access to advanced weapons and modern communication equipment that have been discovered in their hideouts. Given Iraq’s stringent measures on all border crossing with Syria – digging a trench along the border, building a separation fence, and installing surveillance cameras and checkpoints – it is unlikely that ISIS could obtain these resources without support from a powerful nation.
Kurdish forces employ the ISIS threat
During every Turkish threat to attack US-backed Kurdish forces in the country’s northern provinces, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) raises the specter of ISIS and its expansion, which is used to justify the continued Kurdish occupation of northern Syria to repel these attacks.
This pattern repeated itself during the 2016-2017 Turkish Euphrates Shield operation against ISIS and Kurdish targets, the 2018 Olive Branch operation when Turkish forces invaded Afrin in Aleppo’s countryside, and the 2019 Turkish offensive called the Peace Spring operation.
The trend continued last December, when Ankara threatened to attack Kurdish-held territories in Syria’s north. The SDF, which had halted operations against ISIS, quickly reversed its decision two days later.
In addition to playing the ISIS card to justify its relevance, the SDF – which is affiliated with the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) which Ankara considers an extension of the terrorist-designated Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) – has another lever it frequently employs.
The Kurdish group controls dozens of prisons that house thousands of ISIS leaders, fighters, and their families, the most notorious of which are Al-Hol camp near the Iraqi border, and Al-Sinaa prison in the Hasakah Governorate.
And the SDF, in coordination with US strategists, have employed this leverage to release ISIS members and their families from camps or to allow prison breaks at important junctures.
So why are ISIS attacks on the rise?
A clear correlation can be observed between the rise in ISIS attacks and US attempts to fortify its presence in Syria in order to ‘fight terror.’ After a period of relative decline during Trump’s presidency, the terrorist organization has regained strength, ironically, following Biden’s decision to expand operations against ISIS.
In early 2022, ISIS launched an attack on Al-Sinaa Prison, which holds prominent ISIS leaders and fighters. The operation came less than three weeks after several noteworthy developments: First, international coalition forces brought in large shipments of weapons, including Bradley vehicles and anti-tank weapons; Second, coalition forces returned to the Lafarge base on the strategic international M4 highway north of Aleppo; Third, western forces had just completed maintenance operations for the oil fields.
Notably, the attack also took place after US Caesar Act sanctions were lifted from areas controlled by the SDF and Turkiye.
US support for the SDF through exempting Kurdish areas from the Caesar Act demonstrates Washington’s goal of solidifying the Kurdish Autonomous Administration in SDF-controlled areas. This serves to ensure a continued US presence and foothold in resource-rich northeastern Syria in the event of a future withdrawal of troops – and ongoing obstruction of Russian peace efforts to stabilize the country.
Terrorism: a tool for US expansionism
As soon as Ankara voiced its willingness to reconcile with Damascus, the US began preparing for a new troop deployment to fortify its position in Syria, particularly since rapprochement – backed by Russia and Iran – hinges on several key agreements, the most prominent of which requires the exit of US forces from the country as a necessity for a political solution.
The new US military expansion – which is essentially a redeployment – returns troops to previous bases in former ISIS-stronghold Al-Raqqa Governorate all the way to the border with Turkiye, restructures and revitalizes the jihadist-aligned Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigade (Liwa Thuwwar al-Raqqa), and provides them with weapons and equipment to form an SDF-like force in this predominantly Arab province.
In December 2022, ISIS launched a series of attacks in Raqqa, which served as the necessary pretext for the US and SDF to launch a large-scale security operation in and around the governorate. The US military used the attacks as an opportunity to reposition its forces, bring in heavy machinery, and rehabilitate helicopter airstrips.
Similarly, US-led coalition forces and the SDF launched the Al-Jazeera Thunderbolt security campaign in and around Al-Hasakah early this year, which resulted in the arrest of 154 ISIS members – according to an SDF statement on 7 January. However, these figures were questioned by locals, who accused the SDF and coalition forces of arresting countless innocent civilians in the Tel Hamis area.
Local sources accuse the SDF of drawing up indiscriminate lists that include personal targets, which have led to accusations against innocent people, the arrest of US occupation opponents who have nothing to do with ISIS, and a desire to increase detainee numbers as part of “the show” that accompanies all US operations.
In light of these facts, Syrian military sources in the eastern desert anticipate an increase in ISIS attacks – particularly as Syrian-Turkish reconciliation talks progress and exert negative pressure on US ambitions in Syria’s north. The sources says that the connection between the US and ISIS, which is used opportunistically and strategically to achieve political goals, is no longer a secret and will only gather further steam in the months ahead.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.
الحسكة | تعرّضت قاعدة لـ«التحالف الدولي» في معمل غاز «كونيكو» شمال دير الزور، لأوّل استهداف صاروخي في العام الجديد على يد «المقاومة الشعبية»، وذلك بعد وقت قصير من الاعتداء الإسرائيلي الأخير على مطار دمشق الدولي، والذي أدّى إلى إخراجه عن الخدمة لعدّة ساعات. وينبئ هذا الاستهداف بأن «المقاومة» تنوي الحفاظ على قاعدة اشتباك رئيسة مع الأميركيين، باعتبارهم قوّة احتلال، وداعم استخباري رئيس للعدوّ على الساحة السورية، مفادها أن أيّ قصف إسرائيلي على منشآت الدولة السورية، سيقابله قصف على القواعد العسكرية الأميركية في شرق الفرات. ولم تكد تمرّ 48 ساعة على استهداف مطار دمشق، حتى جرى ضرْب ثاني أكبر قاعدة لـ«التحالف» في سوريا، يُعتقد أنها تضمّ أكثر من 150 جندياً أميركياً وفرنسياً وبريطانياً. وأقرَّ «التحالف»، في بيان، بتعرّض «مركز له في حقل كونيكو شمال شرقي سوريا للاستهداف بصاروخَين»، مضيفاً أن «القصف لم يؤدِّ إلى جرحى أو أضرار في القاعدة أو الممتلكات». ولفت البيان إلى أنه «بعد أن مسحت قوات سوريا الديموقراطية الموقع، تبيّن وجود صاروخ ثالث غير منفجر». من جهتها، أكّدت مصادر ميدانية، لـ«الأخبار»، أن «المنفّذين تعمّدوا استهداف القاعدة بأكثر من 5 صواريخ، للبعث بعدّة رسائل ميدانية مع مطلع العام الجديد، أهمّها أن وجود الاحتلال مرفوض، وعليه المغادرة». ورجّحت المصادر أن «تتواصل المقاومة الشعبية إلى حين تحقيق هدفها، بإخراج الاحتلال الأميركي من الأراضي السورية».
وفي الوقت الذي اختار فيه الإسرائيليون تأكيد استمرارهم في استراتيجية «المعركة بين الحروب» في سوريا، مع مطلع العام الجديد، واصل الأميركيون، من جهتهم، إدخال أسلحة ومعدّات لوجستية إلى قواعدهم غير الشرعية، بالتوازي مع تنفيذ تدريبات عسكرية في كلّ من التنف ودير الزور، في ما يؤشّر إلى عدم وجود أيّ نوايا لديهم لتغيير سياساتهم تجاه هذا البلد.
نظّمت قوات «التحالف» تمريناً على أسلحة مضادّة للطائرات
وتُظهر أنشطة «التحالف» عزمه على العودة إلى قاعدة سابقة في «الفرقة 17» في الرقة، بعد رصد آليات هندسية تعمل ضمنها تمهيداً لاعتمادها ربّما كمهبط للمروحيات الداعمة لعمليات «قسد» المُفترضة ضدّ تنظيم «داعش» في مدينة الرقة وأريافها. كما أظهر «التحالف» استجابة تصعيدية تجاه أيّ محاولة مساس بوجوده في سوريا، بعد مضيّ كلّ من أنقرة ودمشق في خطوات «تصالحية» برعاية روسية، أوّل ثوابتها اعتبار الوجود الأميركي على الأراضي السورية غير شرعي، وداعم لكيانات تهدّد وحدة أراضيها. ومن هنا، أعلن «التحالف»، في بيان أول من أمس، «تنفيذ تمرين الجاهزية العملياتية، باستخدام المدفعية الرشاشة المضادة للطائرات في شرق سوريا، للتحقّق من فاعلية المنظومة والاحتفاظ بالجاهزية لتنفيذ المهام الأساسية التي تساعد على تعزيز الأمن والاستقرار الإقليميين». ولأن الأميركيين دائماً ما يكرّرون لازمة أن وجودهم على الأراضي السورية غرضه محاربة «داعش»، الذي لا يمتلك أيّ وسائل قتال جوّي، فيبدو أن الاختبار الأخير لمضادات الطائرات، هو رسالة استباقية ضدّ أي تنسيق ميداني سوري ــــ تركي، يهدّد الوجود الأميركي في شمال سوريا وشرقها.
It is no news that the US frequently loots tankers of Syrian oil.
US looting Syrian oil
The Cradle reported on Tuesday, citing official Syrian sources, that the US smuggled a new shipment of Syrian oil from the Al-Hasakah Governorate on December 12.
According to the report, the convoy included 37 tanks carried by US military trucks and headed toward Iraq this morning via the illegal Al-Mahmudiyah border crossing in the far northeastern countryside of Syria.
Just a week ago, the US had looted 66 tankers of Syrian oil from the Jazira region and smuggled them into their occupation bases in Iraq.
The report states that the lootings are in part fueled by an interruption of oil trafficking operations caused by Turkey’s offensive on the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – which are mainly situated in oil-rich regions – in the north.
They may have increased since Turkey began its offensive, but as already known, the lootings have been ongoing for years.
A week ago, reports indicated that Turkish airstrikes targeting the SDF’s main sources of income included two US-occupied oil fields.
According to an investigation by The Cradle, convoys pass weekly back and forth through illegal crossings. These convoys are often found to be guarded by US warplanes or helicopters.
Shepherds in the area reportedly confirmed these claims as they witness the looting and smuggling of oil to Al-Harir military site in Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR); a region that is likewise reputed for being a recruitment hub for western spy agencies.
The investigation further reveals that the oil is used to support the activities of the Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), as reported by The Cradle.
The sprees also serve the US in maintaining a strong foothold in the region between Baghdad and Damascus, according to columnist Firas Al-Shoufi who conducted the investigation.
The #US has built quite a reputation with its thievery skills: After #Iraq and #Afghanistan, it's #Syria's turn to fall victim to US hegemony that feeds on the wealth of other countries. pic.twitter.com/Au1I01GhLF
On another note, the Lebanese news outlet Al-Ahed News revealed earlier today that the Syrian government is working to protect vast wheat fields in the Al-Jazira region from being plundered or damaged by US troops.
According to the report, the US occupation has been offering adulterated grains to farmers claiming they are of better quality.
But farmers were quick to realize that the seeds had severely damaged their soil as they were found to contain a “high percentage of infection with nematodes.”
The Syrian government sought to respond to this situation by launching a program that sells wheat and barley seeds at affordable prices.
In a tweet on December 12, the USAID agency blamed the climate for the damage, in an attempt to downplay the US occupation role in damaging Syria’s soil.
Last year, drought, conflict, and low-quality seeds led to a below-average wheat harvest in northeast Syria, creating a seed shortage for the past planting season and concerns about future harvests and food supplies. 🧺 pic.twitter.com/mv9CGBZ329
Besides being an occupation that backs armed groups for its own operations and agenda in the region, the US occupation forces continue to steal Syrian oil by smuggling it from their bases in Syria to their bases in Iraq.
Convoys of tens of vehicles, including tankers loaded with stolen oil from oil fields occupied by US forces in Syria, are frequently seen crossing toward northern Iraq, in addition to trucks loaded with military equipment.
The US interference in the crisis-stricken Middle Eastern country continues to be exposed, from occupation to military agenda and the theft of oil.
Plundering Syria’s oil resources & depriving Syrians of resources
It is noteworthy that Syrian state media has accused over and over again the US and the so-called “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF) armed groups of occupying areas in the vicinity of oil-rich fields, smuggling resources to Iraq, and then siphoning them out.
The United States has been for years supporting SDF militias against Damascus, and the US-backed forces are currently occupying parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Deir Ezzor, and Raqqa, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located.
The actions carried out by the United States constitute state piracy with the aim of plundering Syria’s oil resources and depriving the Syrians of their own resources amid a harsh economic situation caused largely by the occupiers, the Americans themselves.
Russian military police accompany SAA troops into Deraa al-Balad. (Photo credit: @syrseal44)
Moscow has been mediating talks between Damascus and the Kurdish groups present on the border with Turkiye
ByNews Desk-
On 30 November, Russia reportedly sent reinforcements to the Tal Rifaat region, about 15 kilometers from the Turkish border. The region is under the control of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Moscow’s move is a response to a looming Turkish ground invasion, which seems more likely after Turkiye sent reinforcements to the Syrian border and advised the Syrian National Army (SNA) to prepare for an attack.
According to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Russian forces have increased their presence in Kurdish-controlled areas since Turkiye launched a series of airstrikes on targets in northern Syria and Iraq in response to a bomb attack in Istanbul.
Residents from Tal Rifaat reported that Russian reinforcements have arrived and set up new barricades between Kurdish and pro-Turkish areas in the region. According to Al-Arabiya news, Tal Rifaat, which is controlled by Kurdish forces, is surrounded on one side by the Syrian army, and on the other by Turkish-backed opposition forces.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also stated that Russian forces had consolidated their presence at the Menagh military airport close to Tal Rifaat, controlled by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
SOHR also noted that the Russians are reinforcing their forces near Kobani. “The purpose of these reinforcements may be to hinder or delay the Turkish military operation,” SOHR security official Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Anonymous Turkish sources also revealed to Al-Quds Al-Arabi on 30 November that serious talks mediated by Russia are taking place to ensure the withdrawal of the Kurdish units and the deployment of the Syrian Arab Army on the border with Turkey, in an effort to prevent the Turkish ground offensive.
Russian military officials have reportedly been meeting with senior SDF commanders on a regular basis over the past few days.
A Russian military base was reportedly struck on 23 November in the latest wave of Turkish air strikes in northeast Syria, according to a Kurdish official.
The air strike, which targeted a base in the Hasakah province, reportedly killed one Kurdish fighter belonging to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and wounded three others, said SDF chief Farhad Chami.
The Turkish military struck nearly 500 Kurdish targets in Iraq and Syria since it began a series of airstrikes as part of Operation Claw-Sword, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in a press conference, according to The New Arab.
On the other hand, on 22 November, the White House National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, John Kirby, endorsed Turkey’s attacks on northern Syria, saying the country has a right to defend itself.
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Turkey bombed several sites in northern Syria in the early hours of today, Sunday, November 20, 2022, killing 11 Syrian soldiers and injuring 4 others, local sources confirmed.
The Syrian news agency SANA conveyed a military source statement confirming the Turkish aggression and the killing of Syrian soldiers without specifying the number of martyrs or wounded:
“A number of soldiers were martyred as a result of the Turkish attacks on the Syrian lands in the northern countryside of Aleppo and the countryside of Hasakah at dawn this day.”
A reporter for SANA said that Turkish fighter jets bombed several sites in the southwest of Darbassiya, in the outskirts of Al Malikiyah, and in the village of Tal Harmal to the north of Abu Rasin, all of these sites are in Hasakah countryside.
Other sources added Ain Digna, Meng Airport, Ayn Al Arab, Khafaya Al-Salem silos, Tal Rifat, and Mara’naz to the sites targeted by the Turkish bombing.
Wide destruction of houses and farmlands resulted from Turkish aggression.
The regime of the Turkish madman Erdogan claimed this aggression by NATO’s second-largest army is to avenge the Istanbul ‘terrorist’ attack earlier this month, the attack that most observers and analysts doubted the Turkish official narrative about and alleged it’s more of a false flag similar to the Zelensky’s forces S300 missile that targeted Poland.
NATO-sponsored Kurdish SDF separatist terrorists also denied their involvement in the Istanbul explosion, they would otherwise celebrate their operations.
NATO and its members, especially Turkey have a long history of false flags in Syria to justify their aggression and the war crimes they commit on daily bases against the Syrian people, the head of the Turkish ‘intelligence’ plotted an attack against Turkish soldiers to justify Turkish army aggression against the Syrian forces a couple of years ago, his conversation was leaked and the plot was exposed, he was rewarded by Erdogan for his services.
The Turkish aggression against the Syrian army posts in Hasaskah comes a day after Israel bombed Syrian army posts killing 4 soldiers and injuring a fifth, the Israeli and Turkish aggressions come after the Syrian army cleared the last stronghold of ISIS in southern Daraa city a day preceding the Israeli aggression.
Syria News is a collaborative effort by two authors only, we end up most of the months paying from our pockets to maintain the site’s presence online, if you like our work and want us to remain online you can help by chipping in a couple of Euros/ Dollars or any other currency so we can meet our site’s costs.You can also donate with Cryptocurrencies through our donate page. Thank you in advance.
Local media report on a rocket attack targeting a US occupation military base in Al-Hasakah Governorate, near the Syria-Iraq border, on Sunday morning.
The US military base in Al-Shaddadi
The US occupation base in Al-Shaddadi, in the Syrian eastern province of Al-Hasakah, was targeted by rockets.
Local media reported on Sunday morning that a rocket attack targeted the US occupation facility in Al-Hasakah governorate, near the Syria-Iraq border.
No further details were revealed on the attack.
Several explosions were heard from the American occupation base in Deir Ezzor Province about two weeks ago. Some speculated that the explosions were caused by three rockets hitting the base.
The US occupation bases in Syria come under rocket and drone attacks frequently.
Earlier in July,violent explosions rocked a US occupation Army base in Al-Jebsa oil fields in eastern Syria, Sputnik reported Wednesday.
The Russian agency quoted informed sources as saying that they heard strong explosions in the northern and western countryside of the oil city of Al-Shaddadi, which includes the largest US base in Al-Hasakah Governorate.
Sputnik pointed out that the explosions coincided with an intense overflight of warplanes and helicopters of the so-called “International Coalition” that took off from its base in Al-Shaddadi and fired flares, as information reported that the base was being targeted with missiles.
Sources revealed to Al Mayadeen that the missiles that targeted the US base in Al-Jabsa were launched from Tal Al-Shayer near the Iraqi border, an SDF-controlled region.
One of the missiles fell 200 meters from an aircraft runway within the base, and two close to the residential area, according to the sources.
What is the US doing in Syria?
Besides being an occupation that backs armed groups for its own operations and agenda in the region, the US occupation forces continue to steal Syrian oil by smuggling it from their bases in Syria to their bases in Iraq.
Convoys of tens of vehicles, including tankers loaded with stolen oil from oil fields occupied by US forces in Syria, are frequently seen crossing toward northern Iraq, in addition to trucks loaded with military equipment.
The US interference in the crisis-stricken Middle Eastern country continues to be exposed, from occupation to military agenda and the theft of oil.
US forces smuggle dozens of oil tankers out of Syria
In one of the latest acts of a series of US forces looting Syrian oil, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on September 9 that a US convoy loaded with looted Syrian oil left from the illegitimate Al-Mahmoudiyah crossing and entered Iraqi territory.
According to the Syrian agency, “a convoy of the US occupation forces, consisting of 88 tankers loaded with stolen Syrian oil, left from the illegitimate Al-Mahmoudiyah crossing and entered Iraqi territory.”
The local sources mentioned that the US convoy exited the Syrian territories toward the bases of the US occupation in northern Iraq.
It is noteworthy that US forces control about 90% of Syria’s oil-producing territory, depriving the government of its most significant source of fuel and income.
Some local reports reveal that US forces smuggle not only oil out of the country but also indispensable food supplies.
In August, the Syrian Oil Ministry revealed that the US occupation forces loot the majority of Syria’s oil, knowing that the daily production of the eastern oil fields is 80.3 thousand barrels.
The United States has been for years supporting the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militias, and the US-backed forces are currently occupying parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Deir Ezzor, and Raqqa, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located.
The actions carried out by the United States constitute state piracy with the aim of plundering Syria’s oil resources and depriving the Syrians of their own resources amid a harsh economic situation caused largely by the US occupiers.
The US occupation forces in Syria announce that they carried out precision airstrikes on facilities linked to the IRGC in Deir Ezzor, Syria.
Boys look out the window of a building damaged by an Israeli occupation air strike near Damascus airport, in Damascus, Syria, November 20, 2019 (Reuters)
The US occupation forces in Syria said early Wednesday they carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria on areas used by groups linked to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).
The strikes “took proportionate, deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize the risk of casualties,” the US military’s Central Command said.
CENTCOM did not identify the targets nor offer any figures killed in the strikes that the military said came at the orders of US President Joe Biden.
“Today’s strikes were necessary to protect and defend US personnel,” CENTCOM spokesperson Colonel Joe Buccino claimed in a statement.
Buccino underlined that the offensive was in response to an attack that took place on August 15, which was allegedly launched by “Iran-backed groups” in Syria against a US occupation forces post in Al-Tanf region. CENTCOM claimed that the attack did not result in any casualties or damages.
“These precision strikes are intended to defend and protect US forces from attacks like the ones on August 15 against US personnel by Iran-backed groups,” the statement read.
“The US strikes targeted infrastructure facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s [IRGC],” it added.
Iranian media announced Tuesday the martyrdom of IRGC officer Abolfazl Alijani during an advisory mission in Syria.
According to Iranian media, martyr Alijani, a graduate of the Imam Hussain Military College of the IRGC, is one of the combat engineering cadres of the ‘Amir Al-Mu’minin’ college for Military Sciences of the Revolution Guards Ground Force.
Deir Ezzor is a highly important region for the US occupation forces, as it lies on the borders with Iraq and contains vast oil fields.
The Syrian Oil Ministry revealed earlier this month that the US occupation forces loot the majority of Syria’s oil, knowing that the daily production of the eastern oil fields is 80.3 thousand barrels.
It is noteworthy that Syrian state media has accused over and over again the US and the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) armed groups of occupying areas in the vicinity of oil-rich fields, smuggling resources to Iraq, and then siphoning them out.
The United States has been for years supporting SDF militias against Damascus, and the US-backed forces are currently occupying parts of the provinces of Al-Haskah, Deir Ezzor, and Raqqa, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located.
The actions carried out by the United States constitute state piracy with the aim of plundering Syria’s oil resources and depriving the Syrians of their own resources amid a harsh economic situation caused largely by the occupiers, the Americans themselves.
Press conference of the foreign ministers of Syria and Russia
تشهد مناطق الشريط الحدودي بين سوريا وتركيا، تحرّك تعزيزات إضافية للجيش السوري في اتّجاه المناطق المهدَّدة بالعملية العسكرية التركية. ويأتي ذلك في وقت تبعث فيه «قسد» بمزيد من الإشارات إلى استعدادها لتعميق حالة التنسيق مع دمشق، توازياً مع رفضها، العلني والصريح، للمبادرات الأميركية المطروحة في شأن مناطق الشمال، والذي دفع بواشنطن إلى إيصال رسائل تحذير وتهديد إلى «الإدارة الذاتية»، في حال مضيّها في التفاهم مع السوريين والروس والإيرانيين
الحسكة | في وقت يسود لديها تقدير بأن مصير العملية العسكرية التركية في الشمال السوري سيتقرّر في القمّة الثُّلاثية المنتظَرة في طهران بين رؤساء روسيا وإيران وتركيا، بدأت «قسد» رسم معالم تحالفات ميدانية جديدة بعيداً عن الأميركيين، توازياً مع رفضها، بشكل غير مباشر، مبادرة عضو مجلس الشيوخ الأميركي، ليندسي أغراهام، بخصوص المناطق المهدَّدة بالهجوم التركي. وكان الأخير اقترح انسحاباً كاملاً لـ«قسد» من مدن الشريط الحدودي، وتأسيس منطقة عازلة بعمق 5 كم، مع منح امتيازات اقتصادية لتركيا في تلك المنطقة. وتلت زيارةَ أغراهام إلى الشمال السوري، زياراتٌ أميركية عسكرية لمناطق سيطرة «قسد» في عين العرب ومنبج، حيث طُرحت فكرة عودة جزء من القواعد الأميركية إلى هذه المناطق، مع بثّ شائعات عن عودة القاعدة الأميركية إلى مقرّ «الفرقة 17» في مدينة الرقة، وهو ما نفته مصادر أهلية وعسكرية متقاطعة من داخل المدينة لـ«الأخبار». وفُهم ذلك التحرّك الأميركي على أنه محاولة لإعاقة أيّ تقارب بين «قسد» ودمشق، ولا سيما بعد توصُّل الطرفَين إلى اتفاق على نشر قوات إضافية من الجيش السوري والقوات الرديفة على خطوط التماس مع الجيش التركي، وهو ما اعتبرته واشنطن تهديداً لتحالفها مع «الإدارة الذاتية»، ومحاولة لسحب الورقة الكردية منها، خصوصاً مع تهديد «قسد» بوقف العمليات الأمنية ضدّ «داعش»، ورفع يدها عن السجون والمخيمات في حال وقوع الهجوم التركي. وعبّرت عن تلك الخشية، صراحةً، مساعِدة وزير الدفاع الأميركي، دانا سترول، بقولها إن «أيّ عملية عسكرية تركية شمال سوريا، قد تؤدي إلى دفع قسد إلى أحضان خصومنا، روسيا وإيران وسوريا، إذا تعرّضت لهذا النوع من الضغط».
ومع تسارع الأحداث في الشمال السوري، سرّبت مواقع كردية أنباءً عن تلقّي «قسد» توصية مباشرة من الأميركيين بضرورة الابتعاد عن التنسيق العسكري مع الجيش السوري والإيرانيين، مع التهديد باتّخاذ إجراءات ضدّها. ونقلت وسائل إعلام كردية عن ممثّل «المجلس الوطني الكردي» في كردستان العراق، كاوا أزيزي، قوله إن «التحذير الأميركي لقسد جاء على خلفية التقارب الكبير بينها وبين الحكومة السورية والذي ترعاه روسيا». وأمام هذه التطوّرات، اختارت قيادة «قسد» إشهار موقفها من الحراك الأميركي، من خلال مؤتمر صحافي عُقد في مدينة الحسكة، أكد خلاله القائد العام، مظلوم عبدي، أن «قسد لن تنسحب من أيّ منطقة، بل سنقاوم أيّ عدوان سيُشنّ على مناطقنا»، لافتاً إلى أنه «لم يَعُد لدينا مكان ننسحب إليه، بعد تطبيق قواتنا لاتفاق سوتشي 2019، والانسحاب لمسافة 30 كم عن الحدود». واللافت أن عبدي وجّه انتقادات صريحة إلى واشنطن، مقابل الإشادة بالدور الروسي، وإبداء الاستعداد للتعاون مع موسكو والجيش السوري، في موقف إمّا أن يكون حاسماً، أو محاولة لاستفزاز الأميركيين ودفْعهم نحو اتّخاذ مزيد من الإجراءات لثنْي تركيا عن تنفيذ تهديداتها. وفي هذا السياق، اعتبر عبدي أنه «على الرغم من الموقف العلني للتحالف الدولي والأميركيين بمعارضة أيّ عدوان تركي على مناطقنا، إلّا أن هذه المواقف ضعيفة وغير كافية لردع الهجوم»، مشيراً في المقابل إلى «وجود جهود روسية لوقْف التهديدات التركية»، مضيفاً «(أننا) نقدّر الجهود الروسية التي كانت إحدى نتائجها نشر قوات الحكومة السورية في مناطق حدودية في منبج وعين العرب للدفاع عن السيادة السورية»، مشيداً أيضاً بدور الجيش السوري الذي قال إنه «سيكون أوّل مَن سيواجه الجيش التركي وفصائله».
دفَع الجيش السوري بتعزيزات عسكرية إضافية إلى الشريط الحدودي
وجاءت تصريحات عبدي في وقت دفَع فيه الجيش السوري بالفعل بتعزيزات عسكرية إضافية إلى الشريط الحدودي، بعد عدّة أيام من نشر كتيبتَي مدرّعات على امتداد المنطقة الممتدّة بين عين العرب في ريف حلب، وصولاً إلى عين عيسى وأطراف تل أبيض في ريف الرقة الشمالي. ولا يُعدّ هذا الانتشار الجديد بمستوى فرْض السيادة الكاملة، خاصة مع تجديد «قسد» رفضها الانسحاب، وتأكيدها استمرار عمل «الإدارة الذاتية»، وغياب أيّ مؤشّرات إلى استعدادها لتسليم المناطق المُهدَّدة بالهجوم إدارياً وعسكرياً للحكومة السورية. وفي هذا الإطار، تقول مصادر ميدانية مطّلعة، لـ«الأخبار»، إن «الانتشار الجديد للجيش السوري هو من ضمن مهامه الوطنية في الدفاع عن السيادة السورية، ويأتي استكمالاً لاتفاق تمّ توقيعه بين قسد والجيش السوري برعاية روسية في عام 2019»، مشيرة إلى «وجود تفاهمات على توسيع تواجد الجيش على خطوط التماس، مع نشر أسلحة ومعدّات ثقيلة». وفي ظلّ عدم شمول الانتشار الجديد مركزَي مدينتَي عين العرب ومنبج، تدعو المصادر «قسد إلى الإعلان عن فكّ ارتباطها رسمياً بالأميركيين، والمُضيّ بالتعاون مع الجيش السوري والروس، وتسليم مدن الشريط الحدودي، بما ينزع الذرائع التركية لشنّ عدوان جديد»، معتبرةً أن ذلك، في حال حصوله، «سيؤسّس لاتفاق شامل بين قسد والجيش السوري، سيكون بداية لتحوّل داخلي مهمّ في مسار الأزمة السورية».
Syrians in a village in the northeastern province of Hasakah with the help of the Syrian Arab Army unit deployed in the area confronted a US army column of armored vehicles and forced them to change retreat, and villagers further to the northeast within the Hasakah province clashed with the US-sponsored Kurdish SDF separate terrorists who raided their villages.
The following report by the Syrian Ikhbariya news channel (banned from broadcasting in the free world) details the above-mentioned confrontations:
Syrians Confronting US Occupation Army and its Kurdish SDF Proxies in Hasakah
Local sources reported that a convoy of the American occupation, consisting of five vehicles, tried to cross from the village of Al-Mujaibara towards one of its bases in the Hasakah countryside, the people, with the support of the Syrian Arab Army, confronted the convoy and expelled it from the area.
In the Rmelan area in the countryside of Qamishli, popular demonstrations took place to condemn the violations of the Kurdish SDF militia, during which the demonstrators raised banners denouncing its repressive practices and restrictions on citizens.
Local sources said that the protests took place in the villages of Yusufiya and Al-Junaidiah, belonging to the Rmelan area in the northeastern countryside of Qamishli, against the SDF-backed militia, which is backed by the American occupation forces, demanding the expulsion of its militants from the area and an end to its practices, confiscation of the people’s livelihood and property, theft and smuggling of oil, and an end to kidnapping young men to force them to fight in its ranks.
The sources stated that the protesters blocked the main roads with burning tires and stones and chanted slogans condemning the SDF militia, which brought reinforcements to the area in order to suppress and disperse the demonstrators.
End of the transcript
The US regime maintains an illegal presence in Syria, carries out illegal and terrorist operations against the people, steals Syrian oil and wheat, and supports terrorist groups in their war crimes against the Syrian people.
Western mainstream media falsely report the military and terrorist operations of the US army and its sponsored proxy groups as combating terrorism when those are the real terrorists the Syrian people are fighting, the western mainstream media in its fake reporting are accomplices to war crimes, and those parroting the lies of the western officials and their media, or simply not countering them, are willingly, knowingly or ignorantly participating in the killing, maiming, oppressing the Syrian people.
Syria News is a collaborative effort by two authors only, we end up most of the months paying from our pockets to maintain the site’s presence online, if you like our work and want us to remain online you can help by chipping in a couple of Euros/ Dollars or any other currency so we can meet our site’s costs.
You can also donate with Cryptocurrencies through our donate page. Thank you in advance.
Biden criminal forces in Syria continue looting Syria’s oil reserves launched by Trump. This supremacist theft is part of the neo Sykes-Picot plot to ethnically cleanse Syria of its indigenous population, by depriving the citizenry of its essential raw materials.The latest mass theft was stolen from the al Jazirah region of Hasakah governate, which happens to be in Syria, which is not part of the United States.
Biden regime, like the Trump regime, can not read a map.
Syria News reminds its readers — particularly the minority of western colonialists who are so engrained with their entitlements as to almost be functioning at the level of deformed genetics — that when Trump stood outside the White House to announce how much he loves stealing from another people’s country, even those suffering Trump Derangement Syndrome were stricken deaf, dumb, and blind to this savage war crime.
On Thursday 16 June, the ‘Brandon’ regime military illegals in the Levantine Republic, exited the country with forty-two vehicles, most of which were tankers laden with stolen Syrian oil.
To further flaunt exceptional American right to invade, occupy, and steal, the Biden regime forces exited Syria via the illegal al Walid crossing into Iraq, another country that the US continues to criminally occupy, despite the Iraqi Parliament having convened to vote, and then subsequently voting for our supremacist yanquis to leave, more than two years ago (the vote was met by threats of illicit sanctions, by Trump, and the ongoing, squatting by the Biden forces).
Biden regime criminals continue to loot Syria’s oil, transporting the booty into Iraq, via illegal al Walid crossing,
The supremacist Biden regime forces will continue to loot Syria’s wealth, as the UN will continue to ignore it, and colonialist media will continue to normalize it as part of the new, undeclared Sykes-Picot balkanization and ethnic cleansing until Syria finds a way to destroy all terrorists occupying the homeland.
Syria News is a collaborative effort by two authors only, we end up most of the months paying from our pockets to maintain the site’s presence online, if you like our work and want us to remain online you can help by chipping in a couple of Euros/ Dollars or any other currency so we can meet our site’s costs on time; you can also donate with Cryptocurrencies through our donate page. Thank you in advance.
Steven Sahiounie Hundreds of Syrians took to the streets in the city of Afrin on June 3 to protest against routine blackouts and a sharp hike in the prices of electricity provided by Turkey. The electricity is available a mere 10 hours per day, while the summer temperatures are 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in recent days.
Afrin, in the Aleppo province, has been under Turkish military occupation since 2018, after President Trump gave Turkish President Erdogan the green light to invade Syria.
The protesters stormed the main building of the local electricity company, “Turkish-Syrian Energy” or STE Enerji company, and set it on fire before Turkish-backed mercenaries opened fire on them. The protesters also set fire to Afrin’s local council building.
The areas occupied by the Turkish military also have Syrian mercenaries in the employ of the Turkish government. The mercenaries are from the now defunct ‘Free Syrian Army’ which was organized by President Obama and supported by US Senator John McCain. The mercenaries follow a political ideology called Radical Islam, which is the same ideology as Al Qaeda, ISIS, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Erdogan and his ruling party, AKP, are followers of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Local reports say at least one protester was killed and two others were injured. As the protests grew in size, demonstrators were seen chanting “Turks go out of Syria” and “Syria is free.”
Similar protests were reported in the cities of Jindires, Suran Marea, and Al-Bab, also in the Aleppo governorate. In Marea, protesters set the local headquarters of the Turkish-backed Local Council on fire.
Shortly after these protests swept through Aleppo, Turkish forces shelled a high voltage power line that supplies power to Tal Tamr and other villages in the countryside of Hasakah governorate, leaving the area in a black-out.
Afrin was occupied by Turkey and its mercenaries during the military offensive against the Kurdish fighters in 2018, causing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Since the invasion, the residents have suffered through violations of human rights, lack of basic services, and constant insecurity.
Similar protests were reported in other Syrian cities under Turkish occupation such as Azaz on Friday. Discontent has been brewing against the Turkish occupation, as mercenaries allied with Turkish forces have been accused of embezzling millions in humanitarian aid and of using the global fuel and wheat crisis to hike the price of daily necessities.
Turkey proposed attack
The demonstrations come as Erdogan has renewed his threats to carry out a fresh military offensive against Kurdish fighters in Syria. Recently he announced that his troops will proceed with the planned military invasion of Syria, starting with the cities of Tal Rifaat and Manbij.
The operation will resume efforts to establish a 30-kilometer long ‘safe zone’ along Turkey’s southern borders to curb threats from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which Ankara labels as terrorist organizations.
Turkey says US-backed SDF forces pose a threat to its borders, and in response, Turkish troops have occupied large swathes of northern Syria.
In northeastern Syria, US and Russian forces mobilized intending to stop Turkey from carrying out a new attack against SDF. While US forces moved on the ground, Russian warplanes scrambled in the air.
Fighters of the Syrian opposition factions loyal to Turkey
Residents of Manbij, in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, have documented the outcome of the attacks, warning that the Turkish operation will lead to the displacement of the indigenous population and the city’s religious, sectarian, and ethnic components.
Turkey informed the United States it is committed to taking necessary measures against “terrorist organizations” threatening its national security, and that it will not tolerate the escalation of attacks against Turkish territory from the areas controlled by the US-backed SDF in northern Syria.
Ankara reports that the risk of terrorist attacks from SDF-run areas in Syria against Turkey has increased recently, and emphasized that the PKK-affiliated terrorist organizations are an existential threat not only to Syria’s territorial integrity but also to Turkey’s national security.
Ankara considers the SDF, and its military backbone, the YPG, a terrorist organization and an extension of the PKK, which is classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey and the US, and the EU.
The US position
US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, visited the border between Turkey and Syria to assess a long-running UN operation delivering humanitarian aid into northwest Syria, near Hatay, Turkey on June 2, 2022.
UN trucks delivering food and aid into Syria from Turkey were observed and reported by Serena Shim, an American journalist. She saw they contained armed terrorists and weapons being delivered into northern Syria. Not long after her reporting, she was mysteriously killed in a car accident, after a cement truck hit her small car in Turkey. The accident and the driver were never investigated, even though he fled the scene.
In 2017 President Trump shut down the CIA operations which funded, trained, and supported Radical Islamic terrorists in Turkey to fight in Syria for regime change.
Turkey informed the United States it is committed to taking necessary measures against “terrorist organizations” threatening its national security, and that it will not tolerate the escalation of attacks against Turkish territory from the areas controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria.
The US occupies areas in Syria, and the US military was tasked by Trump with stealing the oil produced in the largest oil field in Syria and allowing the US-backed SDF to sell the oil to fund their operation.
The Russian position
The Russian military was invited into Syria by the government in 2015. Russia has fought against ISIS, Al Qaeda, and all affiliated terrorist groups which follow Radical Islam. The Muslim Brotherhood is outlawed in Russia, Syria, Egypt, and the UAE. US Senator Ted Cruz has tried to pass legislation in the US Congress to designate the Muslim Brotherhood in the US as a terrorist group but came up against heavy opposition from both Democrats and Republicans who are influenced by the group.
Recently, the Russian army reinforced its ground and air forces at the airport of Qamishli, in Hasakah province.
The Turkish military and Radical Islamic mercenaries
Turkey concluded two separate deals with both the United States and Russia during its Operation Peace Spring, which it launched in northern Syria on October 9, 2019.
According to the agreements, Russia and the US pledged to withdraw YPG units to a depth of 30 km to the south of the Turkish border, but Ankara says they did not fulfill their promises.
Washington says that Turkey did not abide by the understanding signed between them. Russia had a signed agreement with Turkey to secure the M4 highway from Latakia to Aleppo, by removing all Al Qaeda groups from Idlib. However, Turkey has protected and reinforced the terrorist groups in Idlib, which is the last terrorist-occupied area in Syria. Turkey established a network of military outposts which protect the Al Qaeda affiliated groups who occupy Idlib. The highway remains closed to trucks and passengers for fear of attack.
SDF, YPG, PKK
During the chaos of the US-NATO attack on Syria, which began in 2011, some Kurds in Syria formed military units and got the backing of the US government, while advancing a separatist agenda in the region. The SDF and YPG were partners with the US troops who invaded Syria to fight ISIS. This US support of a terrorist group that has killed 40,000 people in Turkey over decades has driven a very big wedge between Ankara and Washington, DC.
Turkey’s proposed safe zone
Under Erdogan’s plan, he will rid the north of Syria of the terrorist group who plans to establish their own ‘homeland’ there, and he will convert the area into a safe zone to settle Syrian refugees now living in Turkey. The Turkish people have decided the refugees must go home, and they blame all their economic woes on the Syrian refugees.
Pro-Turkey revolutionary
Zahran Alloush had been the leader of a Radical Islamic terrorist group, Islamic Army, backed by Saudi Arabia in East Ghouta, the suburbs of Damascus, along with his brother, Mohamed Alloush, who now lives in Turkey and owns a chain of restaurants there.
In 2016 he was an official with the Syrian National Coalition, which the US government recognizes as the only legitimate representative of the Syrian people. His position was the chief negotiator representing the US position in the Geneva talks to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict. In 2017 he was chosen as the speaker of the delegation for the revolutionary movements at the Astana peace process talks for peace in Syria.
After he resigned, he was accused of stealing $ 47 million, which he embezzled from funds supplied to the terrorists in Syria to fight the US-sponsored regime change.
Recently, he bought a company in Turkey that mines chrome, Al Ghuraba, (The Strangers).
US occupation forces have reportedly continued looting Syrian oil from the northern Al-Jazeera region of Syria’s Hasakah governate, as a US-military convoy of around 70 oil tankers made their way towards Iraq through the illegal Al-Waleed border crossing on 14 May.
According to local sources in the Al-Yarubiyah countryside, the convoy was accompanied by an additional 15 trucks carrying military equipment bound for Iraq, as well as six armored vehicles.
This comes just one day after 46 US vehicles were reportedly transferred out of Syria through the same border crossing.
US troops and their proxy in northern Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), are in control of most of the oil fields in Hasakah and Deir Ezzor and have been regularly smuggling Syrian oil out of the country to sell it abroad.
Dozens of similar US convoys have been reported over the last year and a half. On 18 December 2021, nearly one hundred oil tankers were smuggled into northern Iraq through the same illegal crossing.
In August 2020, a US company, Delta Crescent Energy, signed a deal with the armed groups to develop oil wells and a refinery in areas under the US occupation.
Damascus reacted angrily to this move and accused the US of engaging in “state piracy.”
On 10 January, Syrian media reported that the US occupation and one of its various armed groups, set up a refinery to process stolen oil in the town of Rmelan in Hasakah governorate.
According to the report, the installed oil facility has a capacity to refine 3,000 barrels of oil per day. The refinery was set up in order to increase the looting of Syrian oil by the US occupation.
The US occupation has smuggled tens of thousands of barrels of Syrian oil into Iraq.
UPROOTED PALESTINIANS: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM 