Moscow accuses Washington of "banditry" .. US military reinforcements to protect oil in eastern Syria

The United States has begun sending military reinforcements to the oil-rich east of Syria, a Pentagon official said, and a US military convoy was seen heading south of the Syrian city of Qamishli to Deir Ezzor, where most of Syria's oil fields are located.

The Russian Defense Ministry has described the US control of the oil fields in eastern Syria as conduct of bandits and the practice of "banditry" on a global level.

Washington has begun strengthening its positions in Deir Ezzor province, where Syria's main oil fields are located, in coordination with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

The military official said the deployment was aimed at preventing ISIS and other actors from reaching oil fields in the area previously controlled by ISIS, without giving further details.

An American convoy of about 13 military vehicles entered Syria from Iraq and went to the neighboring province of al-Hasakah on Saturday, the reporter said, adding that the convoy crossed Syrian regime checkpoints and crossed the mainly Kurdish city of Qamishli (northeast).

The US convoy was seen arriving at the M-4 highway from the east, indicating its entry from Iraq. The development follows US Defense Secretary Mark Esper's remarks that Washington will send armored vehicles and combat troops to eastern Syria to prevent oil fields from falling into the hands of IS militants.

"Thieves" oil
Russia on Saturday accused the United States of practicing "banditry" on a world scale after Washington announced its intention to protect oil fields in eastern Syria. "What Washington is doing now to seize and control the oil fields in eastern Syria simply demonstrates a mentality of a banditry," the defense ministry said in a statement. World class. "

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Washington was using its military forces and private security companies to protect trucks transporting oil from eastern Syria to other countries, adding that the proceeds of the US smuggling of Syrian oil exceed $ 30 million per month, sent through brokers to the accounts of institutions US private security and government security agencies.

On Friday, the US defense secretary announced Washington's intention to defend Syria's major oil fields in Deir Ezzor, near the border with Iraq, where 200 US troops are deployed. "We are taking measures to strengthen our positions in Deir ez-Zor, and this will include forces to make sure that ISIS will not be able to reach a source of revenue that would allow it to strike the region, Europe or the United States," he said.

Days after the US president announced the withdrawal of US troops from Syria's border region with Turkey, which Ankara plans to establish as a safe zone 30 kilometers deep inside Syrian territory, US officials unveiled a US plan to keep forces to protect oil wells in Syria and prevent them falling into the hands of the state or the Syrian regime. And Russia.

Safe Zone
In another development, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country considers the European proposal to establish a safe international zone in northern Syria is unrealistic, said at a joint press conference held with his German counterpart Haiku Mas in Ankara.

On the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed doubts about the German defense minister's proposal to establish a safe area in northeastern Syria through the UN Security Council resolution. Lavrov described during a press conference with his Norwegian counterpart in the city of Kirkenes in northeastern Norway that he found an immediate criticism. From other parties in the German government.

On the field level, the Syrian News Agency reported that elements of the regime forces entered villages and towns in the countryside of al-Hasakah province in northeastern Syria, adding that the regime forces also entered the administrative borders of the city of Ras al-Ain in northern Syria.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera correspondent said life is gradually returning to the town of Tal Abyad after its displaced residents return.

According to human rights sources, 15 people were killed in clashes on Saturday in northeastern Syria between the Syrian National Army (opposition) supported by Turkish aviation and Kurdish fighters allied with the Damascus regime. The fighting took place in areas between Tal Tamr and Ras al-Ain on the border between Turkey and Syria.