The Syrian military detained a group of militants of the radical group "Magavir al-Saura", who, according to them, had a goal to collect information about Russian, Iranian and Syrian sites in the province of Raqqa.
“We are listed in the organization“ Magavir al-Saura. ” Our group consisted of eight people: seven fighters and one guide, who smuggles and transports personnel and drugs. We went on motorcycles to complete the assignment and hit the minefield. As a result, a group commander, a guide and another man died, having been blown up by a mine, ”TASS quoted one of the detained militants as Jasem al-Ali.
He added that after the minefield incident, the survivors got lost and captured by the Syrian military, who then brought the militants to the city of Tadmore, located near Palmyra.
“We were sent to fulfill the task in the province of Raqqah, in the city of El Mansoura. The task was to collect information ... We had to get information about Russian, Iranian and Syrian sites, ”the militant explained, indicating that the starting point of the group was Et-Tanf.
- American base at Tanf
- AFP
- © Delil SOULEIMAN
Another detainee named Abdullah al-Mishuat said that the bandit group received a large sum from the curators: “We received thousands of dollars for the assignment, but all the money was from the team leader Yazan. He was blown up by a mine, and we lost everything. ”
He also said that he was trained under the supervision of instructors from the United States. Moreover, if the training process took place with American weapons, then the militants went on a mission with Kalashnikovs.
“We were taught to handle all types of weapons by American instructors. All weapons were American-made. I saw American instructors, they come to training, but the classes themselves are conducted by the Syrians. Americans from afar observe, verify and evaluate the progress of preparation. The training was difficult, they lasted for two or three hours, no less, ”he said.
The third detainee, Muhammad Taeshmellan, said that before becoming a member of an illegal armed group, he worked as a baker in the Rukban refugee camp.
“Then it became impossible to work in a bakery in Er-Rukban, and I decided to go to the bakery“ Magavir al-Saura ”. I worked at their bakery, the monthly salary was $ 400. Then I had conflicts, and they decided to send me to a strong point as an ordinary, ”RIA Novosti quoted the detainee as saying.
It is reported that currently the Syrian intelligence services are studying the testimonies of the detainees and checking them for involvement in other illegal operations.
Note that a year ago, the chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy, reported that American specialists were training militants of armed groups in the territory of Syria controlled by them.
“In the area of the 55-kilometer zone around Mount Tanf, US instructors are training a large armed group, Magavir al-Saura, and a number of small militant groups for the so-called Army of the Arab Tribes. The total number of militants reaches 2,700, ”he said.
In October 2019, Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Vasily Nebenzya and Director of the Foundation for the Study of Democracy, Maxim Grigoryev, presented at the UN headquarters a report on human rights violations in the US-controlled territory of Syria in the Er Rukban camp.
In May 2020, Russian and Syrian interagency coordinating staffs for the return of refugees reported that the United States had assisted militants in spreading a fake that Russia and Syria allegedly blocked humanitarian supplies to the Rukban refugee camp.
“The pro-American media is actively circulating the informational spread circulated by militants of the Magavir As-Saura armed group from the US-occupied Al-Tanf zone about allegedly blocking a humanitarian convoy in Er-Rukban by Russia and Syria, which has already been agreed and timed to coincide with the Muslim month of Ramadan” - said in a statement.
According to Moscow and Damascus, the text of the information feed, which is compiled in Arabic and “in reasonably good English, with speech patterns typical of Americans,” is proof of the participation of US specialists in the preparation of information messages of illegal armed groups.