US to send equipment to terrorists in Syrian refugee camp under guise of medical aid: Report

The United States plans to transport equipment to terrorists in a refugee camp in war-ravaged Syria under the guise of providing refugees with medical and humanitarian aid, Syrian and Russian officials warn.

The Russian and Syrian coordination committees on the Return of Syrian Refugees said in a joint statement on Saturday that Washington was exploiting humanitarian situation in the al-Rukban Camp near the Jordanian and Iraqi frontier and planned to provide terrorists with necessary equipment.

“The US side seeks to make use of coronavirus spread and tries to exert pressure on the UN to pass shipments and equipment to the terrorists under the guise of diagnostic tools and humanitarian aid to the besieged refugees in the camp,” said the statement, which was carried by Syria's official news agency SANA.

The camp, which has already been described by the committee as the "death camp" in the Homs province, is home to some 25,000 internally-displaced Syrians, who have been taken "hostage" by US-controlled militants there.

28k Syrian refugees 'hostage' of US-controlled militants

The Russian and Syrian coordination headquarters raise alarm at the situation in the Rukban

The statement added that the humanitarian situation in the camp is an outcome of the illegal occupation of this part of the Arab country by the US, stressing that the refugees should be returned to their homes in the territory under the control of the Syrian government.

“Russia and Syria have taken all needed procedures to evacuate the besieged people in the camp,” it stressed.

Last July, the committee said that US-backed armed groups demanded up to $1,500 per family for leaving the camp, which lies within a 55-kilometer zone occupied by the US around its unauthorized military base in the Syrian town of At-Tanf.

It also urged the US command in the area to stop "the criminal activities of the gangs" under its control and ensure "the unimpeded exit" of the camp residents.

"It is necessary to intensify the evacuation of Syrian citizens, since every day of delay in disbanding the camp only prolongs the suffering of its inhabitants," the statement stressed at the time.

The al-Rukban Camp was established by US forces a few years ago, purportedly for the sake of the Syrian refugees. However, Moscow and Damascus have repeatedly stated that it is being used by US forces as a training base and a hideout for militants in Syria.

Back in September, the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation reported that the so-called "camp administration, controlled by illegal armed units" refused to let UN buses inside to evacuate some refugees, with an intention of keeping them and the rest at the camp as a human shield.

Additionally at the time, a large part of cargo delivered by the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to al-Rukban Camp was also seized by US-backed militants and moved to the north of the camp.

It has now become evident that Washington is providing financial and military support for anti-Damascus militants in Syria.

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