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US military dispatches 35 trucks to oil-rich northeastern Syria: SANA

Monday, 06 April 2020 2:34 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 06 April 2020 2:34 PM ]

US military vehicles drive in a convoy while on patrol in the countryside of Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah on April 3, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Syrian media say the United States has dispatched truckloads of military and logistical equipment to the country's northeastern province of Hasakah as Washington and some of its regional allies keep vying with one another to seize oil reserves and plunder natural resources in the war-battered country.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that a convoy of 35 trucks crossed the Waleed border crossing on Monday and headed toward US positions in the Jazira region of the province.

The sources added that the majority of the equipment was sent to a base that American troops have set up at Kharab al-Jeer Airport in al-Malikiyah district.

The report comes only a day after the Arabic-language Enab Baladi weekly newspaper, citing a video published by the local North Press news agency, reported that the so-called US-led military coalition purportedly formed to fight the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group had airdropped military and logistical equipment to an area close to al-Omar oil field in Syria’s eastern countryside of Dayr al-Zawr.

The report noted that the operation took place late on Saturday.

US-led coalition airdrops military equipment to Syria's biggest oil field: Report

The so-called US-led anti-Daesh coalition reportedly airdrops military and logistical equipment to Syria’s key oil field in the country’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.

In late October 2019, Washington reversed an earlier decision to pull out all of its troops from northeastern Syria, announcing the deployment of about 500 soldiers to the oil fields controlled by Kurdish forces in the Arab country.

The Pentagon claimed that the move was aimed at protecting the fields and facilities from possible attacks by Daesh. That claim came although US President Donald Trump had earlier suggested that Washington sought economic interests in controlling the oil fields.

Twenty trucks take US military equipment out of Iraq, into Syria: Report

The US has reportedly transferred part of its military equipment from Iraq to an area near the Syrian city of al-Hasakah.

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper also threatened that the US troops deployed to the fields would use “military force” against any party that might seek to challenge control of the sites, even if it were Syrian government forces or their Russian allies.

Russia: US smuggling Syrian oil worth $30 million a month

Russia has slammed the US plan to seize Syrian oil fields as “criminal activity,” warning that Washington stands to rake in millions of dollars a month from the seizure.

Syria, which has not authorized American military presence in its territory, has said the US is “plundering” the country’s oil.

On December 18, 2019, China’s special envoy for Syria said the United States’ pretext for extending its military presence in the Arab country, namely to protect Syrian oil fields, was untenable.

Russia says US attempts to control Syria’s oil fields, facilities tantamount to 'robbery'

The Russian foreign minister says the US attempts to establish control over Syria’s facilities amount to "robbery."

“Who has given the Americans the right to do this? And, at whose invitation is the US protecting Syria’s oil fields?” Xie Xiaoyan said at a press conference in Moscow at the time.

“Let’s think the other way around: Will the US allow Syria to send troops to US territory to protect oil fields there?” he added.

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