US military tankers cross into western Iraq with smuggled Syrian crude oil: SANA
The US military has used dozens of tanker trucks to smuggle crude oil from the Jazira region in the Arab country’s northeastern province of Hasakah to western Iraq as Washington is pushing to further plunder energy resources in the conflict-stricken Arab state.
Syria’s official news agency SANA, citing local sources in the town of al-Swaidah who demanded anonymity, reported that a convoy of 41 tankers filled with crude oil and several canvas-covered trucks entered the Iraqi territory after rumbling through al-Waleed border crossing on Monday.
American troops and military equipment have been stationed in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon alleging that the troops deployment is meant to protect the oilfields in the area against sporadic Daesh attacks and prevent the energy reserves from falling into the hands of the Takfiri terrorists.
Syrian authorities, however, maintain that the deployment is aimed at looting the country’s resources and hindering its reconstruction.
Back on March 18, Syrian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Bassam Tomeh told state-run and Arabic-language al-Ikhbariyah Syria television news that the oil reserves in the war-stricken Arab country are being looted by the US military and its allied Takfiri terrorist groups.
He highlighted that Washington is in control of 90 percent of crude reserves in oil-rich northeastern Syria.
Former president Donald Trump had openly admitted on several occasions that oil was the main reason which kept US troops in Syria.
The US confirmed its looting of Syrian oil during a Senate hearing exchange between South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo in late July last year.
Pompeo confirmed for the first time during his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 30, 2020 that an American oil company would start its activities in northeastern Syria, which is controlled by militants from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The Syrian government severely censured the agreement, saying the deal was sealed to plunder the country’s natural resources, including oil and gas, under the sponsorship and support of the administration of former US president Donald Trump.
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