Al Watan: The United States has increased the number of its forces at bases in Syria from 500 to 1.5 thousand military
The US command has transferred additional military equipment and logistical means from Iraq to its bases in Syria. This was reported by the Syrian newspaper Al Watan, citing sources in opposition groups.
It is noted that several columns crossed the border checkpoint "Al-Walid" and entered the territory of the north-eastern province of Hasakeh. In addition to armored vehicles, US troops transported a large group of American servicemen.
According to the publication, since July 15, the number of US military has increased from 500 to 1.5 thousand people. At the same time, some of the military-technical personnel assist in the training of Kurdish fighters from the "Forces of Democratic Syria" (SDF), while the rest guard airfields and oil and gas fields in Hasek and the neighboring province of Deir ez-Zor.
Meanwhile, on July 23, the deputy head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, Rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov, said that three pairs of F-16 aircraft of the international anti-terrorist coalition led by the United States violated the airspace six times in the area of Al-Tanf in Syria.
The day before, it became known that the international anti-terrorist coalition, led by the United States, recorded 14 cases of violations of deconfliction protocols dated December 9, 2019, related to flights of unmanned aerial vehicles that were not coordinated with the Russian side.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milley, said on July 18 that the US has sufficient means to protect personnel in Syria and does not see the need to use reinforcements.
On July 6, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov urged not to forget that American servicemen are in Syria "contrary to the norms of international law." According to him, this is the occupation of certain areas of the country, which the US authorities cover up with "the need to carry out counter-terrorism tasks."
The head of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, said on July 3 that the United States was preparing provocations to disrupt the Arab-Syrian normalization of relations.
On May 30, Naryshkin said that the United States is preparing IS militants (the Islamic State, an organization recognized as a terrorist and banned in the Russian Federation) at its base to destabilize the situation in Syria. He noted that "the management of this criminal activity is carried out from the American military base Al-Tanf near the borders of Syria with Jordan and Iraq.
Prior to that, on May 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States had begun creating an "Army of Free Syria" with the participation of IS militants. According to him, the goal of the Americans is to use these militants against the legitimate authorities of Syria to destabilize the situation in the country. He also added that Moscow adheres to the position on the inadmissibility of gross external interference in the work of the region, especially with the use of military force.
