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Russia sends more troops to Syria's Hasakah after US deployment

Monday, 18 January 2021 10:45 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 18 January 2021 10:53 AM ]

Russian and Turkish soldiers walk together while clad in surgical masks due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic during a joint Russian-Turkish military patrol in the countryside near Darbasiyah along the border with Turkey in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on November 30, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Russia’s military says it is dispatching additional units of military police - about 300 servicemen - to Hasakah Province in northeastern Syria in order to reinforce joint observation posts manned by Russian and Syrian forces.

"Our unit has arrived at one of the joint observation posts in the province of Hasakah," Maj. Dmitri Suntsov, the head of one of the joint Russian-Syrian observation posts said.

“The main objective is to facilitate the de-escalation of the conflict in the region. Our servicemen are monitoring adherence to the ceasefire and providing various assistance to the local population,” he added.

Russia has been helping Syrian forces in the ongoing battles across the conflict-plagued Arab country.

The Russian military's assistance began in September 2015 at the official request of the Syrian government.

The report comes a day after the US military sent a new convoy of trucks carrying military and logistical equipment to Hasakah, as Washington seeks to maintain its grip on energy resources in Syria.

The RT Arabic television news network, citing local sources, reported that a convoy of 35 trucks crossed the Waleed border crossing into Syrian territories from Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region on Saturday.

The sources added that the vehicles entered the Kurdish-populated city of Qamishli, and were carrying logistics as well as fuel supplies for US military forces in Hasakah and neighboring Dayr al-Zawr province.

US-led military convoy enters northeastern Syria from Iraq: Report

The vehicles entered the Kurdish-populated city of Qamishli.

The US military has stationed forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.

However, Syria which has not authorized American military presence in its territory says the deployment is meant to plunder the country's resources.

Damascus is in great need of its major oil deposits in order to address its energy needs and rebuild the country amid crippling Western sanctions.

The Arab country has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc in the country.

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