US forces abduct civilians in Syria, smuggle stolen oil to Iraq
US forces stationed in Syria have kidnapped a number of civilians and transported new consignments of stolen Syrian oil to Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
Syria’s official news agency SANA reported on Sunday that US forces carried out an airdrop in the village of Jadeed Ekedat in the eastern countryside of Day al-Zawr, and took away a number of civilians to an unknown destination.
Earlier this month, US forces conducted an airdrop in the village of Mahemeidah in the western countryside of Day al-Zawr. They kidnapped a civilian from the village after completely destroying his home on August 14.
US-backed SDF militants also conducted raids on several areas in the eastern and southern countryside of Hasakah on Sunday, kidnapping 11 people.
Local sources told SANA that the militants kidnapped the imam of the mosque of Marzouka village as well as a young man from al-Sweidiyeh village and seven others from the villages of Suleiman Sari, al-Qasimiya and Qurtuba. Two young men were also abducted from al-Qahtaniya village.
According to the report, they were taken to the militant group’s positions under different pretexts.
Convoy of 25 tanker trucks carry Syrian oil to northern Iraq
Also on Sunday, US forces allowed a convoy of 25 tanker trucks carrying stolen Syrian oil to cross the “illegitimate” al-Walid crossing into northern Iraq, SANA reported.
The news agency cited local sources as saying that the convoy headed from Rmelan town in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region on Saturday night.
The US-led coalition purportedly fighting Daesh has been conducting airstrikes and operations inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a United Nations mandate. Damascus has repeatedly condemned the airstrikes.
The military alliance has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians.
In 2019, then US President Donald Trump decided to keep hundreds of US troops in Syria to "secure" the country's oilfields which Syrian troops have yet to retake from militants.
Last year, Damascus strongly condemned an agreement signed between SDF Kurdish militants and an American oil company aimed at stealing the country's oil, stressing that the contract was null and void with no legal effect.
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