Syrian governor: US-backed SDF militants should 'take lessons' from Afghanistan

A Syrian official says the US will have no forces and military bases in the country in the “near future,” warning Washington-backed Kurdish militants to “take lessons” from the fate of those cooperating with US occupation troops in Afghanistan.

Ghassan Khalil, the governor of Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah, made the remarks in an interview with Iran’s Tasnim news agency published on Saturday.

“There will be no American military bases or even a foothold for Americans in Syria, and all areas will be under the control of the Syrian government,” Khalil said while commenting on the government forces pressing ahead to recapture remaining areas from anti-Damascus militants and foreign occupation troops in Syria.

“It was the Syrian government that armed the Syrian Kurds at the beginning of the imposed war against the country to defend their territories and protect themselves from terrorist attacks, but unfortunately they turned their backs on the central government and used the weapons against the Syrian army, facilitating the entry of the American occupiers into Syrian territory,” Khalil added, referring to the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF is an alliance of mainly US-sponsored Kurdish forces fighting against Damascus in northern and eastern Syria.

The Hasakah governor said when the Americans banished the SDF in some areas in favor of Turkey, the militants turned to the Syrian government and army again to ask them for help and Damascus extended a helping hand to them.

Khalil said the SDF is a "tool" for the Americans to steal the national resources and wealth of the Syrian people, from wheat to oil.

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Pointing to some Afghans cooperating with US forces in the war-ravaged country, Khalil said, “The Kurdish militants should never forget the lesson of Afghanistan - how the United States sacrificed its mercenaries in Afghanistan and left them down after twenty years of occupation and years of service.”

“For this reason, it is worthwhile for the SDF to be well aware that occupation, especially the American type, is perishable,” he added.

Thousands of Afghans, among them Afghan translators working for US forces, were left behind in the war-torn country after the United States abruptly withdrew forces from Afghanistan in September.

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

The United States has deployed forces and military equipment in Syria without any authorization from Damascus or the UN. It has long been training militants and stealing Syria’s oil, ignoring repeated calls by Damascus to end its occupation of the country.

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