US military dispatches over 60 trucks to oil-rich northeastern Syria: Report

The United States has reportedly dispatched truckloads of military and logistical equipment to Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah as Washington and some of its regional allies keep vying with one another to seize oil reserves and plunder natural resources in the war-battered country.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that a convoy of 62 trucks together with eleven Humvee military vehicles crossed the Waleed border crossing on Sunday and headed toward US positions in the Jazira region of the province.

On March 12, the Syrian ambassador to Russia, Riyad Haddad, said the United States controls all oil fields in the northeastern part of Syria.

“Americans today are currently present in the northeastern part of the country, controlling all oil fields there and stealing our crude resources. If we manage to liberate the region from the American occupation, we will then revive our economy,” the Arabic service of Russia's Sputnik news agency quoted him as saying in an exclusive interview with Russia's state-owned Rossiya 24 television news network at the time.

In late October 2019, Washington reversed an earlier decision to pull out all of its troops from northeastern Syria, announcing the deployment of about 500 soldiers to the oil fields controlled by Kurdish forces in the Arab country.

US controlling all oil fields, plundering crude in northeast Syria: Ambassador

: The Syrian ambassador to Russia says the US is controlling all oil fields in the northeastern part of his country.

The US claimed that the move was aimed at protecting the fields and facilities from possible attacks by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group. That claim came although US President Donald Trump had earlier suggested that Washington sought economic interests in controlling the oil fields.

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper also threatened that the US forces deployed to the oil fields would use “military force” against any party that might seek to challenge control of the sites, even if it were Syrian government forces or their Russian allies.

Syria, which has not authorized American military presence in its territory, has said the US is “plundering” the country’s oil.

US troops block Russian forces’ way to oil fields in northeastern Syria

US soldiers have reportedly stopped a Russian military convoy from reaching oil fields in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah.

On December 18, 2019, China’s special envoy for Syria said the United States’ pretext for extending its military presence in the Arab country, namely to protect Syrian oil fields, was untenable.

“Who has given the Americans the right to do this? And, at whose invitation is the US protecting Syria’s oil fields?” Xie Xiaoyan said at a press conference in Moscow.

“Let’s think the other way around: Will the US allow Syria to send troops to US territory to protect oil fields there?”

Turkish forces shell village in Tal Tamr district

Separately, SANA reported that Turkish military forces launched volleys of mortar shells at residential areas in the Tal Tamr district of Hasakah.

Turkey dispatches new reinforcements to Syria’s Idlib prior to joint patrols with Russia: SOHR

Turkey reportedly sends a new military convoy to Syria’s Idlib, only a day ahead of joint patrols with Russia in the region.

Local sources said the shelling targeted places in the village of Tawila al-Weka, causing huge material damage.

On Saturday, Turkish forces and their allied Takfiri militants mounted rocket attacks against Um al-Khair and Tawila in the same area.

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