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US to boost troops protecting Syrian oil as Kurds start pullback
QAMISHLI, Syria, Oct 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The US said Thursday it would
beef up its military presence to protect northeastern Syria oil fields as
Kurdish forces abandoned several positions to comply with a deal allowing
Damascus, Ankara and Moscow to carve up their now-defunct autonomous region.
“The US is committed to reinforcing our position, in coordination with our
SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) partners, in northeast Syria with additional
military assets to prevent those oil fields from falling back to into the
hands of ISIS or other destabilizing actors,” a Pentagon official said in a
statement.
The official did not provide any numbers or confirm reports that US
armoured assets would stay by the oilfields, once used to fund the Islamic
State group’s short-lived “caliphate”.
– Russians launch military patrols –
The announcement came as Russian forces began patrolling the flashpoint
Syrian-Turkish frontier, filling part of the vacuum left by a US troop
withdrawal that effectively returned a third of Syria to the Moscow-backed
regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
An AFP correspondent saw a Russian patrol set off from Qamishli westwards
along the border flying Russian flags.
The Russian defence ministry said the patrol covered “more than 60
kilometres” (37 miles) between Qamishli and Amuda.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the Kurdish-led SDF
had pulled out of some areas at the eastern end of the border on Thursday.
Yet fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) — the main
component of the SDF — remained in many positions along the 440-kilometre
border, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
The Britain-based war monitor also reported clashes near the town of Tal
Tamr between SDF fighters and some of the Syrian former rebels paid by Turkey
to fight ground battles.
– US backs Sochi deal –
On Tuesday Russia and Turkey signed a deal in the Black Sea resort of Sochi
that promised a ceasefire while requiring Kurdish forces to withdraw to a
line 30 kilometres from the border.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is embattled on the domestic
political front, hopes to use the pocket to resettle at least half of the 3.6
million Syrian refugees his country hosts.
Under the Sochi deal, the area will remain under the full control of
Turkey, unlike the rest of the projected buffer zone which will eventually be
jointly patrolled by Turkey and Russia.
– Turkey slammed at NATO meeting –
As Kurdish troops withdrew, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi on Twitter accused
the Turkish-led forces of violating the truce on the eastern front of Ras al-
Ain.
“The guarantors of the ceasefire must carry out their responsibilities to
rein in the Turks,” he said.
NATO defence ministers slammed Turkey for its military operation in Syria
on Thursday, at the start of a two-day meeting in Brussels.
German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said she and her French
and British counterparts believed the Turkish-Russian “safe zone” agreement
“does not provide a permanent basis for a political solution”.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, speaking at a think tank conference in
Brussels before the NATO meeting, was more blunt, saying NATO member Turkey
was “heading in the wrong direction”.
“Turkey put us all in a very terrible situation and I think the incursion’s
unwarranted,” Esper said.
The Kurdish leader Abdi welcomed a German proposal of international troops
being deployed to create a security zone in northeast Syria, but there was no
indication the plan would be accepted by Turkey or UN Security Council member
Russia — now the undisputed main foreign power in Syria.
– US to protect oil –
Washington’s insistence on maintaining a military presence in the oil
fields in the country’s far northeast corner, after abandoning other
positions along the Turkish frontier, drew doubts and criticism.
But the Pentagon official, who insisted on anonymity, stressed it was to
prevent a potentially resurgent Islamic State jihadist movement from retaking
control of the fields.
“One of the most significant gains by the US and our partners in the fight
against ISIS was gaining control of oil fields in Eastern Syria,” the
official said.
“We must deny ISIS this revenue stream to ensure there’s no resurgence.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/0942 hrs