Russia Protests Over Provocative Actions by US Forces in Syria

The agency cited a senior Russian military official on Friday saying that “provocative” incidents had occurred in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah where US occupation forces have been positioned for several years under the pretext of leading a coalition battling against Daesh [Arabic for ‘ISIS/ISIL’] and its remnants.

“Provocative actions on the part of US armed forces units have been noted in Hasakah province … the Russian side lodged a protest with the coalition,” Russian Rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov, head of the Russian Centre for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, told TASS.

Gurnivo said that US troops had twice been spotted by Russian forces in areas that lay outside their agreed zones of operation, without giving details of timing.

“During joint Russian-Turkish patrols, the movement of two patrols conducted by the so-called anti-terrorist coalition were tracked along the non-deconfliction routes near Deiruna-Aga and Saramsak. The Russian side has protested to the coalition,” Gurinov said, according to TASS.

Russia – which together with Turkey is carrying out joint patrols in northern Syria – has agreed on special zones where the US-led coalition can operate as it takes on hundreds of Daesh fighters camped in desolate areas of Syria where neither the coalition nor the Syrian army exerts full control.

The US occupation forces have been interfering in Syria for almost eight years while Russia has been operating upon a request from Damascus. Moscow has since expanded its military facilities in Syria with a permanent air and naval base.

Last week, the US occupation forces carried out multiple air attacks in Syria.