US-Led Coalition Copters Take Daesh Terrorists to Syria Oilfield

Turkey’s Daily Sabah newspaper carried the report on Saturday, citing “sources in the field”.

It said as many as 60 Daesh terrorists had been taken to the al-Omar oilfield in Syria’s oil-rich Deir Ezzur province using helicopters belonging to the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF).

The CJTF has been set up by Operation Inherent Resolve, the codename for the 2014-present mission by the United States and its allies in the Arab country that has skipped Damascus’ approval.

The paper said the terrorists had been released from prisons run by the People's Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militant group that is backed by Washington.

“Sources added that the Daesh terrorists [had] received special training and tactics by the YPG before being sent to the oilfield,” it added.

The daily further alleged that, “The YPG operates dozens of detention facilities scattered across Northeastern Syria, holding about 10,000 Daesh terrorists”.

The report came amid increasing evidence of cooperation between the US and the Kurds towards exploitation of Syria’s oil resources. Another Kurdish militant group that has been largely implicated in the intrigue is the one that is known as the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Former US President Donald Trump, under whose tenure the US-led coalition devastatingly ratcheted up its operations in Syria, notoriously admitted to Washington’s ambitions for Syria’s crude once in 2019.

"We’re keeping the oil," he said back then, adding, "I’ve always said that. We want to keep the oil. $45 million a month. We’ve secured the oil …. We’ll be deciding what to do with it in the future."

Observers say the US’s continued pattern of trying to expropriate Syria’s oil under Trump’s successor Joe Biden reflects Washington’s brazen efforts to hamper the Arab country’s emergence from around a decade of foreign-backed militancy and terrorism.