Alwaght- Russian Foreign Ministry Said on Monday ISIS terrorists are feeling increasingly comfortable in a refugee camp located near a US military base in southern Syria.
“We have plenty of reports about strange things happening in the Al-Tanf area,” Sergey Lavrov said. “This area has no particular military value in terms of fighting terrorism. And in practical terms, we see a rise of presence in the region of militant groups, including those we believe to be connected with ISIS in this or that way, including in the Rukban refugee camp,” RT reported.
Located on Syria’s border with Jordan, Al-Tanf was occupied last year by the US, which declared it under its protection and attacked pro-government forces showing up there. The US refuse access to the region, including for humanitarian convoys to the Rukban camp.
Asked by a journalist during a media conference if Russia was aware of US plans to withdraw from Al-Tanf, Lavrov said he has not seen any reports indicating such an intention, but would welcome such a move.
“This zone was created under manufactured justification with no military necessity,” he said. “If [the Americans] are arriving at the same conclusions, I expect this to translate into a practical implementation.”
The US put troops on the ground in Syria, stating that their goal was to defeat ISISIS. The military intervention was carried out with no mandate from the UN Security Council, and against the objection of the Syrian government. The threat of ISIS has since been greatly diminished, but the US shows no intention of withdrawing from Syria. Instead, it is using its foothold in the north of the country to prop up the predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia.
Only Syrian army should be on country's southern border
Russian top diplomat also emphasized that only Syrian army troops should be on the war-torn country’s southern border with Jordan and occupied Palestinian territories, after Washington warned of “firm measures” over reports of an impending Syrian army operation in the militant-held Daraa governorate.
“Of course, the withdrawal of all non-Syrian forces must be carried out on a mutual basis, this should be a two-way street,” Lavrov said, adding "the situation, when only representatives of the Syrian armed forces will be deployed on the Syrian side of the border with Israel, should become the outcome of such work".
