Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
A US military convoy has been forced to retreat from an area in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah after government soldiers blocked it, amid public anger at the deployment of foreign forces in the oil-rich region.
Syrian army troops, deployed at a security checkpoint near the village of al-Damkhiya southwest of Qamishli city, blocked the road and prevented the passage of US armored vehicles traveling along the strategic M4 highway.
The American troops were subsequently forced to turn around and go back in the direction they came from. There were no reports of clashes or injuries.
The development came a few days after local residents of a village in the same Syrian province prevented a US military convoy from passing through the community.
Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television news network reported that a US convoy of four armored vehicles was forced to turn around and head back in the direction it came from after villagers in Hamu blocked the road and prevented it from passing.
The US military has stationed forces and equipment in eastern and northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.
Damascus, however, says the unlawful deployment is meant to plunder the country’s resources.
Former US President Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in Syria for its oil.
After failing to oust the Syrian government with the help of its proxies and direct involvement in the conflict, the US government has now stepped up its economic war on the Arab country.
Anti-Turkey protests in Aleppo
Meanwhile, hundreds of people in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo staged a mass protest rally against the presence of Turkish occupation forces in the country.
Syria’s SANA news agency reported on Friday that residents of Tel Rifaat city, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Aleppo, waved Syrian flags and held signs calling for the removal of Turkish troops and their allied Takfiri militants.
They also condemned the arbitrary measures of Turkish troops and their allies against Syrian citizens.
The participants underscored Syria’s territorial integrity and stressed the need to confront attempts at fragmenting Syrian lands.
They said they are fairly confident about Syrian government forces’ determination to stand up against any act of aggression, and liberate every inch of the occupied territories.
Turkey has deployed forces in Syria in violation of the Arab country’s territorial integrity.
Ankara-backed militants were deployed to northeastern Syria in October 2019 after Turkish military forces launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion in a declared attempt to push fighters of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) away from border areas.
Ankara views the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials have said Damascus will respond through all legitimate means available to the ongoing ground offensive by Turkish forces in the northern part of the Arab country.
