DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – The U.S. military has reportedly used two dozen tanker trucks to smuggle crude oil from Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah into the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.
Syria’s official news agency SANA, citing local sources, reported that a convoy of 24 U.S. military trucks loaded with stolen Syrian crude oil left Syria through the illegal al-Waleed border crossing in the town of al-Ya’rubiyah and headed toward the Iraqi territory. It added that the convoy of tankers was accompanied by armored vehicles affiliated to the U.S. forces.
In January, the U.S. military used the same route to smuggle Syrian crude oil by a convoy of 128 military trucks, including tankers and flatbed trucks carrying battle tanks and heavy ammunition.
On December 30, 2021, U.S. troops transferred reinforcements from neighboring Iraq into areas in northeastern Syria. SANA at the time reported that 40 U.S. military vehicles had entered the Syrian territories.
The U.S. 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 the Daesh terrorists. Damascus, however, says the unlawful deployment is meant to plunder the country’s resources.
Former U.S. 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 U.S. government has now stepped up its economic war on the Arab country.