U.S. Pretending to Fight Daesh: Russia

Date: 10 October 2017 - 21:05

News ID: ۴۵۱۲۹

MOSCOW (Dispatches) – Russia on Tuesday accused the United States of reducing its airstrikes on Daesh in Iraq to allow the Takfiri terrorists to enter Syria and fight the Russian-backed Syrian army.
Military spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the Syrian government was attempting to push the terrorists out of eastern Dayr al-Zawr province, but that arrivals from Iraq were boosting their numbers.
"Everyone sees that the U.S.-led coalition is pretending to fight Daesh, above all in Iraq, but it is continuing to allegedly fight Daesh in Syria actively for some reason," he said.
"The continuing arrival of terrorists from Iraq raises serious questions about the anti-terrorist objectives of the U.S. air force and the so-called 'international coalition'."
The U.S. sharply reduced its strikes on Iraq in September, as Syrian forces were beginning to retake Dayr al-Zawr, Konashenkov said in a statement.
"Is this change in approach from the U.S. and the coalition a bid to cause maximum disruption to the Syrian army, backed by the Russian air force, as it seeks to free Syrian territory to the east of the river Euphrates?"
"Or is it an artful move to drive Daesh terrorists out of Iraq by forcing them into Syria and into the path of the Russian air force's pinpoint bombing?"
Over the past month Moscow has repeatedly accused the U.S. of hindering the Syrian army offensive in the east of the country.
On Monday, footage was released by the Syrian Defense Ministry showing arms and munitions seized from various terrorist groups throughout the country, which were mostly made by the U.S. or its allies.
The report went on to note that the arms were obtained by terrorists via various channels and companies in Eastern Europe with ties to the U.S. and NATO, and had entered Syria via Turkey or Saudi Arabia.
It showed Daesh and the Jabhat Fatah al-Sham terror groups had been supplied with rockets, rifles, machine-guns, anti-air weapons, and even tanks in exchange for oil stolen from wells in Syria and Iraq.
The occupying regime of Israel was also implicated in the report, which evidence of providing Nusra Front terrorists with arms.