‘U.S.-Backed Militants in Syria Steal $100mn From Saudi Financial Aid’

Date: 10 July 2019 - 21:10

News ID: ۶۷۹۵۱

DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – The U.S.-backed so-called Syria Democratic Forces has stolen at least $100 million from the recent financial assistance provided by the Saudi regime, media reports disclosed on Wednesday.
The Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted dissident sources as saying that the SDF has stolen $100 million from a hefty sum paid by Saudi Minister Samer al-Sahban during his recent visit to the eastern regions of Syria.
It noted that Saudi Arabia had paid the sum to buy the companionship of the tribal leaders of eastern Syria on the pretext that it was an aid to those tribes whose farms Raqqah, Dayr al-Zawr and Hasaka had been ruined during the recent SDF war with the Daesh.
After the SDF withheld the huge sums paid by Riyadh, it also forced the administrative employees of those regions to levy tax from the local people.
The sources pointed to people's fury over SDF's measures, and said corruption, plundering and robbery of people's assets in the occupied areas have considerably increased.
In a relevant development, the SDF continued their pressures to force children into their ranks and train them in their secret military bases in Eastern Syria despite an agreement with the United Nations.
The al-Watan newspaper quoted dissident sources as saying that despite SDF's agreement with the UN not to forcefully recruit child soldiers in Eastern Syria, it still continues to arrest and transfer the detained children to SDF's secret military bases in eastern Dayr al-Zawr.
The source noted that the SDF is arresting boys and girls aged under 18 years in areas under its control in Dayr al-Zawr and Raqqah and transfers them to its secret military bases, and said, "The SDF has recently arrested a 14-year-old child in the town of Ahras in Eastern Aleppo, and forced the kid to join the its ranks."
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also pointed to the SDF's forced recruitment of 130 teachers in the town of al-Darbasieh in Hasaka province, and said that the SDF's behavior has resulted in a wave of anger by civilians there.