Lavrov: Daesh-Linked Terror Groups Seen in Syrian Al-Tanf Controlled by US

Local Editor

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that only Syrian soldiers should be located on the country's Southern borders with the "Israeli"-occupied territories.

Russia and the United States are conducting a dialogue at the diplomatic and military level regarding the situation in Syria's al-Tanf region, Lavrov said.

"We are witnessing an increasing number of armed groups appearing in this region, including the Rukban refugee camp, which according to our information, is related in one way or another to Daesh [the Arabic acronym for terrorist ‘ISIS/ISIL' group] and other extremist structures," he noted.

Relatively, Lavrov said he hopes that reports on withdrawal of US troops from Syria's al-Tanf base would come to fruition.

"The military presence there has no sense, from a military point of view," he said.

He emphasized that the Russian side has called the US' attention to the fact that the situation does not correspond to the agreements on how to organize de-escalation in the south of Syria.

Lavrov recalled that initially, the agreement on the establishment of a de-escalation zone in the south-west of Syria had presupposed an "eventual" withdrawal of all non-Syrian forces from this region, saying that "it should be reciprocal."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team