Report: US Forces Seeking to Seal Off Iraqi-Syrian Border

By Staff, Agencies

US military forces stationed at a major air base in Iraq’s western province of Anbar are reportedly planning to seal off the hundreds-kilometer-long border that runs between the Arab country and neighboring Syria.

Syria’s al-Watan daily newspaper, citing an unnamed Syrian security source, reported that American troops at Ain al-Asad Air Base are planning to close the border.

So far, the report said, they have provided no specific reason for their schemes.

It added that the move comes as the US military is dispatching fresh convoys of trucks carrying arms and logistic supplies to Syria’s oil-rich northeastern province of Hasakah from northern and western Iraq.

Despite the stable security situation along the border and the absence of possible terrorist threats, it remains unknown why American forces are beefing up their presence and expanding reconnaissance activities both in the western regions of Iraq and areas deep inside Syria, according to the report.

It also said that US occupation forces stationed at the military base in Syria’s strategic al-Tanf region have recently received several convoys of military equipment from Ain al-Asad base, and are working to implement a secret program in the area.

The US military has stationed forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.

Damascus, however, maintains that the unauthorized US deployment is aimed at plundering the country’s rich mineral resources.

Last month, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that the US had dispatched a large convoy of trucks carrying arms and logistic supplies to Hasakah.

The report said that the convoy of 30 trucks and tankers was loaded with medium caliber weapon systems, anti-armor missiles, modern communication and jamming systems as well as munitions intended for the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF].