Kremlin: US behind Jabhat al-Nusra's attack on Russian military positions in Syria
The Russian Ministry of Defense has accused the US of giving terrorists in Syria information which enabled them to surround a Russian platoon. Moscow believes this was done in order to halt the successful advance of the Syrian forces supported by Russia. The US, in turn, accuses Russia of carrying out airstrikes on its allies who are located near to American fighters, Meduza news agency writes.
Together with Iran and Turkey, Russia has been trying since May 2017 to establish a de-escalation zone in Syria. The sixth round of negotiations was held on September 15, during which agreement was reached on the borders of all four zones where a ceasefire regime is to be implemented. The final zone to be agreed upon was that in the Idlib province in the north-west of the country. It was decided that the Russian military police would be sent there.
On September 20, the Russian Defense Ministry reported an attack by Jabhat al-Nusra in the Idlib zone. Moscow believes that one of the militants’ goals was to capture a platoon of Russian military police (29 people) which had recently been assigned to the province. Russian Special forces were sent to assist the police, and they were able to break through the encirclement and return to territory controlled by Syrian forces. Three Special Forces soldiers were wounded.
According to Moscow, the US is either directly or indirectly behind this attack. As a source in the Defense Ministry told Kommersant newspaper, the US special forces deliberately or accidentally gave terrorists information on the location of the Russian and Syrian forces. The Defense Ministry claims that this was not done to destabilize the situation in Idlib, but instead to influence the situation in another part of the country – in Deir al-Zor.
In Deir al-Zor, the forces supported by Russia have reached those supported by the US. With Russia’s support, the Syrian army was able to break into the city from the west in September. The regions on the eastern bank of the Euphrates are controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US Special Forces and medical personnel from the international coalition who are also located there. On September 21, the Russian Defense Ministry noticed that the US had even scaled back the operation to liberate Raqqa, thus enabling the SDF to redeploy forces in Deir al-Zor. Both the Syrian army and the SDF state that they intend to take back the city from the Islamic State. The Russian Defense Ministry calls Deir al-Zor “the last stronghold” of the terrorists, and promises that it will be taken within a week.
The Pentagon has already responded, saying that the statements about US involvement in the attack on Russian police are unsubstantiated. The US accused Russia of striking SDF positions where international coalition soldiers may have been present.