عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

US Makes Reinforcements at East Syria Base

US troops in Syria's Deir Ezzor. AFP
US troops in Syria's Deir Ezzor. AFP
TT
20
TT

US Makes Reinforcements at East Syria Base

US troops in Syria's Deir Ezzor. AFP
US troops in Syria's Deir Ezzor. AFP

International coalition forces led by the United States have taken measures to make “reinforcements” at their military base in northeastern Syria two days after coming under attack by Iran-backed militias in Deir Ezzor’s countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday.

“A convoy carrying logistic and military equipment has left the international coalition base in Koniko gas field heading to the coalition base in Al-Omar oilfield in east Deir Ezzor countryside,” reliable sources have informed the Observatory.

“We can’t say definitively who caused them or why the attacks seem to have stepped up,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday about the rocket attacks on the base.

“It is certainly possible that it can be related to” the nuclear talks in Vienna or the two-year anniversary of the Killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a US strike at Baghdad airport.

The Observatory said that “unidentified” drones renewed their airstrikes on Iranian proxy positions in the western Euphrates region, targeting military positions in Al-Tabni area and Al-Masrab desert in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor in the early hours of Thursday, causing material damage and casualties.

According to Observatory sources, drone strikes were preceded by explosions, heard in several places in the eastern Euphrates area, near the coalition base in Koniko.

Most Viewed

 
Arab World

Türkiye Backing Syria’s Military and Has No Immediate Withdrawal Plans, Defense Minister Says 

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Türkiye Backing Syria’s Military and Has No Immediate Withdrawal Plans, Defense Minister Says 

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)

Türkiye is training and advising Syria's armed forces and helping improve its defenses, and has no immediate plans for the withdrawal or relocation of its troops stationed there, Defense Minister Yasar Guler told Reuters.

Türkiye has emerged as a key foreign ally of Syria's new government since opposition groups - some of them backed for years by Ankara - ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December to end his family's five-decade rule.

It has promised to help rebuild neighboring Syria and facilitate the return of millions of Syrian civil war refugees, and played a key role last month getting US and European sanctions on Syria lifted.

The newfound Turkish influence in Damascus has raised Israeli concerns and risked a standoff or worse in Syria between the regional powers.

In written answers to questions from Reuters, Guler said Türkiye and Israel, which carried out its latest airstrikes on southern Syria late on Tuesday, are continuing de-confliction talks to avoid military accidents in the country.

Türkiye’s overall priority in Syria is preserving its territorial integrity and unity, and ridding it of terrorism, he said, adding Ankara was supporting Damascus in these efforts.

"We have started providing military training and consultancy services, while taking steps to increase Syria's defense capacity," Guler said, without elaborating on those steps.

Named to the post by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan two years ago, Guler said it was too early to discuss possible withdrawal or relocation of the more than 20,000 Turkish troops in Syria.

Ankara controlled swathes of northern Syria and established dozens of bases there after several cross-border operations in recent years against Kurdish militants it deems terrorists.

This can "only be re-evaluated when Syria achieves peace and stability, when the threat of terrorism in the region is fully removed, when our border security is fully ensured, and when the honorable return of people who had to flee is done," he said.

NATO member Türkiye has accused Israel of undermining Syrian peace and rebuilding with its military operations there in recent months and, since late 2023, has also fiercely criticized Israel's assault on Gaza.

But the two regional powers have been quietly working to establish a de-confliction mechanism in Syria.

Guler described the talks as "technical level meetings to establish a de-confliction mechanism to prevent unwanted events" or direct conflict, as well as "a communication and coordination structure".

"Our efforts to form this line and make it fully operational continue. Yet it should not be forgotten that the de-confliction mechanism is not a normalization," he told Reuters.