Saturday, July 7

Civilian hostility against US troops in Syria continues to grow

"The report further said that the US forces and the Kurdish militias are aware of the strong tribal support for the Damascus government ..."


The anti-American protests are getting steadily stronger in a backlash against heavy-handed tactics by U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters to repress them.

Elijah Magnier reported on July 5:
Russian advisors visiting the Syrian capital Damascus are confident that the US forces will pull out of al-Tanf and will also aim to completely withdraw from north of Syria (al-Hasaka and Deir-Ezzour) in the next six months.
According to top decision makers based in Damascus, the US President Donald Trump is pushing his administration to approve an already prepared total withdrawal plan.
Despite Trump’s limited knowledge of foreign policy and being unaware of the consequences of his decisions in the international arena, he found no convincing elements – said the sources, who asked to remain anonymous – in the presentation by his administration where US forces could benefit from the continuation of their presence in such a hostile environment and without suffering hits in the future.
 [...] 
Moreover, Trump noticed that the hostility against [U.S.] forces in Iraq was growing: Iraqi security forces (Hashd al-Sha’bi) vowed revenge on the US following the destruction by unknown jets (believed to be Israeli) of their command and control position on the Iraqi-Syrian borders. The Iraqi security forces had specific orders to stop and destroy ISIS terrorist groups crossing into Iraq.
[...]
Russian sources involved in the preparation of the Putin-Trump summit, expected this month in Europe, believe the Russian President can offer enough guarantees to the US president to leave the Levant before US gets caught in the Syrian-Iraqi quagmire.
[...]
As to the note in the following report about American troops killed by IEDs set by Islamic State -- FARS is quoting Al-Manar, a Lebanese news outlet, which I'll assume pulled the story from an IS website. At any rate, for now I'll consider the claim to be hot air.  

July 7, 2018 - 4:15 
FARS
TEHRAN (FNA)- Residents in tribal regions in Eastern Syria continue to oppose occupation of their lands by US forces after the latter failed to persuade villagers to join the US-led coalition, a media outlet reported on Saturday.

The Arabic-language website of Russia's state news agency, Sputnik, quoted Sheikh Mohammad Daham, one of the most well-known tribal leaders in Eastern Syria, as saying that the US forces and their allied Kurdish militias have launched a fresh wave of arrests against villagers on the banks of Khabour River.

The report further said that the US forces and the Kurdish militias are aware of the strong tribal support for the Damascus government, adding that the US forces and their allies are trying to disarm the villagers in areas stretching from South of al-Shadadi region in Hasaka province to Deir Ezzur in Eastern Syria in order to deflate popular resistance and uprising that once occurred in Iraq.

It went on to say that the coalition has demanded Commander of Deir Ezzur fighters Abu Khouleh al-Khabil to invite tribal leaders and elites of Sour region in Deir Ezzur, but none attended the meeting.

Daham further told Sputnik that the tribal fighters have detonated an arms and ammunition depot of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in al-Sina'ah region along the highway to Hasaka in Northern Deir Ezzur, adding that the tribal fighters have threatened to carry out more attacks against the coalition.

The Arabic-language al-Manar news channel [Lebanon] reported on Thursday that several US soldiers and SDF forces were killed and wounded after a number of roadside bombs were detonated by the ISIL in regions near the village of al-Namliyeh South of the town of al-Sour in Northeastern Deir Ezzur.

Meantime, other media sources quoted locals in Northern Deir Ezzur as saying that the Kurdish forces had launched massive arrests against people who support the Syrian government in the village of al-Jaye'eh.

Also, unknown assailants in the village of Abu Khashab in Northern Deir Ezzur fired at a vehicle carrying the SDF forces, wounding a number of them.
[END REPORT]
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