IS militants moving freely under pro-Syrian regime forces' watch: US-led coalition
“There are Daesh convoys that are moving and that the regime and the Russians are not seeing them, this is a matter that is strange.”
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A US-backed rebel group and the US-led coalition killed more than 20 Islamic State (IS) militants, and detained a number of them near a base in the southern Syrian desert, the coalition revealed on Thursday.
In a statement, the coalition noted it had, along with the Maghawir al-Thawra rebel group, detected a convoy on Wednesday near al-Tanf on the Syrian border with Jordan and Iraq, and launched a military operation “to prevent further incursions.”
“Despite the presence of Russian-backed, pro-Syrian regime forces in the area, Da’esh [IS] still finds ways to move freely through regime lines and pose a threat,” Brigadier General Jonathan Braga, the director of the operation for the coalition, said.
The convoy had come within the established 55 km perimeter surrounding the Tanf base, a place where US Special Forces operate, a US official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity.
According to another US official, over a dozen IS jihadists had been detained by the rebel group.
The coalition statement also mentioned that IS militants have been moving freely through territories controlled by pro-Syrian regime troops.
“This is the second time this month small groups and convoys of Daesh are moving from the eastern areas of Syria toward the southern area through areas controlled by the regime, the Russians, and Shia militias,” Colonel Muhanad al-Talaa, commander of Maghawir al Thawra told Reuters.
“There are Daesh convoys that are moving and that the regime and the Russians are not seeing them, this is a matter that is strange,” Talaa said.
Editing by Nadia Riva