US-led coalition interferes in Syrian govt’s fight against terrorism : Russian MoD

The air forces of the US-led coalition are working to undermine the anti-terrorist efforts of the Syrian government, Colonel General Sergey Surovikin of the Russian ground forces has said.

“Despite promoting the aim of fighting international terrorism, the coalition is striking the Syrian military, allowing IS militants to leave encircled areas unhindered, thus strengthening the terrorist groupings near Palmyra and Deir ez-Zor,” Surovikin said.

“The coalition air forces and the strongholds of the forces of New Syrian Army [now known as the Revolutionary Commando Army] have blocked the way of the government forces, tasked with defeating IS [Islamic State] groups,” he said at a briefing on Friday.“This is a violation of the sovereign right of Syria to protect it borders,” he said.

The statement comes after US warplanes stuck pro-government forces near At Tanf on Thursday, the third such incident in the space of several weeks.

"During their offensive, government troops met counteraction from the international coalition, led by the US,” Surovikin said, calling the US demand for Syrian forces not to approach the positions of the New Syrian army “absolutely groundless.”

According to Surovikin, the coalition warplanes and the strongholds of the New Syrian Army it’s backing have blocked the passage to pro-government forces which are fighting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists, and are setting up frontier outposts on the Iraqi border in the At Tanf area.

“This is a violation of the sovereign right of Syria to protect its borders,” he stressed.

The commander expressed hope that the US-led coalition would undertake measures to avoid further attacks on government forces and would “engage in a more substantial fight against Islamic State terrorists on the territory of Syria.”

The Pentagon said on Friday that Russia has been “very helpful” in calming the situation in the At Tanf area in the past 24 hours.

The Russian efforts helped communicate US concerns to pro-Syrian government forces after the Americans shot down their drone in the area on Thursday, according to Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis.

He also said the American military in Syria would only use force against the government troops in self-defense...
 RT.COM
9/6/17
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