Valery Gerasimov
All militant groups in Syria receive arms, money and tasks from aboard, Chief of Russia’s General Staff and First Deputy Defense Minister Valery Gerasimov said on March 24.
“Take Syria as an example. Prior to Russia’s involvement in the conflict on the government’s side, the country had been actually pursuing an undeclared war advocating for its right to exist. It is still unclear when this struggle transformed from local unrest to a military conflict. No state has openly declared a war with Syria, but all illegal armed groups receive weapons, finances and are guided from abroad,” the Russian state-run news agency TASS quoted Gerasimov as saying.
Gerasimov added that the number of participants in military conflicts is growing.
“Regular troops are coupled with the local revolt potential, as well as terrorist and extremist groups,” the general staff’s chief said.
Earlier in March, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said that US forces had contributed to the creation of a safe haven for terrorists in Syria.
The Russian military has repeatedly noted that the US-occupied area of At-Tanf as well as other areas controlled by Washington’s proxies are a source of the security threat to the country, especially amid reports that the US uses these areas to rescue and to train former members of ISIS, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (fomrly Jabhat al-Nusra) and other radical groups.
According to Moscow, these terrorists can be used in an attempt to destabilize Syria once again.
