A March 5 photo shows a convoy of U.S. forces armoured vehicles driving near the village of Yalanli, on the western outskirts of the northern Syrian city of Manbij. Footage was posted Friday by Syrian activists online showed U.S. armoured vehicles driving on a rural road a few hundred meters from the Turkish border. (DELIL SOULEIMAN / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
On June 28, the United States has dispatched two convoys of trucks carrying military and logistics supplies to Syria’s province of Hasakah. The reinforcement was sent following the U.S. deadly airstrikes on Iraqi resistance groups on the Iraq-Syria border, which provoked an escalation.
According to Syria’s official news agency SANA, the reinforcement included two separate convoys.
The first convoy included 40 vehicles loaded with trucks, refrigerators and tankers carrying packed containers. It headed to the city of Rmeilan. The second convoy included 20 trucks loaded with logistical materials and equipment and headed to the same city.
US military convoys entered the Jazira region of Hasakah through the al-Walid border crossing earlier in the day, heading toward military bases run by US forces in Rmeilan town.
In 2016, US troops have taken control of Rmeilan airfield in Hasakah to support Kurdish fighters against ISIS.
The airfield near the city of Rmeilan close to the Iraqi border was the first US-controlled airbase in Syria that was previously controlled by the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
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The supply convoys were reportedly sent following the U.S. airstrikes on the positions of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in the Iraq-Syria border area, killing four militants.
The retaliation was swift. On June 28, rocket fire hit the military base of U.S.-led international coalition near the Omar oil field in Deir Ezzor.
The reinforcement of U.S. forces in Syria may be a signal of up-coming escalation amid Washington’s pressure on Iran.
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The supply of U.S. military bases in Northern Syria is not an easy task. The U.S. supply convoys are regularly targeted and intercepted there.
ISIS cells are often behind IED attacks on convoys in Northeastern Syria. Another U.S. enemy in the border regions with Iraq are pro-Iranian forces, which have been carrying out similar attacks on US supply convoys for more than a year now.
U.S. military convoys are also not welcomed by local civilians, who support the Damascus government. For example, on June 15, civilians intercepted a patrol of the US-led coalition in the town of Farfara in the northern al-Hasakah.
Moreover, the U.S. military is violating the deconfliction mechanisms imposed in northeastern Syria on a regular basis. This is the reason why the U.S. military convoys are blocked by Russian forces. (LINK, LINK)
