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The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) had foiled an infiltration attempt by the Revolutionary Commando Army (MaT) near the US-occupied southeastern Syrian are of al-Tanf, Oleg Yegorov, deputy chief of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Parties in Syria, announced on August 25.
The US-led coalition maintains a fairly large garrison in al-Tanf. The MaT is the coalition’s main proxy group in the strategic area.
“On August 25, 2022, at 00:10, in the vicinity of Al Ulayyaniyah -66 kilometers south of Palmyra-, the militants of the MaT armed group on two pickup trucks with large-caliber machine guns attempted to break through from the at-Tanf area controlled by the US-led international coalition onto the territory controlled by the Syrian government. As a result of an armed clash between the members of the group and Syria’s armed forces, three militants were eliminated. Three Syrian servicemen sustained serious wounds,” he said.
The military official added that the incident demonstrated the US-led coalition inability to establish control over at-Tanf and intercept terror attacks.
The US-led coalition maintains a 55-kilometer no-fly zone around al-Tanf garrison, where 200 of its personnel and 300 militants of the MaT are usually present. The garrison blocks a strategic highway that links the Syrian capital, Damascus, with the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Recently, Russia and Syria accused the US-led coalition of sheltering and training terrorists in al-Tanf 55-kilometer zone. Terrorists trained there were allegedly sent to Syria’s central region to fight government forces with ISIS cells. There was also claims about some of them being sent to Ukraine to fight against the Russian military that is currently conducting a special operation there.
On June 7, a series of Russian strikes hit positions of the MaT in al-Tanf Garrsion. The strikes were reportedly a response to an attack by MaT militants that resulted in Russian military casualties. Later on August 5, a second series of Russian airstrikes neutralized a unit of the US-backed al-Qaryatayn Martyrs Brigade near al-Tanf. The group was behind a number of sabotage acts that targeted civilian infrastructure in government-held areas.
The US-led coalition and its proxies continue to use al-Tanf as a forward base for sabotage. Unrest around the area could soon develop into a full-blown military confrontation.
