Syrian tribes refuse to cooperate with US occupation

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Several tribes in Al-Hasakah and Qamishli, Syria, issued statements calling to boycott the tribal form in Northern Iraq and Eastern Syria called for by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under Washington's auspices on November 20.

The statement called for preserving the national role of tribes and clans and preventing their usage as tools against their homeland, as well as solidarity and unity. It also underlined the need for popular resistance in the face of the US and Turkish occupation so Syria to force the occupiers to leave the land.

"Logistic measures are now being taken to hold a forum between clans and tribes in Syria on the land of the Al-Hasakah Governorate in a bid to achieve a malicious goal in the media," the statement further added.

The "malicious goal" in question, as per the tribes, is to show the country's tribes and clans as supportive of the US occupation, as they acknowledged the clans and tribes' pivotal effect on the region's future.

"The forum's goal is to undermine the international community, the United Nations, and the Astana guarantor states' efforts to solve the Syrian crisis as soon as possible," the statement further read, stressing the tribes' rejection of the forum and any other forum not held under the banner of the Syrian Arab Republic.

"Every party that attends the aforementioned forum is treacherous and would be contributing to the Zionist-US separatist plans in Syria."

The tribes, the statement said, are aware of the occupiers' attempts to attract some "strongmen and nobodies" and gave them the title of clan elders and notables with the aim of dispersing the loyalty of the tribesmen after the US occupation saw the salvoes of missiles being launched at its illegal military bases and how the tribes and clans were confronting its patrols throughout Syria.

This comes after the US occupation pillaged on November 14 a new quantity of oil from the Syrian al-Jazira region, marking the latest episode of the long series of plundering the country's resources.

The looting came only one day after occupation forces stole and transferred to Iraq a load of 94 tankers holding massive amounts of Syrian oil and wheat, as the country struggles with energy shortage and skyrocketing food prices due to the ongoing West-sponsored war and the embargo that was launched over 10 years ago.

The Cradle news website recently carried out an extensive investigation, unraveling the detailed looting operation by the US and its proxy militia the SDF, of the sovereign country's resources through illegal border crossings into the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. 

The investigation report cited the Syrian Oil Ministry, which stated that  US occupation forces stole over 80 percent of Syria's daily oil production, which comes close to “66,000 barrels of oil every single day.”

Meanwhile, hundreds took to the streets last month in the villages of the western countryside of Deir Ezzor in Syria, which are under the control of the SDF armed groups, to protest against the practices of the administration and the deterioration of the humanitarian and living situation in the region.

The demonstrations took place in the villages of Muhaymidah, Hawayej Thiyab, Hawayej Abu Mas'a, Al-Kabr, Al-Harmushiyah, Al-Kasrah, and Um Madfaa, where protesters held up banners denouncing the SDF, blocking roads with burning tires.

The participants in the protests demanded the availability of fuel, water, and electricity, as well as job opportunities for young people, in a way that curbs the sharp wave of migration and supports agriculture.

It is worth noting that the Syrian government accuses the SDF Autonomous Administration of selling, stealing, and smuggling fuel and wheat, and the salaries of workers in the Autonomous Administration do not exceed 300 thousand SYP, which is equivalent to about $60 only.