US drills in eastern Syria... prelude to adjoin SDF turf with Al-Tanf?
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The drills lasted for several days and included training on monitoring, reconnaissance systems, anti-aircraft weapons, and medium-to-heavy machine guns.
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US occupation soldiers patrol the Suwaydiyah oil fields in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on February 13, 2021 (AFP)
The international coalition, led by the US occupation in Syria, carried out a series of infantry drills, in cooperation with the so-called "Army of Free Syria" faction over an area of 55 km starting from the illegal Al-Tanf occupation base, on the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi border triangle.
The drills lasted for several days and included training on monitoring, reconnaissance systems, anti-aircraft weapons, and medium-to-heavy machine guns.
"As part of our joint mission to ensure security and stability and enhance joint combat capability in the 55 km area, the Army of Free Syria completed joint training exercises that lasted for several days," the faction said in a statement on social media.
Farid Al-Qassem, the leader of the faction said the "drills conducted jointly with the international coalition serve as a signal of hope for the Syrian people."
It is likely that Al-Qassem's statements hint at the existence of a US plan to link Al-Tanf base to the SDF-controlled areas in northeastern Syria, relying on tribal forces, which the United States continues to form in the SDF-controlled areas.
Field sources told Al Mayadeen that "the United States has not yet been able to form any nucleus of a tribal force into militias directly affiliated with it to protect its bases in northeastern Syria from attacks."
The sources suggested that "the SDF does not want to engage in any war and is probably working to obstruct the organization of tribes into militias."
"A US initiative to link the Al-Tanf base with its bases in northeastern Syria is far-fetched because this is impossible in light of the deployment of the Syrian army and its auxiliary forces in the entire desert that connects Al-Tanf with the Homs desert, all the way to Al-Bukamal," the sources explained.
"The coalition is trying to put pressure on the popular resistance to prevent it from expanding its operations against the illegal presence of US bases in the south and northeast of the country."
Read more: Governmental meetings with SDF on the possibility of solution in Syria
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
