US smuggles 35 stolen oil tankers out of Syria
The Syrian SANA agency has reported that the US forces have smuggled a convoy of 35 tankers filled with oil, accompanied by several US armored vehicles, into Iraq.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported Saturday that 35 US vehicles, including oil tankers and a military escort convoy, made their way out of Syria heading toward Iraq through the illegal Mahmoudiya and Al-Waleed crossings.
A convoy of 35 vehicles with tankers loaded with stolen Syrian oil that the US occupation forces control, as well as several covered trucks traveled through the unauthorized Mahmoudiya crossing which was allocated by the US occupation forces more than two years ago to steal Syrian oil, one day after they smuggled 14 tankers loaded with Syrian oil.
"A convoy of 23 covered trucks and tankers loaded with US military equipment and logistical materials entered Iraq through the illegal Al-Waleed crossing," the news agency added.
SANA also reported on Thursday citing local sources that “a convoy of 156 vehicles, including 40 refrigerating cars and more than 50 tankers carrying military equipment, containers, cannons, and a number of Hummers, some of which carry huge devices entered Iraq.”
During a meeting on Friday with his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called the US military presence in Syria a violation of international norms, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
"The head of the Russian military department drew Akar's attention to the fact that the US military has been deployed on the territory of the sovereign state of Syria for a long time. Shoigu called their stay there a violation of international norms and stressed that militants of terrorist organizations are being trained at the US bases, such as the one in Al-Tanf," the ministry told reporters.
The minister also stated that unilateral US sanctions against Damascus are illegal and worsen the Arab country's humanitarian situation. The US military has seized several Syria regions from which they illegally extract resources, according to Shoigu.
"Shoigu, in a conversation with Akar, noted the need to maintain a ceasefire in Syria. The departments of the two countries are constantly in contact on this issue at various levels," the ministry added.
See more: The US, a bandit in Syria