US-Russia Scuffles in Syria Unlikely to End in Conflict - Russian Military Diplomat

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2020) United States troops in Syria will continue to use provocations and small scuffles with Russian forces to keep tensions high, but that is unlikely to lead to an open conflict between the two sides, Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, former head of the Russian Defense Ministry's International Military Cooperation Department told Sputnik.

"By such minor provocations, including on the roads, the US military will maintain tension in Syria. They are not interested in allowing the situation stabilizing completely and Russia appears the Primary force of resolution. Conflicts between Russian and US military will continue but that won't lead to open confrontation," Ivashov said.

A video published to Twitter late on Wednesday by an eyewitness shows a US military vehicle actively swerving to block a Russian armored truck, "Tigr," from overtaking it before eventually forcing both vehicles off the road.

The video was tagged as taking place east of Qamishli, a largely Kurdish region near the borders with Turkey and Iraq.

This incident is the latest in a series of clashes that have transpired in the region where US and Russian troops overlap. Videos from January show at least two incidents in which US military vehicles caused congestion on the roads around the Hasakah border province to hamper Russian military movements in the region.

Earlier in February, Russian soldiers played the mediators between US soldiers and a Kurdish community after US troops opened fire, killing one civilian and wounding several others in a skirmish outside Qamishli.