WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) The United States does not see an imminent threat from pro-Syrian government forces to potentially take oil fields controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander General Kenneth McKenzie said in a press briefing.
"We do recognize potentially Syrian pro-regime forces might want to push particularly against the oil fields that our SDF partners operate that do provide a source of income for them," McKenzie said on Thursday. "We'll have to see how that plays out, we've been able to hold the line on that to this date and I don't see any sign of an imminent attempt to do that. It's certainly something we'll watch for in the future."
McKenzie has previously said that it is the SDF fighters who defend oil fields in northeast Syria and US troops just enable them to do it.
Control over the oil reserves is necessary to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Islamic State terror group (outlawed in Russia) and allowing them to regenerate a nascent economy in eastern Syria.
Damascus has said the United States is in Syria illegally and is engaged in theft of Syrian oil under the excuse of fighting the Islamic State.
