Pentagon weighs options to deter Russians in Syria
Jack Detsch October 25, 2019
After Russian forces in Syria appeared to be heading toward oil fields, the Pentagon proposed deploying tanks as a measure to guard the installations, a US official told Al-Monitor.
The Pentagon proposed deploying tanks to eastern Syria as an option to guard the region’s oil fields after the US was concerned Russia would cross a deconfliction line on the Euphrates River this week, a US official with knowledge of the situation told Al-Monitor.
Earlier this week, the US raised concerns that Russian forces might make a move to cross the river, which has served as a de facto marker between US-led operations to defeat the Islamic State and Moscow’s military campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, though Russian forces were not seen massing in the area.
At least two Trump administration sources confirmed there were concerns about putative Russian moves on Deir ez-Zor province, home to some of the war-torn country’s largest oil fields.
Read more:
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/10/pentagon-weighs-options-deter-russia-syria-oil.html#ixzz63YrwS0wc
