Baladi News
As the remaining pockets of ISIS fighters faced imminent defeat in northeast Syria, the United States allegedly gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse: give us your massive caches of gold - or die, the Zero Hedge network reported.
U.S. forces struck a deal with ISIS whereby the terrorist group would give up 50 tons of gold across eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor province in exchange for safe passage, Zero Hedge said according to a report by the Syrian News Agency SANA.
The precious metal, worth about $2.13 billion, was plundered by the self-designated “caliphate” as its reign of terror spread across Syria and Iraq between 2015 and 2017.
Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reports that local sources claim U.S. Army helicopters have already transferred the gold from the U.S. forces’ base in Kobani, the Kurdish-controlled city that lies close to Syria’s northern border with Syria. A portion of the gold was also distributed to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which dominates the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The claims by the Syrian government outlet coincide with reports by U.K.-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR), which alleged that the U.S. and its Kurdish allies had been sparing ISIS fighters in hopes of acquiring the group’s war spoils.
The SOHR said:
“The U.S.-led coalition forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) deliberately do not target the areas under the control of the ISIS terrorists and commanders in Eastern Euphrates in Deir Ezzor as they are trying to locate this treasure by forcing the ISIS militants to speak about its location after surrendering.”
During the destruction of ISIS-controlled Raqqa in Syria by the U.S.-led coalition, a secret deal was struck with the group that granted members safe passage as it evacuated the area. The deal, uncovered by the BBC, ensured the survival and freedom of many top ISIS leaders and a number of foreign fighters, Zero Hedge report added.
Source: The Zero Hedge.