BALADI NEWS
The U.S. troops in northeast Syria again prevented Russian military convoys from touring near the Iraqi border on Friday, in what locals described as an increased escalation between both sides over freedom of navigation in the predominantly Kurdish region.
The Voice of America (VAO) reported that American Humvees patrolling the main road of al-Malikiyah town, also known as Derik, in northeast Hasakah province, in what local sources said was an effort to prevent an approaching Russian convoy from passing by the region.
According to the VAO, the dispute was over the control of M4 highway, al-Malikiyah and Tall Tamr areas that became a dividing line between the two sides, following the October 2019 Turkish offensive that forced the U.S. to pull out from much of the Turkey-northeast Syria border region.
“I see [U.S. and Russian forces] a lot on these roads. They have their own disputes. They block roads here and there. For example, in Xana Sere village and in Derik,” a resident of al-Malikiyah, who for security reasons did not want to be named, told VOA.
This was not the first time U.S. forces had encountered Russian patrols in the area.
Nishan Mohammad, a local reporter, last week told VOA he saw at least three similar standoffs in which U.S. soldiers stopped Russian military vehicles and forced them to head back to their bases.
U.S. forces were in control of most of northeast Syria until October, when the Turkish military and its allied Syrian militants launched a campaign against the U.S.-backed SDF. Since then, Russian forces and the Syrian regime have entered the border region between Turkey and northeast Syria with the aim of filling the area evacuated by the U.S.
There are still about 500 troops in the area who, according to U.S. officials, are protecting the region's oil fields and preventing Islamic State from reemerging.
Source: VAO.