Russia Says Violations by US-Led Coalition in Syria Increasing
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, Rear Adm. Oleg Gurinov, reported an increase in the number of violations linked to flights of drones and planes of the US-led international coalition in Syria.
Gurinov told reporters on Thursday that coalition members continue to openly violate deconfliction protocols and the bilateral memorandum on the safety of flights in Syria. In his opinion, those violations are deliberate and systematic.
"Compared to the previous year, the number of violations related to flights of unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft of the coalition increased significantly, with a total of 452 such violations registered since the start of 2023," Gurinov told reporters.
In a separate development, he said, Russia registered two shelling attacks of the Idlib de-escalation zone, carried out by terrorists from the Idlib and Latakia governorates. A Syrian serviceman was killed in one of those attacks, which targeted positions of the Syrian government forces near the settlement of Jubas in Idlib.
On Friday, the United States carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria, targeting government facilities in Deir Ez-Zur province.
It came following an alleged attack on a US contractor at an illegal coalition base in the country's north-east.
The US military has for long stationed its forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists.
Damascus, however, maintains the deployment is meant to plunder the country’s natural resources.
