News - Middle East: The US military has reportedly used two dozen tanker trucks to smuggle crude oil from Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah into the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.

Syria’s official news agency SANA, citing local sources, reported on Saturday that a convoy of 24 US military trucks loaded with stolen Syrian crude oil left Syria through the illegal al-Waleed border crossing in the town of al-Ya'rubiyah and headed toward the Iraqi territory. It added that the convoy of tankers was accompanied by armored vehicles affiliated to the US forces.

In January, the US military used the same route to smuggle Syrian crude oil by a convoy of 128 military trucks, including tankers and flatbed trucks carrying battle tanks and heavy ammunition.

On December 30, 2021, US forces brought in reinforcements from neighboring Iraq into areas in northeastern Syria. SANA at the time reported that 40 US military vehicles had entered the Syrian territories.

The US military has stationed forces and equipment in eastern and 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 Takfiri terrorists. Damascus, however, says the unlawful deployment is meant to plunder the country’s resources.

Former US President Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in Syria for its oil. After failing to oust the Syrian government with the help of its proxies and direct involvement in the conflict, the US government has now stepped up its economic war on the Arab country.

Source: Press TV