A US military armored vehicle outside an oil well in Syria’s Hasakah governorate on November 6, 2019. (Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images)
For the second time this week, US occupation troops have smuggled dozens of tanker trucks filled with oil plundered from Syria’s resource-rich Jazira region in the Hasakah governorate.
A convoy of 35 vehicles, including 20 tanker trucks loaded with Syrian oil, crossed into Iraq through the illegal Al-Waleed border crossing on 7 July, according to local sources.
The remainder of US army vehicles were covered trucks and refrigerator trucks, with several carrying military equipment.
Meanwhile, another US convoy of 25 oil tankers headed into Iraq through the illegal Mahmoudiyya crossing in the Yarubiyah countryside after plundering oil from the fields in Rmelan and Al-Shaddadi.
This convoy was reportedly escorted by three helicopters belonging to the US occupation army.
With this latest smuggling operation, US forces have now stolen nearly 100 tanker trucks filled with Syrian oil over the span of just four days.
On 4 July, 55 tanker trucks were taken from Hasakah governorate to US military bases in Iraq.
US troops and their proxy militia in northern Syria – the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – are in control of most of the oil fields in Hasakah and Deir Ezzor governorates, and have been regularly smuggling Syrian oil out of the country to sell it abroad.
The occupation troops have also been accused of stealing the country’s wheat supplies.
On 18 June, a convoy of 40 trucks filled with Syrian wheat from the Al-Jazeera region was smuggled into US military bases in Iraq.
On the same day, another convoy with 36 vehicles filled with stolen wheat crossed the Al-Waleed border from the Tal Hamis area.
Once a major wheat producer, Syria is now facing food shortages as a result of 11 years of war.
On 5 July, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), along with local citizens from the village of Al-Mujaibara, expelled a US army convoy that tried to break into an area under the control of the Syrian government.
The break-in attempt occurred just one day after a large missile strike reportedly targeted a US occupation base in Deir Ezzor governorate.