Russian Defense: 27 militants trained by US forces surrendered to the Syrian army
The head of the Russian Reconciliation Center of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Oleg Goralev, announced, Wednesday, that the 27 militants who surrendered to the Syrian authorities, reported that they had received training by American trainers, to carry out attacks and sabotage on oil and gas sites as well as the infrastructure of sites under the control of the Syrian army.
According to the testimonies of members of the armed groups who joined the government forces, the Americans provided them with weapons and vehicles, and they were trained by the United States to sabotage the oil and gas infrastructure, transport and organize terrorist acts in the territories under the control of the Syrian government forces,” Goralev said in a briefing.
Goralev stated that, “On the night of April 13-14, a group of gunmen who trained at the US Army base near Rukban camp tried to leave the Al Tanf area”.
He added that “the gunmen decided to surrender to the government forces and return to a peaceful life, but at the borders of the 55 km security zone, a group of extremist gangs attacked by the Maghaweir Al Thawrah (commandos of the revolution)”, supported by the United States”.
He continued: “As a result of the clash, the fighters lost 3 trucks, and 27 people managed to escape, and they are currently in Palmyra under the protection of the Syrian army”.
He revealed that they “handed over dozens of small arms, including rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, including weapons manufactured in Western countries”.
On March 5, talks took place in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan, focused on settlement issues in Syria, led by means of finding a solution to the current crisis in the de-escalation zone in Idlib.
A ceasefire was agreed upon as of the night of March 5, and among the terms of the agreement was the start of the joint patrols between the Russians and the Turks on the international road M4 in Syria (the Latakia-Aleppo road) on March 15.
