Russia accuses the US of training “terrorists” in Syria

Fighters from the Free Syrian Army alongside US soldiers at the al-Tanf military base in eastern Syria during training – April 4, 2024 (Free Syrian Army/Facebook)

The head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, has accused US forces of training “terrorists” at the al-Tanf military base in eastern Homs province, Syria.

In a meeting of the Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services of the Commonwealth of Independent States, on Monday, October 7, Naryshkin stated that the US base in al-Tanf has long since transformed into a “terrorist training center.”

He added, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, that US forces had trained 500 members of the Islamic State group and “other jihadists” at the al-Tanf base, giving priority to migrants from the Caucasus republics and Central Asia, and forming mobile groups from them to carry out “terrorist” actions against Russian forces in Syria.

The Russian official reiterated accusations that Ukraine supplied Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Islamic Turkestan Party among others in northwestern Syria with attack and reconnaissance drones, in addition to ammunition, and organized training courses in Idlib for the operators of these drones.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has repeatedly accused its neighbor of coordinating with Syrian military factions to launch attacks against it, a claim that the parties involved have denied on numerous occasions.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, operating in Idlib, denied Russia’s accusations of receiving training from Ukraine in coordination with the United States.

Previously, the official spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated that Ukraine has long attracted “militants” to carry out attacks against Russians, noting that it also coordinated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls areas in northwestern Syria for the same purpose.

Zakharova added via her official account on the messaging app Telegram, that Ukraine has maintained its communication with “terrorists” for the purpose of coordinating attacks against Russian citizens, exchanging information and technology, and using “false flag” tactics.

Russia has repeatedly accused the United States of overseeing the training of elements of the Islamic State group in eastern Syria, specifically at the al-Tanf military base, although Washington has not commented on these allegations.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced since the beginning of this year that it has been targeting “militants and extremists” in the al-Tanf area in eastern Homs province, where US-led International Coalition Forces are stationed in an area known as the “55 kilometers” or al-Tanf base.

Moscow points out in its announcements that its airstrikes have targeted “armed” or “extremist” groups or both, after they left the al-Tanf base where US forces are stationed.

The 55 kilometers area includes local factions supported by Washington, most notably what was known as the Revolutionary Commando Army (now the Free Syrian Army), and nearby are remnants of two previously collapsed local factions, the Forces of the Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo and the Lions of the East Army, with the focus of these factions being to combat the Islamic State group in the region.