US arms shipments, Russian cruise missiles, add more complexities to the situation in Syria

As the conflict is still going on in different fronts in Syria, latest move by the US to send more arms for the Syrian rebels has sparked renewed controversies. At the same time, Russia has intensified its attacks against the terrorists, using cruise missiles to hit their positions in Palmyra.

کد خبر: ۶۹۹۶۳۶

تاریخ: ۱۰ خرداد ۱۳۹۶ - ۲۲:۲۷

Tabnak – As the conflict is still going on in different fronts in Syria, latest move by the US to send more arms for the Syrian rebels has sparked renewed controversies. At the same time, Russia has intensified its attacks against the terrorists, using cruise missiles to hit their positions in Palmyra.

According to a report published by Aljazeera, Syrian rebels say the United States and its allies are sending them more arms to try to fend off a new push into the southeast. This has coincided with a march towards the Syrian border by forces from Iraq. They reached the frontier adjoining northern Syria on Monday.

Shortly after this development and on Tuesday, a leader of one of the militant groups operating under the US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) said that there has been an increase in foreign military support. "There's no way we can let them (the Iraqi popular forces) open the Baghdad-Damascus highway," said Tlass Salameh.

A commander of another militant group operating with the FSA also announced that since earlier in the month a steady flow of weapons had been arriving at their base.

Also on Tuesday, the US announced that it had started to provide small arms to Kurdish forces battling ISIS in northern Syria, in a move which has drawn severe anger from Turkey. The arm’s supply began ahead of major operations aimed at liberating the northern Syria city of Raqqah from the ISIS terrorist group.

However, Turkey said the US arming of a Kurdish militia force deemed a terror group by Ankara was "extremely dangerous", and urged Washington to reverse its "mistake". "Such steps are extremely dangerous for Syria's unity and territorial integrity," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Meanwhile, two Russian warships fired several cruise missiles at ISIS targets in Syria from the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, the first such strikes announced in months. The missiles were intended to eliminate a stockpile of artillery that had been moved from Raqqa, ISIS' de facto capital in Syria, Kremlin statement said.

On the other hand, Russia said airstrikes conducted by the US-led coalition purportedly fighting terrorists in Syria "have been exacerbating the situation" in the Arab country and increased the "civilian death toll."

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that the airstrikes were "ill-conceived" as they kill more civilians than terrorists. The official also reiterated Russia’s previous calls on the United States and other Western governments involved in the conflict in Syria to do more to combat terrorism.

All in all, it seems that with a final resolution for the Syrian conflict as well as completely defeating the terrorists in the country still out of hand, the great powers involved in the conflict are trying to do more in order to consolidate their positions and also prevent the other sides from having considerable advances. Such a complex situation may only further add to the existing dire situation in the war-torn country.