The Battle in North-east Syria for Syrian Oil and Territory

by Vanessa Beeley, published on Vanessa’s Substack, August 12, 2024

The War Continues: Syrian Tribal Forces clash with US proxies and threaten Al Omar oil field with liberation

There is a very real risk of Israel expanding the war in the West Asia region – Netanyahu is not bowing to any pressure from any of the hollowed-out and compromised international law institutions like the ICC and ICJ.

The genocide of Palestinians continues with impunity and increasing savagery. The recent exposure of IOF forces participating in anal rape of Palestinian detainees just the latest in a litany of sadistic barbarism that has been deployed to terrorise Palestinians, children, men, women, no matter.

The latest massacre was committed during Fajr prayer at dawn as Palestinians gathered to pray in Al-Tabi’in School, northern Gaza on the 10th August. More than 100 civilians were slaughtered, their bodies unrecognisable after a reported three 2000lb bombs were dropped by the Zionists on the worshippers. Bombs supplied by the US.

“In the Fajr Massacre, the remains of the martyrs were mixed together and the ambulance crews were unable to identify the bodies of the martyrs or count their number due to the large number of remains. So the medical crews resorted to collecting the remains in bags, then weighing them and dividing the weight by the approximate weight of a human being (70 kg).

– We are no longer numbers, we have become approximate numbers.” M. Shebrawy in Gaza

Syria lies geographically at the heart of the Resistance Axis forming a land bridge for the Iranians to send weapons and humanitarian aid to Lebanon and Palestine. For this reason (among many others) Syria was targeted for regime change and partitioning from 2011 until today.

The US has tried in vain to take full control of the north-east and eastern borders to control Iranian access and prevent the flow of arms and oil into the energy-deprived region. This while the US is occupying and stealing Syrian oil both directly and via their proxy occupation forces in this area of Syria – formerly ISIS or now the Kurdish separatists also backed by Israel.

Watch Dana Stroul, then Co-Chair of the Syria Study Group openly boast about the US strategy to control Syrian resources in 2019:

If the region erupts into a full-blown war with Israel – Syria needs to have access to Syrian oil resources and to end US illegal occupation of the north-east down to the US allied Al Tanf military base in the south-east on the border with Jordan.

Iran, Hezbollah, Iraqi Resistance factions and Yemen’s Ansarullah have vowed to retaliate for

1. The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran
2. The assassination of Fouad Shukr in a civilian area of southern Beirut
3. The targeting of PMF (Popular Mobilisation Forces) by the US south of Baghdad
4. The Zionist bombing of Al Hodeida in Yemen which targeted the Yemeni Oil Company.

In February, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, suspended its operations against US forces in Iraq, in hopes that a special governmental committee and Washington would negotiate a framework for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.

After it became apparent that these negotiations were not leading to US withdrawal -the Islamic Resistance Iraq has recently restored operations against US bases in Iraq and Syria with two strikes:

1. Ain Al Assad US base in Iraq on the 5th August, one week after the US bombed a base south of Baghdad killing four PMF soldiers. Several At least five US soldiers and contractors were injured Pentagon officials have confirmed.
2. On August 9th late at night the illegal US base in Kharab Al Jir near the town of Al Rmelan (north-eastern Syria) was hit by drones that targeted military housing and ammunition depots causing fires at the base that blazed until morning.

On the 2nd August it was reported that Iraqi forces have increased security along the country’s border with Syria following the release of hundreds of ISIS fighters from prison camps controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) last month.

The release of ISIS prisoners under the control of the Kurdish Contras is considered by most Syrian analysts to be aligned with US and Zionist interests in the region. CIA involvement in these mass break-outs by ISIS or their release by the US-controlled SDF is documented in a 2022 article by Syrian journalist Ibrahim Wahdi.

On January 27 2021, the Military Public Prosecution (MPP) in Syria issued a statement, stressing that there is no legal justification for the US presence in Syria and it has no name other than “occupation”, and that the recent events in Hasaka represent the US plan to keep the region under its occupation for a longer period by sponsoring the separatist scheme under the cover of the illegal “International Coalition” and supporting SDF equipment, weapons, and political cover.

The MPP presented facts and documents that prove and expose the relationship between the United States and ISIS, through the support of the US forces located at Al-Tanf base for the attacks launched by ISIS terrorists in the Syrian Badia against the Syrian forces and their allies.

[..]

We can clearly see that the largest organized smuggling and mass transfer of ISIS militants towards the Syrian Badia connected with the Iraqi border north of Al-Tanf region, which coincided with the Ukraine crisis and the negotiations of the Iranian nuclear deal, aims to trigger chaos by CIA and Israeli intelligence through reviving ISIS to keep it as a pretext for the US occupation of Syrian lands.

This covers its looting of Syrian resources, in addition to promoting a demographic change in northern Syria by exiling Arabs from the region while Turkey is strengthening its mercenaries in there.

While Turkey was bombing SDF sites instead of ISIS, SDF was razing Arab houses in the area during the clashes.

6th August – A report in Qatari media announced the return of troops from the US-led international coalition to the K-1 military base in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, Iraq for the first time since 2020.

An informed Kurdish source told TNA, “The force, comprising about 40 soldiers and 10 to 15 US-made armored Hummer vehicles, was sent from Erbil and deployed at the K-1 military base.”

The Cradle reported:

The deployment of US and coalition troops to Kirkuk follows the Iraqi government’s signing on 1 August of a deal with UK oil giant BP to develop oil and gas fields in Kirkuk.

What is clear is that the US allied forces will use the convenient and orchestrated reemergence of an ISIS threat in Iraq to increase their military footprint in the region defying the alleged Iraqi government claims to be pushing for a US withdrawal. This despite a report released in 2024 by the inspectors general of the US State Department, Defence Department and USAID that determined that ISIS poses a minimal threat in Iraq and Syria.

On 3rd August local media reported that Resistance factions targeted and shot down an American occupation surveillance balloon near the military base at the Al Omar oil field in Deir Ezzor, north-eastern Syria. “Local sources reported an intensive flight of US planes after the balloon was downed”.

On the 7th August an armed coalition of Syrian Tribal Forces (separate from the Syrian Arab Army) attacked Kurdish Contra positions and liberated several towns from the US/Israel-backed Kurdish militia. This was the largest operation since the start of the Arab tribes rebellion against the US occupation by Kurds last year.

The Tribal attacks were carried out under cover of artillery and mortar shells according to Sputnik. This would suggest the Syrian Arab Army provided back-up for the attacks while maintaining a distance from a direct military confrontation with the Kurdish militia or directly with the US.

Al Busrayah and Diban were liberated in the attacks. Sputnik reported:

“Violent clashes have been ongoing since the early morning hours between the forces of the SDF-linked Deir Ezzor and Hajin Military Councils on the one hand, and the attacking groups of the ‘Army of Tribes’ coalition on the other, in the vicinity of the towns of Abu Hamam, Dhiban, Al-Lattwa, Al-Kashkiya, and Gharanij,”

The clashes were concentrated in the towns of Al-Sabha and Al-Tayana, east of Deir Ezzor city.

According to the Sputnik local correspondent – SDF militants imposed a complete curfew in the towns under their control in the Deir Ezzor countryside, after the arrival of large military reinforcements from Hasakah and Raqqa, coinciding with a wide search operation in the villages surrounding the areas of clashes.

The Tribal Forces damaged three Hummer military vehicles in the vicinity of the US illegal base at the Al Omar oilfield.

Al Mayadeen’s correspondent reported that American helicopters targeted a group of tribal forces using machine guns near the banks of the Euphrates River in the town of Dhiban, east of Deir Ezzor. The US military also deployed reinforcements to the areas surrounding their military base at Al Omar.

Syrian journalist Mohammed Dabaa said on X:

After continuous training received by the tribal forces during the past months, the tribes led by Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Hafel launched a violent attack on the largest in the cities and towns of Deir Ezzor, and took control of several military points in the city of Al-Busayrah and the towns of Ibriha, Al-Harijiya, Al-Tayana, Abu Hamam, Gharanij, Al-Kashkiya, Dhiban, Al-Latwa neighborhood, and all the riverside points

The SDF imposed a complete curfew in all areas under its control in the eastern and western Deir Ezzor countryside following the attacks by the Tribal Forces.

Al Mayadeen sources confirmed that civilians and fighters were killed and injured in the ranks of the tribes and the SDF, noting that the Fighters of the Tribes were able to capture several SDF fighters during the ongoing operation against their stronghold in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside.

The sources added that the tribal forces were able to penetrate through the towns of al-Kashkiya, Gharanij, Abu Hamam, Diban, and al-Latwa in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside.

Al Mayadeen also pointed out:

Five days ago, it was reported that the US military is continuing to bolster its bases in the occupied al-Hasakah province of northeastern Syria, deploying additional Apache helicopters and military equipment, according to a Syrian military source cited by Sputnik.

“US forces have reinforced their bases with 15 Apache helicopters to improve their ability to conduct attacks,” the source said.

At the time, a Syrian military source told Sputnik that a US military plane landed at the Kharab al-Jir base, carrying military equipment, air defense missiles, logistics materials, and 25 service members.

Earlier the same day, the US DoD announced that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would oversee the deployment of more forces to the Middle East to support “Israel,” though the exact number of additional troops has yet to be determined.

Syrian opposition media immediately tried to blame Iranian backed forces for the attack, playing into the Zionist hasbara that anyone opposing the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the Occupied Territories or the neocon agendas in the region should be deemed an Iranian proxy.

The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) held the Syrian regime responsible for the attack on the SDF positions in Deir Ezzor, stating in a statement on Wednesday that Deir Ezzor was subjected to a “treacherous and cowardly” attack by “Damascus regime forces and their remnants linked to external powers,”

While social media has been buzzing with the news that the Tribal Forces have retaken the Al Omar oilfield, I am yet to see confirmation from local sources. The Arab tribal forces reached the vicinity of the US base in the Al-Omar oilfield in the Deir Ezzor countryside.

The Tribal Forces alone would be up against a disproportionate force in the alliance of the US-armed and sponsored Kurdish militia and the US military hardware and personnel that have been increasing their military presence in the area.

Sources informed Al Mayadeen that the goal of the tribal campaign “is not territorial control but to affirm the tribes’ rejection of the SDF and US forces’ presence in the area, their control over oil and gas, and their influence on civil and military decisions.”

This could also be a Syrian Military Intelligence probe of US military capability and maneuverability in the north-east with a potential escalation on the horizon.

In response, the Kurdish Contras tightened the siege on the city of Hasaka preventing the entry of flour, water and essential supplies as a collective punishment of the local Syrian people.

Kurdish (Qasad in Syrian) militia continues to prevent water transport tanks belonging to international organizations from entering to fill the fixed tanks spread in the streets after the main subsidiary entrances leading to the city center were tightly closed.

For further information on the crimes of the US-backed Kurdish Contras in Syria, Washington’s weapon of mass destabilisation in the Middle East – here, here, here. Historical context here, here, and here. From my Substack:

Washington moves to annex north-east Syria by proxy – Nuland has announced that the US will allow foreign investment in north-east Syria under the control of the Kurdish Separatists, another US Coaliton proxy in Syria. These investments will not be affected by the unprecedented sanctions that are effectively blockading Syria.

The increase in military operations by the Tribal Forces could also be part of the pressure that Damascus would like to put on the Kurdish separatists to return to the negotiating table with Damascus and away from the US sphere of influence.

The tribal assaults appear timed to coincide with the increase in efforts by Russia and more recently Iraq to normalise relations between Damascus and Ankara. This could signal a two pronged attack on the Kurds from the Tribal Forces and the Turkish forces in the north that have already posed a major threat to the Kurdish separatist militia.

The following was a Telegram post in a series of 7 from Resistance News Network that raises some very salient points:

U.S. Fortifications in Syria and Iraq – The Farce of Withdrawal (6/7):

As Cyprus has become increasingly militarized in the last two weeks following the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh and Fouad Shukr, so too has the illegal American presence in Syria and Iraq. This is in part due to renewed operations targeting their bases after a months-long pause, but also due to an expectation that the Axis’ response could include them.

Thus, the US has reinforced its presence in recent days through various means. American forces have begun building watchtowers across the Euphrates river in eastern Syria, out of fear that the Resistance will switch to ground operations targeting the bases instead of the usual drones and missiles.

This new reinforcement comes to attempt to prevent resistance fighters from reaching east of the Euphrates, following the large-scale attack on US-backed SDF sites in recent days by Syrian-backed Arab tribes that liberated US-occupied villages in eastern Syria. The watchtowers seek to place a chokehold on movement between Syria and Iraq (through the Bukamal crossing) and continuous intelligence.

Further, Al-Omar oil field, Conoco oil field, and the Kharab Al-Jir base in eastern Syria have seen reinforcement in weapons, equipment, and personnel. Field sources revealed to Lebanese Al-Akhbar that the bases have been reinforced with 25 new personnel, along with the transfer of defensive systems to counter drones and missiles and continuous reconnaissance activity. The sources added that new tests on defensive systems were conducted at Conoco, after 10 missiles made impact on the US military site a few days ago.

Additionally, field sources pointed to American intentions to build a new airstrip at the Al-Tanf base, located between Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, where three US soldiers were killed in January.

All this points to the fact that American claims of intention to withdraw from Syria—or even withdrawal from Iraq—are fabrications, providing further justification for the renewal of the resistance’s operations. Thus, the resistance will continue.

As regional escalation seems increasingly likely it appears that the US is embedding its air-defence and military personnel and hardware in the region in preparation for a war between Israel and the entire Resistance Axis.