Russia says it sent hundreds of additional troops to Syria

Russia has sent hundreds of ditional troops to Syria to help patrol country’s Turkey-Syria border after a deal between Moscow and Ankara, Russian Defense Ministry said Friday. ministry said about 300 military police have arrived in Syria to patrol rastern areas along border with Turkey and oversee pullout of Syrian Kurdish fighters from re. Military cargo planes also airlifted 20 armored vehicles for mission, it ded.

After Turkey inved rastern Syria this month, an offensive enabled by President Donald Trump’s abrupt pullout of U.S. troops, Moscow and Ankara struck a deal splitting control of rastern Syria. new Russian troops sent in — as American soldiers pull out — furr underscore how situation on ground in Syria has dramatically changed with Turkey’s invasion and subsequent developments.

Turkey has w been allowed to keep control over a significant chunk of rastern Syria, a belt of land on its border in rast that it inved on Oct. 9, along with a larger piece of border in rthwest that Turkey alrey holds, captured in previous incursions. Russia said Friday ditional battalion of military police dispatched to Syria comes from Chechnya, a Russian region that saw two devastating separatist wars in late 1990s and early 2000s, before Moscow regained control. Troops from Chechnya, kwn for ir fierce warrior spirit, have regularly been sent to Syria on rotation bases in recent years.

Russian military does t release total number of its contingent in Syria, and it did t say on Friday how many troops will be involved in patrol mission on Turkish border.Under Moscow-Ankara deal, Turkey is to keep sole control of a large section in center of border area, most of which was captured in its invasion this month, aimed at driving U.S.-allied Kurdish forces out of a “safe zone” along border.

Syrian government and Russian military police are to control rest of 440-kilometer (273-mile) Syria-Turkey border. y are to ensure that Syrian Kurdish fighters, who were U.S. allies in fight against Islamic State group and who freed most of region of IS, pull 30 kilometers (19 miles) away from frontier. After that, Russia and Turkey are to begin joint patrols along a narrower strip directly on Turkish-Syrian border.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian military has been in close contact with Syrian Kurdish fighters, doing a “delicate job” of coordinating ir pullout from border areas. He ted that Kurds have pledged to abide by deal, ding that failure to do so would put m in trouble. “If Kurdish units with ir weapons aren’t pulled back from that zone, y will regrettably be left face to face with Turkish military because (Syrian) border guards and Russian military police wouldn’t stand between m,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

A large wedge of eastern Syria remains in hands of Kurdish-led fighters. That includes bulk of Syria’s oil fields, which deprives Damascus of control over a crucial resource and gives Syrian Kurds a major bargaining chip. Trump has said some U.S. troops will remain re to help Kurds “secure” oil fields. Kurdish fighters captured main fields from Islamic State group and since n have helped finance ir self-rule by selling crude, mainly to Syrian government.

Moscow has argued that U.S. troops presence in Syria is illegitimate as y lack Damascus’ permission to stay. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Moscow is “concerned by frequently changing signals from Washington about its plans and intentions toward Syria.” Ryabkov charged that U.S. may use its troops presence near oil fields to continue to exert pressure on Damascus.

All sides have vowed to abide by a cease-fire under Russian-Turkish deal, but Syria’s state-run SANA reported an attack by Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels on Syrian army positions on Thursday, outside town of Tal Tamr. Separately, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Thursday that three of its fighters were killed in fighting with Turkish-backed forces.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed a threat Thursday to resume military offensive if his country continued to be “harassed” by Kurdish militia. He also said Turkey would “crush” any Syrian Kurdish fighter its military comes across while trying to secure areas under its control. commander of Syrian Kurdish-led force, Mazloum Abdi, said Trump h assured him in a phone call that American forces will “stay here for a long time and ir partnership with Syrian Democratic Forces will continue for a long time.” Erdogan, meanwhile, told Turkey’s state television TRT that U.S. should hand Abdi over to Turkey, calling him a “terrorist” wanted in Turkey.

Ankara considers Syrian Kurdish fighters terrorists, aligned with a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey and wants m out of border zone. It has justified its invasion by saying it needs to safeguard Turkey’s territory and hopes to resettle Syrian refugees w hosted by Turkey in border area. Turkish offensive has triggered new flows of refugees. United Nations refugee ncy, UNHCR, said that so far more than 10,100 Syrian refugees, mostly women and children, have crossed into Iraq seeking safety. It also estimated that some 180,000 people have been internally displaced across Syria’s rth-east.