Shockwave: the American military was shot in Syria
The US-led anti-terrorist coalition has conducted a series of raids on the suburbs of Syrian Palmyra. This was a response to the attack against the US military. President Donald Trump has promised a tough response to the terrorists. At the same time, Damascus claims that Washington knew about the threat, but ignored it. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Cooperation continues
After the death of American soldiers in Palmyra, located in the central part of the Syrian province of Homs, the United States will not abandon the strategy of partnership with the current Syrian authorities in the fight against the Islamic State group (IS, a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation). Instead, Washington will only strengthen joint work, said Tom Barrack, the US president's special envoy for Syria and the country's ambassador to Turkey.
According to him, the American strategy is to enable Syrians with "limited operational support from the United States" to track down ISIS networks. "This approach allows the fight to be conducted locally, limits U.S. involvement and helps avoid another large-scale war in the Middle East. The recent attack does not cancel this strategy, on the contrary, it strengthens it," the diplomat stressed.
At the same time, the head of the diplomatic mission added that the American authorities would not let the attack on their soldiers go unpunished. "Our strong partnerships within the framework of the global coalition against ISIS, including the firm support of countries allied to the new Syrian government, will strengthen efforts to neutralize ISIS militants wherever they hide," Barrack said.
On Saturday, December 13, the Pentagon announced the deaths of two US military personnel and an American translator in the Palmyra area. According to Washington, they helped to carry out an operation against ISIS in the area. Three more soldiers were injured, their condition is stable. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth added that the attacker was eliminated "by the forces of partners."
All this happened a few weeks after the signing of the agreement between Damascus and Washington on anti-terrorist cooperation, Danila Krylov, a researcher at the Department of the Middle and Post-Soviet East at the INION RAS, told Izvestia.
— The attack in Syria demonstrates that the current official government has significant problems controlling its own territories. Every government in Syria has had such problems. The fall of the Assad government, the withdrawal of the Iranian proxies and the limited presence of Russia, it would seem, should have contributed to the fact that now the Americans alone control what is happening there. But the reality, as always, is very different from what Americans imagine in high offices," the analyst points out.
Moreover, according to Krylov, there is a clear tendency in Syria to divide the country from within.
"There will be many different terrorist formations that sooner or later will begin to unite under one charismatic leader in the form of the Islamic State 2.0," the expert believes.
We received a warning
Donald Trump said that the interim president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was "extremely outraged and concerned" by the attack. The Transitional Government of the Republic strongly condemned the terrorist attack. "We extend our condolences to the families of the victims, the government and the people of the United States, and wish the injured a speedy recovery," said Asaad al—Sheibani, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Syrian Transitional Government.
At the same time, local security officials said they had repeatedly warned the Americans about the threat.
The Syrian television channel Syria TV, citing sources, reported that an armed man, an employee of the Syrian security forces, opened fire on the Syrian and American military during their joint patrol of the territory. His links to ISIS are currently being investigated.
The attack was carried out by a man affiliated with the Syrian security forces using a machine gun, he knows the inner workings, which means that the Syrians have very serious problems within the entire system of government, Danila Krylov emphasizes.
Meanwhile, the foreign coalition against ISIS launched a series of raids in Palmyra with the support of the Syrian security forces.
Limited reaction
Expert of the Russian Council on International Affairs (RIAC) Kirill Semenov added that after the terrorist attack against the US military in Palmyra on Saturday, there was another terrorist attack.
— As a result of an armed ambush by an IS militant group against the traffic police near the town of Maarrat al-Numan in Idlib province, six policemen were reportedly killed. After that, the battle with the IS group continued when reinforcements arrived. According to the latest data, the Syrian government forces have lost 14 people killed," the political scientist said.
He said that the Syrian intelligence service, together with coalition forces, detained six employees of the General Security Service (SOB) at the headquarters in Palmyra, suspected of complicity in organizing this terrorist attack.
"There may be hundreds of people like the attacker who could have joined the General Security Service after the change of power in Syria purposefully to participate in the organization of terrorist attacks. The latest mass recruitment of Syrians to the Security Council could have been carried out without proper checks of candidates," the expert said.
Danila Krylov, in turn, believes that the Americans can carry out a raid or an air operation in response.
— But the main question is: against whom? It is not very clear whether the enemy has a central headquarters or a capital. So far, the enemy looks more like a multitude of individual fragments. These are not pro-Iranian, non-Shiite militias, where it is clearly clear where they are located. And most importantly, it is still not clear who is sponsoring them," the expert believes.
The analyst believes that the US response will be very limited.
"There will be many statements, perhaps some kind of limited military operation on the ground, which will result in reports that "everyone has been defeated," but in fact little will change, and these incidents will repeat themselves until official Damascus falls again," Krylov is sure.
He recalled that the Americans have repeatedly declared victory over all terrorists in the Middle East in general and in Syria in particular.
— But it turned out that there is nothing like that, because these terrorist organizations are not so much people as an idea, and it is very difficult to destroy an idea. And in conditions when the HTS is a conglomerate of various groups that may disagree with the position of official Damascus, and sometimes oppose it, the formation of alternative forces is a matter of time," the political scientist concluded.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
