Russian deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin accused on Saturday the United States of transforming a region near the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian border into a “terrorist reserve.”
“We can only be concerned with the 55-kilometer safe zone near al-Tanf village on the Syrian-Iraqi border, which has effectively seen the establishment of a terrorist reserve,” he told Russia 24 television.
He said that “the terrorists there are being armed and trained in plotting attacks that are launched from this reserve.”
He accused the US special forces of overseeing these preparations.
Moreover, the Russian official said that Americans were preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into the al-Rukban refugee camp, which is located near al-Tanf.
“This had led to a catastrophic deterioration in the humanitarian situation there,” said Fomin.
The Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria had previously revealed that the US military had closed off a 55-kilometer zone around its al-Tanf base. This has consequently left some 50,000 refugees without access to aid.
The RT television reported that Moscow had proposed to Washington cooperation to help deliver humanitarian aid to the displaced.
The US-led coalition had agreed to the suggestion, but claimed that the Syrian authorities had not confirmed their readiness to grant access to humanitarian convoys, it added.
