Russia has launched a campaign of criticism against US forces in northeastern Syria and said there were reports of an “explosive spread” of the COVID-19 disease among American soldiers there.
“There are reports about an explosive spread of coronavirus infection among US troops, and that this is being hushed up,” said Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
“The US military presence in Syria is qualified as occupation in accordance with international humanitarian law. This means that Washington bears full responsibility for the civilian population and meeting its humanitarian needs in the areas controlled by it south of the Euphrates River and in al-Tanf, which is home to the notorious Rukban IDP camp,” she said.
The Rukban camp is located within a “deconfliction zone” set up by US forces in al-Tanf military base.
Zakharova’s remarks came as the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Syrian army is seeking to establish field centers for suspected coronavirus cases, in addition to deploying Syrian virus experts on major checkpoints set up on the country’s main highways in order to detect cases.
Russian media also quoted the spokesperson for the UN's humanitarian coordination office, David Swanson, as saying that the world body was concerned over the humanitarian situation in Rukban.
Its residents are no longer able to reach the UN-backed medical clinic on the other side of the Jordanian border, which was closed in March as part of measures taken by Jordan’s government to fight the coronavirus pandemic, he said.
But Swanson stressed that there were no COVID-19 cases in the camp.
