Turkish forces place militant families in Syria’s Ra’s al-Ayn houses

Turkish military forces in Syria’s northeastern province of al-Hasakah have reportedly accommodated a new batch of families of allied Takfiri militants in residential buildings there, after rightful owners had to leave the area in light of a cross-border ground offensive against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militants.

Syria’s official news agency SANA, citing local sources requesting not to be named, reported that Turkish troops brought in more than 20 militant families from the border village of al-Sokkariyeh into the key border town of Ra's al-Ayn on Thursday.

The report added that the Takfiris were onboard three buses and squatted houses in neighborhoods across the town shortly after arrival.

Turkish-backed militants were deployed to northern Syria last October after Turkish military forces launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion in a declared attempt to push the YPG militants away from border areas.

Syria vows fight against ‘American, Turkish, Israeli occupiers’

Syria’s UN ambassador tells the Security Council that any foreign military presence in the Arab country without Damascus’ consent amounts to ‘occupation and aggression.’

Ankara views the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.

On October 22 last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed a memorandum of understanding that asserted the YPG militants had to withdraw from the Turkish-controlled "safe zone" in northeastern Syria within 150 hours, after which Ankara and Moscow would run joint patrols around the area.

40 US military vehicles enter Syria's Hasakah

Separately on Thursday, US forces brought in military reinforcements from Iraq to northeastern Syria.

SANA, quoting unnamed local sources, said a convoy of 40 trucks, carrying logistics and military gears, in addition to nine Humvees and four vehicles carrying telecommunication devices crossed the al-Walid border crossing point between Iraq and Syria, and reached a US base in al-Shaddadi town of Hasakah province.

Syria finds US-made TOW missiles, Israeli mines in southern region

Syrian army finds major stocks of arms and ammunition, including US-made TOW anti-tank missiles in the southern part of the country.

The report added that the US military convoy was escorted by militants from the Kurdish-led and so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Russia: Daesh militants step up attack in NE Syria amid pandemic

Moreover, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Daesh militants have exploited the novel coronavirus pandemic to step up their operations in northeastern Syria.

“We are registering a deterioration of the situation in the areas in northeastern Syria outside the government’s control. Daesh militants decided to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic. They intensified their incursions,” the diplomat added.

Zakharova noted that the terrorists launched over 20 attacks against Kurdish forces between May 10 and 15 alone, leaving more than 20 people killed and some 40 others wounded as a result.

“Also, we paid attention to the alarming report that seven Daesh militants had escaped from the prison at the al-Hawl camp for internally displaced people. All these facts confirm once again that the United States and its allies, which are occupying the area across the Euphrates, do not care about civilians, security and other really important issues,” the Russian diplomat pointed out.

US sanctions against Syria amid pandemic amount to medical terrorism: Ambassador

Syria’s ambassador to Russia slams as medical terrorism US sanctions against his country amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The Syrian Health Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that seven new COVID-19 cases had been registered in the war-ravaged country, bringing the overall number of cases to 58.

The ministry added that the new cases were diagnosed in people who had recently returned to Syria from Kuwait.

Syria has so far recorded 36 recoveries and three deaths from COVID-19, according to the statement.

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