92nd month of Coalition operations in Syria | Nearly 120 trucks arrive at military bases under ongoing reinforcements and promises of continued support for Autonomous-Administration
Completing the 92nd consecutive month of military operations against the “Islamic State” in Syria, the International Coalition continues sending in military reinforcement to SDF-held areas, carrying out raids, arrests, and various security operations in several areas controlled by SDF. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in turn, tracked and monitored all operations and movement of the International Coalition during the last month.
In the 92nd month of International Coalition operations in Syria, 115 trucks and vehicles affiliated to the Coalition, carrying military and logistical supplies, crossed into Syria from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in four batches on the 30th of April and the 4th, 13th, and 19th of May. The trucks headed to the Coalition’s military bases in Al-Hasakah and Deir Ezzor in north-east Syria region.
In the past month, SOHR activists also documented the participation of the International Coalition in five joint operations with SDF, namely, raids and airdrops, arresting ten persons in areas in Deir Ezzor, Al-Hasakah and Al-Raqqah.
Moreover, in the 92nd month of Coalition operations in Syria, International Coalition Forces conducted four rounds of live-fire exercises at their military bases, here are further details of the most prominent of these military drills:
- April 29: Explosions were heard near Al-Omar oil field east of Deir Ezzor, which hosts the largest “International Coalition” base in Syria, due to joint military drills between International Coalition Forces and SDF.
- May 15: Loud explosions were heard in eastern and northern Deir Ezzor countryside caused by conducting live-fire exercises by US-led International Coalition forces in Koniko gas field, which hosts a US military base in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
- May 14: International Coalition Forces conducted artillery and aviation military exercises in the area near Al-Omar field in Dhiban desert in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
- May 7: International Coalition Forces and Maghawer Al-Thawrah conducted joint live-fire exercises in Al-Tanaf base in the 55-kilometre zone on Syria’s eastern border with Jordan and Iraq.
In late April, the US-led International Coalition forces redeployed their troops in two bases in Al-Raqqah province, where International Coalition forces brought in military supplies and equipment, nine US armoured “Bradley” vehicles and dozens of soldiers to the position of the 17th Division, four kilometres to the north of Al-Raqqah city. The International Coalition also transported military supplies, vehicles and troops to Al-Tabqah military airport, 50 kilometres to the west of Al-Raqqah city, via cargo aircraft.
In early May, a military and political delegation of the International Coalition met with commanders of the “Autonomous Administration in northern and north-eastern Syria” in Ain Al-Arab (Kobani) in the eastern countryside of Aleppo to discuss the recent developments in the region. According to SOHR sources, the delegation stressed that it would provide support to humanitarian and relief organisations operating in that region, as well as providing political, military and logistical support to the Autonomous Administration.
May 2022: Another month passes and no investigation into alleged Coalition massacres
Despite SOHR repeated and “unheeded” appeals, International Coalition and SDF have not announced the results of interrogations with ISIS detainees and what happened to the thousands of abductees. The Syrian Observatory had previously called upon the international community to investigate reports regarding the killing of 200 ISIS operatives and their families, women, and children, in a massacre committed by the Coalition’s jets by bombing Al-Baghouz camp on March 21, 2019.
According to SOHR sources, 200 bodies were buried at dawn on that particular day, without information on whether the International Coalition was aware of the presence of children and women from ISIS families inside the camp or not.
However, all these appeals remain unanswered. Therefore, SOHR renews its calls and appeals to all relevant parties to disclose and announce the whole facts and hold accountable those responsible for the massacres and violations over the past five years, during which the Coalition was actively involved in the Syrian crisis.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, while providing adequate monitoring of Coalition operations in Syria, stresses once more that it would have been possible to avoid the heavy losses of Syrian civilian lives if the International Coalition had not ignored SOHR’s calls to spare and protect civilians from its military operations, where the presence of Islamic State militants or other jihadist groups in a civilian area does not in any way justify the blank and discriminate bombardment of the area and the loss of civilian lives.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also stresses that the negative impact of Turkish military intervention on civilians could have been avoided, if US Presidents had applied enough pressure on their Turkish counterparts to stop a new humanitarian crisis, displacing thousands and killing and injuring hundreds.
On the other hand, we at SOHR would like to remind the world that the oil and gas resources, controlled by the International Coalition, belong only to the Syrian people. Therefore, all the concerned parties are obliged under international laws and norms to preserve these resources and ensure that they will not be stolen or seized in any way; these resources do not belong to the “regime”, “Iran” or any other party; they belong only to the people of Syria, who have been suffering the brutalities of an ongoing war for over nine years. SOHR also warns of the repercussions of exploiting these sources, seizing them, or depriving the Syrians of their rights to resources.
