Russian Military Says 27 Militants, Trained By US Forces, Surrender To Syrian Army

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th April, 2020) Twenty-seven militants who surrendered to the Syrian military said they had been trained at the US military base, and the US forces provided them with weapons and vehicles, Rear Adm. Oleg Zhuravlev, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's center for the Syrian reconciliation, said during a briefing on Wednesday

On the night from April 13 to 14, a group of militants, who were trained at the US forces' base in the vicinity of the Rukban camp, tried to get out of At-Tanf area, he said. The militants planned to surrender to government and return to civilian life, Zhuravlev said. On the border of the 55-kilometer security zone, they were attacked by a detachment of the US-backed Jaysh Maghawir al-Thawra ("Revolutionary Commando Army") radical group.

"As a result of the clash, the militants who broke through lost three pickups, 27 people escaped, they are currently under the protection of Syrian government forces in Palmyra.

They surrendered dozens of small arms, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns, including Western-made ones," Zhuravlev said.

The surrendered militants said that US instructors had been preparing them for terrorist acts and sabotage at oil and gas and transport facilities, Zhuravlev said.

"According to the testimony of the members of the illegal armed groups who surrendered to the government, the Americans provided them with pickup vehicles and weapons. US instructors trained them to carry out sabotage at oil and gas and transport infrastructure, as well as organize terrorist acts in the territory controlled by the Syrian government forces," he said.