US-Backed SDF Responsible For Resolving Hostage Crisis In East Of Euphrates - Naumkin

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the United States, bear responsibility for the crisis taking place in the east of the Euphrates, where the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) took about 700 people hostage, Vitaly Naumkin, the academic director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Oriental Studies, told Sputnik on Thursday.

SOCHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2018) The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the United States, bear responsibility for the crisis taking place in the east of the Euphrates, where the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) took about 700 people hostage, Vitaly Naumkin, the academic director of the Russian academy of Sciences' Institute of Oriental Studies, told Sputnik on Thursday.

On Monday, the Russian Center for Syrian reconciliation said that IS militants had attacked a refugee camp in Al-Bahra, on the left bank of the Euphrates River, capturing 130 families totaling 700 people. Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted at the annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi that the region was controlled by the United States, which rely upon the Kurdish forces there.

"This [hostage crisis] had to be resolved by those who took responsibility for the situation in Deir ez-Zor, the east of the Euphrates. That is the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces patronized by the United States, they are responsible for it. They actually made it possible that [terrorist] enclaves still exist and IS fighters are still active there," Naumkin said on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.

He suggested that the SDF forces could have manipulated the IS presence to "exert pressure on the Syrian armed forces and keep them off.

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According to the academic, the current situation is a direct result of "unreasonable policy of the United States, which is seeking to create a quasi-state [in the region], instead of cooperating with the Syrian government, which has the legal right to establish control over the territory."

"That is what they have created on their own. So, they themselves must sort it out," he concluded.

The academic opined that the US actions are explained by Washington's desire to obtain a permanent stronghold in the region.

"The United States does not want the Syrian army to enter this area, and wants to create a stronghold there on the basis of [allied] opposition forces to establish a local government [in the region]. They even invest in infrastructure development ... However, it's all doomed to fail because they lack any legitimate authority there," Naumkin pointed out.

Russia has repeatedly voiced concerns over the situation in northeastern Syria, pointing to the US allies' imitation of the fight against terrorists in the region. Most recently, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that the United States and allied Kurdish armed groups were seeking to establish a quasi-state in the region.