Syrian foreign ministry slams new US-backed border force

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The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Monday blasted the US bid to form an armed militia in northern Syria as a flagrant violation to Syria's sovereignty, according to state news agency SANA.

The US declaration constitutes a flagrant aggression on the unity and sovereignty of Syria and a violation of the international law, the ministry said.

A day earlier, reports cited the US-led anti-terror coalition as saying that the United States is working to form an armed group of 30,000 fighters, which will be under the command of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurds, Arabs, and Assyrians supported by the United States in northern Syria.

A man walks through a street in Syria's devastated city of Raqa on January 9, 2018. /VCG Photo

"What the American administration has done comes in the context of its destructive policy in the region to fragment countries ... and impede any solutions to the crises," SANA cited an official source in the ministry as saying.

Meanwhile, the ministry warned that it will regard any Syrian citizen taking part in this US-backed militia as a "traitor" and will be dealt with accordingly.

The ministry called the new US move as a "renewed conspiracy" that will be brought down by the Syrian army to end any form of presence of the US and its tools in Syria.

The US has been carrying out military operations in Syria since 2014, as part of what the country says is its fight against ISIL.

A fighter of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carries a weapon as he stands near a military vehicle in Raqqa, Syria, October 16, 2017. /VCG Photo‍

The SDF captured Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIL, late last year, and the Syrian army captured the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, another ISIL bastion almost in the same timeframe.

However, the Syrian government said the city of Raqqa was still occupied by the United States and its fighters on the ground, refusing to acknowledge its liberation from ISIL.

Also, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said in a recent interview that the Kurdish-led groups were the new ISIL, in another escalation between both parties.

The US move to create a new army in northern Syria has also been criticized by Turkey and Russia.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Sunday said the US move to establish a border control force in northern Syria is a "unilateral decision," and condemned the "wrongful approach."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) speaks during the annual press conference at the Russia Foreign Ministry Conference Hall in Moscow, Russia, on January 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

For his side, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that the United States' intentions are not to preserve Syrian sovereignty.

Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency