US-backed Kurdish separatist forces are looting Syria’s railway infrastructure as part of an ongoing US-led campaign to exert economic pressure on the Arab nation and impede its recovery following a decade-long conflict, according to a political analyst.
Ayman Alameh, based in Lebanon, told the Press TV website that Washington and its allies are actively depleting Syria’s resources and damaging its infrastructure to further isolate the country and hinder its return to normalcy.
“This is part of efforts to tighten the economic blockade of Syria following the defeat of the US-backed militancy in Syria and the Army taking control of nearly all militant strongholds,” he said.
He was referring to a recent statement by Syria’s railway operator, the General Establishment of Syrian Railways, which reported that the separatist Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in collaboration with the American occupation, continue to pilfer railway equipment, including locomotives, tracks, and machinery, in areas under their control in Deir Ezzor and Hasaka provinces.
Syrian media reports indicate that SDF militants have dismantled hundreds of meters of railroad tracks near train stations in these areas and transported them to Turkey, where they are melted down and sold as iron bars.
The Syrian operator’s statement also said American warplanes also target the railway bridges, the last of which was the bridge on the Euphrates River in Ramadi town.
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US has habit of exploiting others
Alameh said the US occupation’s plan to plunder Syria’s wealth is further evidenced by its theft of the country’s oil, agricultural products, water resources, and antiquities.
“The theft of Syria’s oil, agricultural products, water resources and even antiquities is aimed at tightening the screws on the Syrian people and undermining their potential for development.”
The analyst noted that such exploitation is not limited to Syria and has been a longstanding pattern in various regions worldwide, including West Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where the US has historically fueled conflicts to gain control over oil, gas, water, and other national resources.
“The US for a very long times has been fanning the flames of wars in this region and others, and one of the major goals has always been to exploit the region’s oil, gas, water and other national resources,” he said.
The Syrian government has repeatedly accused the US of stealing its resources, and numerous reports have detailed US-protected tankers smuggling Syrian oil to Iraq.
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The US operates about a dozen military bases in Syria, all of them without authorization from the Syrian government. An estimated 90 percent of Syria’s oil and gas resources are located in the east of the Euphrates River, which are mainly areas controlled by the US and its Kurdish allies.
Alameh further warned that America’s malevolent schemes in Syria extend beyond just economic exploitation.
“Washington is now boosting the Kurdish forces to create a self-autonomous rule in Syria’s eastern region, which would be a prelude to the country’s partition,” he said, adding that this plot poses “a deadly threat to Syria.”
(PressTV) by Ali Ghorban Bagheri
