Russia has accused the United States of sheltering Islamic State militants

新聞來源：Hengze 發布時間：2022-01-17

Moscow, November 15 (Xinhua) Russia's Defense Ministry issued a press statement on Thursday accusing the US military of sheltering islamic State militants in Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said on the same day that similar actions by the US side have happened more than once. 　　

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that a large number of Islamic State fighters fled east in vehicles last week as Syrian government forces, aided by Russian air force, attacked the Syrian border city of ABU Kemal. To stop the militants, Russian commanders in Syria twice asked the US-led "anti-terror coalition" to send warplanes to help, but the US military refused. 　　

The U.S. informed the Russians that the militants were surrendering to U.S. forces and were therefore protected under the Geneva Convention,' the statement said. The Russian side then asked the US side why the militants were redeploying within the area controlled by the "anti-terrorist coalition" and launching a counter-attack in the direction of ABU Kemal. The US side could not answer this question, but also sent fighter jets to the airspace about 15 kilometers away from ABU Kemal in an attempt to interfere with the Russian military aircraft. According to the agreement between the Russian military and the anti-terrorist coalition, the latter's warplanes are not allowed to fly into the airspace. 　　

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the U.S. military is providing shelter to Islamic State militants and using them to protect U.S. interests in the region. 　　

According to the Website of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented on the above incident on The 14th, said that the US military "spared" the fleeing ISLAMIC State militants when the Syrian army captured the northern Syrian city of Raqqa and the Iraqi army attacked Mosul. Lavrov said that the US Department of Defense said on January 13 that the US military would not withdraw from Syria as long as the country's internal politics did not move in the right direction. "The 'right direction' the U.S. talks about is actually changing the current regime in Syria." 　　

At present, Russia is collecting and releasing pictures and video evidence taken by its drones in the Syrian territory, and engaging in a public opinion exchange with the US military, which has raised objections.