While the debate focuses on Afghanistan, Russian forces challenge US troops in Syria
While intense debate rages in the United States over the alleged subversion of US military targets in Afghanistan, sources warn that Russia is increasingly challenging Washington's troops in Syria.
According to recent reports, the Kremlin has offered financial rewards to Taliban fighters by encouraging them to attack US troops in Afghanistan.
According to some experts, Russia's growing involvement in Afghanistan could be part of a broader strategic plan put in place by Moscow to test the limits of the American military presence in Asia. This can be seen as a predictable response given by the Russians to the attitude shown by US President Donald Trump who has repeatedly hinted that he is not a fan of substantial American military involvement abroad. According to a new report from the Politico, Russia's challenge can be seen, not only in Afghanistan, but also in Syria, where American and Russian troops have been present in the same battle space for over five years.
In the past, the two military superpowers have kept communication lines open to make sure they stay away from each other, thus avoiding a strong escalation. As a result, despite supporting the opposing sides in the war, Russian and American troops did not directly challenge each other, with very few exceptions. Currently Russian forces continue to support the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, while several hundred US forces are working closely with Kurdish fighters, who control the territory in eastern Syria.
Despite the withdrawal of most American troops from the region over the past two years, the United States maintains a force of nearly 1.000 troops in the Deir al-Zour region of eastern Syria by closely coordinating, with the Kurdish peshmerga, the protection of the profitable. oil fields in the region, starving the government of President al-Assad by depriving it of an important source of revenue. In the past, Russian troops have rarely ventured into the Kurdish-controlled region, with full knowledge of the US military presence.
Lately, however, the "contacts" between the American and Russian troops in Deir al-Zour are "more and more frequent", thus increasing the tension on the Afghan territory.