US coalition wants Syrian oil, not the defeat of ISIS – Deir Ez-Zor Governor

DEIR EZ-ZOR (Sputnik) – Western countries are taking steps to put Syrian oil and gas resources under their control using the struggle against the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, outlawed in Russia) as a pretext for their activities instead of any real struggle against jihadists, the governor of Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province told Sputnik in an interview.

“Speaking about the so-called Western US coalition, its only goal is to hide the truth from society. At the same time, the situation is becoming clearer and clearer. The European community is starting to understand the complicity of their leaders in support of the terrorists … The main goal [of the Western states] is to establish control over the Syrian economy, first of all [over its] oil and gas resources,” Mohammad Ibrahim Samra said.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), whose positions were to the north of Deir ez-Zor are acting to the benefit of the United States, the Syrian official added.

“It is not a secret. Even in the struggle against IS, for example in [the city of] Raqqa it was nothing more than a theatrical performance. IS was leaving territories and the SDF established control over them and the roles have now changed. This situation has taken place because they are all the allies of the United States and the so-called coalition,” the governor said.

The official recalled that the US-led coalition had attacked positions of the Syrian army several times such as the 2016 attack targeting positions at the Sarda hills that had been followed by a large-scale attack by the terrorists.

The US-led international coalition has been conducting airstrikes, as well as using ground-based and rocket-propelled artillery fire against IS in Syria and Iraq since 2014. Its activities in Syria are not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad and the UN Security Council.