Media: US will not intervene in advance of Assad troops in southern Syria
The United States informed Syrian rebel groups that they should not expect military support to resist the Russia-backed government, whose troops are advancing in southern Syria.
A letter sent by Washington to the leaders of Syrian rebel groups said that the U.S. government would like to make it clear that “you should not base your decisions on the assumption or expectation of U.S. military intervention”, Reuters reports.
Earlier, the United States warned Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Russian allies that violating the “de-escalation” zone, agreed upon by the United States and Russia last year, will have “serious consequences” and promised “to take decisive and appropriate measures.”
The message also said that the insurgents need to decide how to resist the Syrian army’s military campaign based on what would be best for themselves and their people.
“The government of the United States understands the difficult situation that you are in and, as we did previously, we advise the Russians and the Syrian regime to not take military action that will violate the de-escalation zone,” the message said.
On June 24, it became known that Russian military aircraft struck the rebels in southern Syria for the first time in the year since the ceasefire agreement went into effect.
This offensive by pro-government forces could lead to further escalation of the war in Syria, which has gone on for seven years already. Earlier, the forces of President Bashar Assad recaptured part of the region from the insurgents with the help of Russian aircraft and Iranian-backed militants. Assad repeatedly promised to retake “every inch” of Syrian territory from Israel and Jordan, in particular the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.