US accused of setting up military base and airport in northwest Syria

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. Photo: AP

According to Mr. Muallem, this is a sign of Washington's intention to prolong the armed conflict in Syria.

SANA news agency quoted Mr. Muallem as saying that the US is using the military base in Al-Tanf in the Syria-Iraq border area to train former members of the Islamic State (IS) organization, thereby putting them into units fighting against the Syrian army.

Mr. Muallem noted that the Syrian government forces and their allies "are the only forces in fact fighting against the IS terrorist group and the extremist group Jebhat al-Nusra on Syrian territory."

On another front, Foreign Minister Muallem said that terrorists from the Jebhat al-Nusra group are still present in the area, where the demilitarized zone in Idlib needs to be stabilized.

"This is a sign that Ankara does not want to fulfill its obligations within the framework of the Russian-Turkish agreement on the Idlib issue," the Syrian foreign minister said.

Idlib, an area 320 km from the capital Damascus, remains under the control of terrorists backed by Türkiye and the West, according to Mr. Muallem.

Foreign Minister Muallem affirmed: "We still maintain close coordination with our Russian partners regarding the situation in the northwestern region of Syria."

According to the memorandum of understanding signed between Russia and Türkiye in Sochi (Russia) on September 17 after the summit between the two countries' presidents, a 15-20 km wide demilitarized zone in Idlib needs to be established before October 15.

However, Turkey has proposed postponing joint patrols in Idlib because Ankara is not capable of ensuring security on its side./.