Russia’s top military general is accusing U.S. forces in Syria of setting up a special camp to train former operatives of the Islamic State terror group.
Gen. Valery Gerasimov made the allegation in interview with a Russian newspaper published Wednesday, asserting that Washington is discretely training the forces in a bid to further destabilize the nation and prevent Syrian President Bashar Assad from staying in power.
The training is taking place inside a U.S. military base at Tanf, a strategic Syrian highway border crossing with Iraq, said Gen. Garasimov, who is chief of the Russian General Staff.
Reuters reported Wednesday that U.S. officials have said the Tanf facility is a temporary base being used to train partner forces to fight against, not with, the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
Washington has rejected similar Russian allegations in the past, saying U.S. forces remain committed to killing off the Islamic State and denying it safe havens.
According to an account by Reuters of Gen. Gerasimov’s interview Wednesday, the general claimed those being trained at Tanf are actually former Islamic State militants who now call themselves the “New Syrian Army,” among other names.
The general told the daily Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that Russian satellites and drones had spotted militant brigades at the U.S. base, which was described as being situated in a “black hole” area where militants operate unhindered.
While Russia has partial withdrawn its own forces from Syria, Gen. Gerasimov said Moscow has kept an air base and naval facility in the nation and is well placed to deal with pockets of instability if and when they arose.
• Guy Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.
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