Russian strikes on U.S. allies seen as move for power in postwar Syria

Russian strikes on U.S. allies seen as move for power in postwar Syria

Russian-backed forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday launched a heavy artillery attack near Syrian Democratic Forces' positions, their third airstrike against anti-Islamic State forces this month. (Associated Press)
With the U.S. consumed with domestic crises and a standoff with North Korea, Russia has quietly moved to press its advantage on the battlefield in Syria. A series of increasingly brazen Russian and Syrian airstrikes on U.S.-backed forces in Syria in recent days is the first step in a larger plan to co-opt American proxy forces fighting Islamic State and improve the Kremlin’s leverage to shape the postwar landscape, analysts say.

Russian-backed forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday launched a heavy artillery attack in eastern Syria near positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the alliance of Kurdish and Arab paramilitary fighters battling Islamic State militants, coalition officials confirmed Thursday.

U.S. military officials said they immediately contacted the Russians “to prevent accidental targeting and to ease tensions” between the two sides in an increasingly complicated and crowded battlefield in eastern Syria, Col. Ryan Dillon, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq and Syria, told reporters at the Pentagon.

Coalition officials maintain that Monday’s attack was a case of “accidental targeting,” but it was the third such strike against anti-Islamic State forces this month and was less than a week after Russian warplanes struck SDF units in the Islamic State-held territory of Deir el-Zour.

Emboldened by the regime’s victory over anti-government forces in the rebel stronghold of Aleppo late last year, Mr. Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies have stepped up their offensive against Islamic State-held positions, increasingly setting their sights on the group’s stronghold in Deir el-Zour.

While the battle parallels the U.S.-backed coalition fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Russia and Syria are rushing to seize control of Deir el-Zour’s massive oil and gas resources, to improve Mr. Assad’s position in the jockeying for power after Islamic State is defeated, said James Phillips, senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

“The Russians are primarily motivated by the desire to shore up the Assad regime,” Mr. Phillips said. “What they are really going for is not to go after ISIS, but to secure the gas and oil fields” in eastern Syria before U.S.-allied forces can.

The Russians struck SDF units Monday shortly after they reclaimed control of the Conoco gas field. The field is one of the largest oil and gas sources in Syria and the first to fall under the coalition’s control.

“We strongly condemn the aggressive attacks of the Russian forces and their allies on ground, which only serve terrorism and harm the war on terror,” said an SDF statement released shortly after the airstrike, which killed several fighters. “We will not stand indifferent about such attacks, and we will use our right of self-defense.”

But Russia’s recent moves reflect a much longer game Moscow is playing in the Middle East, Mr. Phillips said. Continued harassment of SDF and U.S.-backed forces is an attempt to drive a wedge between the paramilitaries and their American commanders, he said.

“It is going to be harder and harder to maintain the cohesiveness of the SDF” as the fight against Islamic State drags on, he said, noting that continued harassment of U.S. paramilitaries by Russian and regime forces could accelerate that erosion.

By keeping up the pressure on the SDF, Moscow is sending a clear signal that “the U.S. will not protect you,” Mr. Phillips said, adding that the message could “encourage factions of the SDF to seek other means of support,” particularly from Moscow